First Lionfish Sighting On West Side of Curacao

Watamula is the northern most, and most pristine, dive site in Curacao. At the mooring you can see the white-caps from the windward point to the north and the rock cliffs to the east. Upon descent you see a sandy bit of bottom with robust giant soft coral surrounded by an expanse of hard coral not yet damaged by human encroachment.

Hovering near a giant soft coral, Toni McNally, our dive master with Ocean Encounters West, got my attention and clasped her hands with interlocking fingers and then excitedly pointed at the base of a soft coral. Not recognizing the sign I swam over to look and found a juvenile lionfish.

Toni later told us that this was the first sighting of a lionfish on the west side of Curacao. So I had, in another Forrest Gump moment, taken the first photograph of the first lionfish sighting on the west side on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 11:00a.m. If I had known the significance I definitely would have composed a better photograph, but, I was really focused on finding a seahorse we had seen on a previous dive, and didn’t give the shot due consideration.

While excited at the find we are also concerned with the damage the introduction of an alien species may cause to the local reef system. In a previous posting, Lionfish – Alien Invasion, we discussed that the lionfish is a prolific breeder with a less than discriminating appetite. With no known predators its presence, unfortunately, may create unintended consequences to the health of the reefs.