I am so pleased to share with you a first time find for me.
Taken (by me) over a month ago at Cemetary Beach in West bay - a juvenile FRENCH ANGELFISH. Gorgeous, innit? They look quite different all grown up. Since they're also cleaner fish, they tend to take on 'clients'.
These fish are also monogamous. Ha! Who knew!
I must have watched Finding Nemo at least 50 times. Don't be shocked. It was a long time ago and yes, even though I was that much older, what can I say, it was a very well done animated film. And when you think of Nemo, you inevitably think of his home and recall how difficult it was for him to pronounce it - anemenemone!
Which is why it thrilled me to no end to spot this during our snorkel at Kaibo a few weeks ago. This Sea Anemone was in relatively shallow water almost too easy to miss amidst a seabed of seaweed and other underwater greenery. But spot I did and in proper and usual fashion pictures were taken. Can we say Anemone?
And what is a Sea Anemone? Believe it or not, it's also a predatory animal, with it's tips that sting and temporarily stun prey as they are attracted to its pretty colours. Clown fish like Nemo, make their home in the Sea Anemone as they are immune to the stings emanating from the Anemone.
I've also attached a video, because that swaying is so mesmerising, I did not want you to miss out on it.
If I stay at work late enough I have the delightful company of one of my co-worker's daughter (aged four), who comes in at the end of the day for 15 minutes or so. She'll make a straight bee line for my desk, just because she knows that's where she has to go if she wants her own personal visual tour of the underwater creatures. 'I wanna see fish', was her statement today. She had previously seen my videos & pictures on Stingrays and all she could say as she stared open mouthed at the screen was WOW. I then realised that I hadn't updated the blog with any fish pics per se, and had to delve into my personal album to show her some Starfish pictures. Yes that's right, I said Starfish. We went all the way up to Kaibo a few Sundays ago and were able to spot quite a few Starfish. Hubby was sorely tempted to take one home with us and even asked if we were. I have to admit I was too, but I said it would be too cruel. That was before I found out that Starfish cause much damage to coral reefs. Perhaps next time...except I was told that it reeks as it dries.
For some Starfish may not be a big deal, but to me it is! STARFISH! How often do you get to pick up Starfish off an ocean floor? As you can see these are of a decent size. Check out that underside, whereupon you can feel a slight suction motion if you were to place your palm flat against the underside. And just to show you how big a deal this is, one of my high school friends who now lives in Aussie had this to say: You just run into starfish just like that!....*sigh*...here we gotta go to Sea World to get a glimpse of the buggars :)
I've posted about the Barracuda before, while in Bermuda, but I had none of my snorkel visuals to back it up. Not this time! Here's a lone ranger, venturing out into our neck of the ocean, until my friend chased him away. Well in his defence, he was trying to motion it closer to us. I actually didn't mind that the barracuda swam away as fast as it did, as I only wanted him around long enough for a photo op, which I got. I guess just one barracuda is not so much of a problem, it's the many than encirle you, that makes it one. While it wasn't the clearest of days, I did manage to get a clearer video. Could it have swam away any faster???
Hubby & I went snorkelling today at Cemetary Beach. While snorkelling I was surrounded by fish that are clearly used to people hovering over them. I'm not sure if they were looking for food which I once again forgot to bring with me to the beach. Of course I snapped away with my underwater camera, which I am loving more everyday. As I was going through today's pictures, I came across this GEM of a one, which I HAD to share. Check this out! HOW CUTE IS THIS? It's like they already know me and are so happy to see me again.
While the Stingrays were moving in and around us at the sandbar in Stingray City, I also spotted a CowFish, with my snorkel gear. Oh, a good tip: Take your snorkel mask with you while at Stingray City to get an awesome underwater vantage of how these ray glide. You'll never know what else you'll spot lurking closeby, like this Cowfish. I still had to some chasing to get a closer shot. But here it is. A Cayman Cowfish. This time it was in much closer proximity that when I spotted my first one in Bermuda and while the Cayman shot is underwater, the Bermuda shot is above water, and taken with a camera that's not waterproof. So, which is the prettier one? I like them both, but then again I am biased.
CAYMAN:
OR BERMUDA:
For the longest time I have wanted to spot this on my own, and have been so envious when other fellow islanders have told me they spotted it on any given day. Well, wouldn't you know it, I did spot it but had no clue as to WHAT it was. First of all I barely saw it, so well camaflauged it was in the seaweed. When I did spot it lurking, it along with its friend seemed very wary of my presence, that I didn't dare approach it any further. I hung back and took shots and videos of it as best I could. I had to show hubby what it was and he recognised it in a flash. So, what is it? Care to take a guess. Anyone?
CLICK ON THE COMMENTS TO VIEW THE ANSWER!
I am re-posting this today, even though I originally posted the video on Friday, April 10th. I wanted to elaborate and include pictures along with the video, but I was half asleep when the lone video went live, that I didn't trust myself to even type out a longer description for the post. So here goes...
Stingrays have received such a bad rap that is so undeserving of these creatures. We were at Stingray City in Grand Cayman a week ago and it is by far the neatest thing one can indulge in here on the island. Out in the wild, on a shallow sand bar situated right smack in the middle of the ocean is Stingray City. I cannot tell you how surreal this experience is/was. Imagine a shallow 'sandbar' in the middle of the ocean, where the water is really only waist deep, and what you have is many stingrays converging to be fed by the many tour boats that dock in close proximity. These stingrays have been coming around for years and are quite used to the human presence lurking in their territory.
They are fed squid by the tour operators and by visitors alike, which they suction out of your hand. You are cautioned not to wipe your hands to any part of your body, because the squid scent will attract them to that particular body part, and suctioning will begin. Some do this anyway and end up with hickeys on their arms. I didn't feed the stingrays but I certainly kissed one and got a back massage too! I can tell you that they are very slimy creatures.
What was sublime was feeling the stingrays brushing up against your legs as they glide through the water, much like a cat brushes up against you. Check out the last pic in the group above. It is for this reason that you are advised to slide your feet through the sand as you walk around and not swim or lift your feet underwater. Can't have them rays getting the wrong idea, right? And lastly I leave you with what a stingray looks like from the underneath. Looking at that smiley happy face, how can anyone resist? So, come on in, stay a while, you'll be hooked.A friend actually had the gall to say that the picture below is not real.
Well, I think the video below will prove plenty.
We found an awesome spot to snorkel on the island on Saturday and I went nuts with the camera. Needless to say I am so very pleased with the way these shots came out. It was fabulous seeing miniature versions of the larger fish we are used to seeing. Baby fish are so adorable and these ones were NOT shying away. Take a look...
A baby Spanish Hogfish
