Best of Mike #305

One of my favorite subjects, a Smooth Trunkfish.... on a mission to somewhere.

Do you think he knows I'm following him?

Best of Mike #304

It's always fun when we see the wildlife doing "other stuff" when we are diving.

This is one of the many members of the grouper/hind family of fish.... a Rock Hind, I think.

Taking a break from his normal activity (swimming) inside a tube sponge.

I am not sure why they do this.... but a little rest with some protection from predators, seems like a pretty good guess.

Best of Mike #303

The Sharptail Eel is one of the subjects that I am always looking to get a better pixture of.

On this particular trip they seemed to be pretty common and active during the day.... even though their normal habit is to hunt at night.

They are relatively unconcerned with the presence of a diver. But they are a hunter and their version of hunting involves moving pretty quickly along the bottom.... in fact thjey even have the ability to move under the sand. 

Their style of hunting involves sticking their head into and under things in search of prey. 

So, while getting a pixture of their body is pretty easy.... a shot of their head can be a whole different challenge.

Best of Mike #302

This is a Queen Angelfish.

She has pretty distinctive coloring but just so you are 100% sure .... there's the crown right there on the top of her head.

I especially like the fact that the crown contains speckles that make you think of diamonds.

Best of Mike #301

This fellow is an Atlantic Creole. They are a plankton picker that often mixes with other species in order to feed in open water away from shelter.

I am always attracted to the red on their fins where they attach to the body. At a quick glance you think blood.... but that is not really the case, it's just coloring.

However, this particular one has a hitchhiker on the right side of his face below his eye.

The hitchhiker is a parasitic osopod.... that attaches itself to the fish and lives off it's blood and fluids.

I have seen other Atlantic Creole who have an isopod below each eye.

Best of Mike #300

This wee guy is a Goby.... a Pallid Goby.

There are many, many types of Gobies. The whole crowd are small typically in the range of about 1 inch long.

If they are very prone to fast and abrupt movement. In fact, if they are not the kings of the "darters" they are in the top three.

And this particular Goby is more or less translucent.... save for the orange markings.

Best of Mike #299

There isn't much in the way of action going on in this shot.... but there is some pretty.

It's a Purple Vase Sponge and it's pretty common throughout the Caribbean.

But pretty much every time I see one, I have thoughts of delicate, crystal stemware.

Best of Mike #298

So, fish "photo bomb" too.... apparently.

As I remember it, the intended subject of my pixture was the Blackbar Soldierfish in the bottom right corner of the frame.

I do think that I was aware of the Speckled Hind to the left of the frame.... and did intend to include him.

But the other Blackbar Soldierfish, peaking up from underneath the intended subject is a total photo bomb.... nice job!

Best of Mike #297

Not all of the critters I take pixtures of are underwater.

This one, an Iguana, was under a bench.

The bench where we were gearing up the day we dove from the pier at Buddy Dive.

He didn't seem mind that we were closer.... so I got his pixture, before we hit the water.

Best of Mike #296

He's there if you look closely.

A Sharpnose Pufferfish, in amongst the stalks of a Purple Stovepipe Sponge.

He's wee, two or three inches long when full grown but this guy is a juvenile and quite a bit smaller than that. 

They are generally solitary. They say they "swim" about the reefs and  seagrass beds. But I am going to tell you that that swimming is much more of a "darting about".... making them a challenging subject to photograph, even though they are quite plentiful.

Best of Mike #295

I guess that some of the fish we see, in this case a French Angelfish.... have become a little bit like my kids and grandkids.

It's not like we haven't seen them before.

It's not like you don't know what they look like.

But when you catch one in a good pose.... you just have to take the pixture.

Best of Mike #294

Here he is, the scourage of the Caribbean.... a Lionfish.

They are a species native to the Pacific.... but an invasive predator in the Caribbean.

This particular one, was hanging at this weird angle on the side of the coral in a recess in the reef.

The dive guides at resorts will very often kill them, each time they see one.

I had read some time ago that there were attempts underway to create some predators amongst the other sea life, who would help to control the population.

This trip we noticed that Lionfish burgers (quite tasty actually) were on the menu at many restaurants and food trucks around the island. So, I guess humans have now been successfully added to the list of predators.

Best of Mike #293

Because sometimes.... well every day actually, if it's a possibility.... you need a sunset.

And.... a sunset pixture.

This one is the big tug.... tied up at the Town Pier, in Kralendijk, Bonaire.