It is also, unfortunately, the last pixture that I have in my library.... so no more posts until we can make another dive trip.
We had planned on being in Cozumel MX in May of 2020.... but like so many things in our world and yours, that one got cancelled due to Covid.
I guess the good news is that I am now using social media to post my pixtures and the stories that go with them.
So, when we get the chance to make our next trip and I begin to post the pixtures from that trip.... you will know.
The first time we saw one of these was in Bonaire on a night dive. “Charlie” was known to be come in, at night, to the lights from resort's dock. And, he was known to be particularly interested in the lights that divers carry at night. Not because he wanted the divers but because those lights lit up some choice morsels for him to feed on.
We were almost all the way back to the resort, on a night dive, when Charlie showed up. He was just on the edge of our lights and he was just a little bit bigger than Lydia.
I first saw him out of the corner of my eye and spent the next few seconds (but it seemed longer) debating with myself whether he was real or I had just imagined him.... because of his size.
It's hard to describe just how wee they are.
One year we diving out of Buddy Dive on Bonaire. On the underwater swim that we made from the dock to the reef wall, there was a huge concrete block.... a cube maybe 10ft on each side. It was one of the moorings for the resort's dive boats.
We passed that block many times during our trip.... and each time I had an impression that there was something on the block that would duck out of sight each time we went by.
So, one day we stopped and just lay on the bottom to see if they would re-emerge once they felt safe again.
All across this cement block there were holes, like you see here, about 1/3 the diameter of a pencil eraser. And sure enough once we had laid there for a while these little faces began to re-emerge from those holes.
A Great Barracuda.
Silver, long cylindrical body, large underslung jaw with obvious and pointed teeth.
Yup that's him.
Very menacing to look at. But in all the times we have seen them, nothing in their behavior has backed up that perception.
To be honest, I really don't know what this is.
Something inside of a tube sponge, with something else sitting on top of it.
That's my less than technical explanation.
But still kinda pretty.
Another in my quest for face to face pixtures of the fish that we see.
Today's subject.... a Scrawled Cowfish.
When we find ourselves on one of those dives, one of favorite boredom relief tricks is to take super closeups of the common things that we are seeing.
I am amazed at how often those pixtures give me a feeling of something from outer space.
This is one of those closeups of a Brown Tube Sponge.
Not a bad looking fish.... but perhaps a little over-named when they threw in the beauty part.
They are known to establish and patrol defined territories on the reef. But they are both shy and curious.
They will always retreat when approached by a diver but often turn to observe the diver when they are what they feel is a safe distance away.
As you can imagine this retreating behavior most often takes them out of camera range.... so they have for quite some time been on my "wish I could get a good pixture" list.
Another one of my many favorites.... a Smooth Trunkfish.
And another example of a pose that caught my attention.... and prompted me to make yet another pixture of a repeat offender.
Do you remember my earlier pixtures of the rockstar from this trip.... the Longmire Frogfish.
He was pretty much the same color and the same texture of what you see here.
So you can imagine my big double take when I saw this and thought I had found a 2nd frogfish.
But this is, in fact, just a piece of coral.
Not really fair for me to call it “just a piece of coral” as coral is a living being too.... albeit a lot more common than a frogfish.
I am guessing that my intention was to shoot the baby Smooth Trunkfish at the bottom of the frame.
He's the guy that looks like a small spotted marble.
So that would make the Banded Cleaner Shrimp, clinging to the coral in the top right part of the frame the bonus participant.
Many times when I take a pixture of a Scorpionfish the theme is their massive ability to camouflage themselves.
We regularly find them to be almost indistinguishable from the coral that surrounds them.
But in this case I got to shoot one that was enough in contrast with the background that you can make out, pretty well, the shape of their face.
I am sure that you have seen this pose from a French Angelfish before.... because I know that I have shot it many times.
This seems to be a positional relationship that they often allow between the diver and themselves.
It is one that always catches my attention.... as I think there is just some much detail and character to be seen when they allow this pixture.
A Scrawled Filefish with what I would call a little bit different pattern and coloring.
What we are more used to seeing is the pattern and coloring of the one that you can just make out in the background of the pixture.
In this pixture there is an added bonus a Feather Duster Worm. They are not mobile but this one almost looks like he is sneaking under the arms of the Anemone for a little protection.
But we do often swim along for quite a while before we see anything that is pixture worthy.
Then what catches your eye.... is something familiar a fish, critter or coral but in a pose that is different from what you have seen before.
Such is the case with this pixture of a Lionfish .
We see them most often with a red coloring.... but they are also known to be shades of yellow, green and brown.
Not a fish but a sight that I see often underwater and always enjoy.... and always enjoy when I do.
My dive buddy, my spotter, my wife, my best friend.... Linda (although) I like to call her Lydia.
They are slow swimmers and like to hang out near the bottom in grassy areas, mangroves or on the reef.
They are shy and will retreat to a protective area if approached.
But then they will peak out, with this kind of great smile.... and what always looks to me, like stars in their eyes.
This Goldentail Moray has had a very bad day.... at some time in his past.
That dark spot that you see behind it's head.... is the, now healed, spot where something has bitten a chunk out of him.
They are small (only about 1" long) and mostly transparent so are always and challenge to photograph.
I know that they attract "clients" for their cleaning business by, perching on the edge of the anemone that they live in symbiosis with, and waving their antenna.
But as I mentioned in my last post.... I have never learned how they know they won't become a meal while they are doing their work.
The Spotted Moray, who is most definitely a carnivore, allows the Pedersen Clean Shrimp to crawl all over it's body, including into it's mouth.... to clean off the parasites that accumulate on pretty much all creatures under the sea.
There is obviously some kind of "I won't eat you” agreement in place.... but I have never been able to figure out how it is communicated.
Now this guy, is all kinds of fancy with stripes, spots and speckles all over the place.
He is a Redspotted Hawkfish.
They are kind of small.... typically 2 1/2 - 3 in long.
They like to perch on the bottom and are quite wary or divers.... moving to a new perch if they feel we are in their space.
They like to hang out amongst the gorgonian soft corals.... often floating vertically to align themselves with the coral stalks in order to camouflage themselves.
A slow approach can get you pretty close to these guys.... not because they are brave but because they are very reluctant to leave the safety of their gorgonian.
This one is a Green Sea Turtle.
But much like a spider, when you see them move.... you are going to change that definition to agile at the very least and quite possibly graceful.
This blob on the bottom is the shell of a Hermit Crab.
Not very interesting at all.... until you notice the two eyeballs.
Peaking out from the bottom on the left side.... to keep an eye on me and make sure I'm not up to any shenanigans.
What's with all the cloudy in the water.... you might be asking yourself.
This is one of the many times that we saw these turtles grazing on the sea grasses right off the beach at the Salt Pier in Bonaire.
The water here is only about waste deep and gets pretty stirred up, by the many divers who walk through as they are entering and exiting the water.
But the sea grasses here must be pretty tasty.... as the turtles are not the least bit put off by all those people.
When they are displayed and waving around in the water currents..... they can be quite hypnotic.
Even beautiful.
This one is a male and he has taken on this blue tint because he is guarding their eggs.
The eggs are that purple patch that you see sprayed onto the coral behind him.
