Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Later, Fishies!

Today was our last day of snorkeling. The water was very clear and although it rained a bit, it doesn't really matter when you're already in the water.

We went to Coral Gardens, one of the first places we visited when we got here. It's also the place I saw the stingray, so I was a little hesitant to go back but Ed wanted to give it another shot.

Today was probably the best day, fish wise. We didn't see any Lion Fish, which made me happy since they have venomous tentacles, but we did see a host of other fish.

I didn't take these photos, but these are some of the other fish we saw in the reef:Row 1: Queen Parrotfish, Blue Tang, Sergeant Major
Row 2: Peacock Flounder (in both photos) which you can't even see when it burrows in the sand.
Row 3: Stoplight Parrotfish in an early stage, Stoplight Parrotfish in a later stage, Trumpet Fish

I think the Stoplight Parrotfish were my favorite because they were so colorful. It's amazing that a fish can be so turquoise and yellow and green and pink. The Lion Fish are beautiful too, but a little scary. We also saw a lot of white, silver and clear tiny fish - there were thousands of them in a huge school, just swimming around us. I don't know what the name of those are.

The coral was interesting, but not as colorful as I thought it would have been. There are a lot of yellow, orange and purple, but not as vibrant as I expected. There are sea fans and brain coral and sponge coral. It's amazing how many different types there are. And this was all just a few hundred feet off shore and didn't cost a thing.

This was probably the best part of the vacation for me, because I can snorkel and tan at the same time. But now it's time to say goodbye to the fish and underwater creatures.

We purchased brand new snorkels, masks and fins while we were here and they came in very handy - and now we have good quality equipment to take with us anywhere we go. And, I'm super excited about the fact that the swim fins (flippers) we bought are stamped "Made In Italy". Finally, something that didn't come out of China.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1 YEAR AGO: It’s In The Details
2 YEARS AGO: Plenty Of Places To Roam, No Place To Park It
3 YEARS AGO: E Vac You A She Own!!
4 YEARS AGO: Eddie Steals A Bite Friday
5 YEARS AGO: Steal-A-Meme
6 YEARS AGO: The Day In Pictures

1 comment:

Belledog said...

Lovely that you did not see lionfish, because they turn out to be a rapacious invasive species.

Florida's having a real problem with them; trying to inspire chefs to cook them (they're allegedly delish). NYTimes did a video on them recently; will try to find it for you.

Who would believe the destructive potential of a simple fish that looks like it's from "Finding Nemo?"

Cheers.

Safe travels off the island.