Upsidedown Jelly

Did you hear the story about the winner of a competition for what was billed the "best job in the world". Ben Southall was stung by a deadly jellyfish, called an irukandji, while getting off a jetski at Hamilton Island in Whitsundays. The bloke beat out 34,000 other people to get this dream job and almost dies from the sting of a jellyfish no bigger than your fingernail. As they say in Australia, no worries, he made out okay and I am sure he is getting his share of shouts at the pub these days.

When you think about jellyfish I bet you picture in your mind a deadly killing machine such as the lethal box jellyfish, Portuguese Man-of-War or the feared irukandji, but you probably never think about the benign upsidedown jellyfish as pictured in the black and white photo above.

Down Draft at Villa Blanca Wall

Villa Blanca Wall is a sloping wall just offshore Cozumel with a ripping current. Before Hurricane Wilma, in 2005, it was peppered with huge sponges and gorgonians. Wilma pretty much wiped these out and covered everything with white sand. This is still a great dive and the changes to the reef don’t seem to have reduced the number of fish and critters, quite the opposite, for some reason there seem to be more.

Mary and I have been diving Cozumel for years and have both fond and frightful memories of Villa Blanca Wall. My most memorable dive there was with a young dive guide that, for some idiotic reason, decided to go against the current. Mind you Cozumel diving is pretty much all drift diving and to go against any strong current, much less one at Villa Blanca Wall, is insane.

Bluespotted Cornetfish

Ascending to the top of the reef, at Alice in Wonderland, Curacao,  I noticed out of the corner of my mask blue spots.  Staying perfectly still were two bluespotted cornetfish just to my left.  I had heard about the bluespotted cornetfish schooling but had never seen more than one at a time so I approached them very slowly expecting them to bolt at any second.  To my amazement they both stayed long enough for me to get some video and a couple of shots.

What really strikes you about the bluespotted cornetfish is how oddly shaped they are.  With a long thin body, bright blue spots and blue stripes and a very long tail that looks like the business end of a foil they definitely are odd-shaped swimmers of the sea.

Star Puffer

Rounding a coral mound on a dive site called Golden Crown in Viti Levu Fiji we spotted a large fish just sitting on the bottom.  We approached it very slowly and got real close but it lay perfectly still, not moving anything not even its eyes.  I was thinking it must be dead or hurt but as I moved closer I noticed the eyes swivel slowly as it followed Mary's movement.  I could not identify the fish so took a series of shots and forgot about the encounter until we got home. 

We discovered later that it was a Star Puffer and it likes to rest on the bottom all day and eat at night.

Waitatavi Bay, Fiji - Surface Interval at the End of the World

Across the Somosomo Straits from Taveuni is the remote beach of FijiFiji at Waitatavi Bay on the island of Vanua Levu. If you dive the famous and spectacular Rainbow Reef you will most likely make a surface interval at this remote paradise. A crescent shaped white sand beach surrounded by palm trees, you could not imagine a more beautiful place to off gas after diving Purple Wall or The Zoo.

Close your eyes and you hear the gentle whisper of waves on the soft sand, the far away melody of tropical birds and gentle rustle of palm fronds. Open your eyes and the sparkling clear water reveals the shallow pristine coral that jumps out at you in a rainbow of colors like jewels under glass. Look over the Straits back toward Taveuni and you see the beautiful mountains of the Garden Island with fluffy cotton white clouds adorning the peaks. Wade in the warm water and clouds of brave little bream dance around you gently pecking at your legs. Take a walk on the sandy white beach and you feel like you have truly arrived at the end of the world.

Now That's Amore! - Octopus Style

Debris of shells and coral at the opening of an old tank was our first clue that an octopus lair was inside.  No telling how many divers had finned right over the tank without spotting the octopus.  Talk about hiding in plain site, she could not have chosen a busier place to set up her nursery, right next to the pier steps where dozens of divers entered and existed each day.  Yet none of the other divers mentioned having seen her and we kept her secret to ourselves.  On each shore dive we would stop to say hello on our way out and upon our return we would peek in to say goodbye.  Of course the octopus could have cared less but it was a fun ritual anyway.

Gibbs Cay with Tim Dunn

Tim had the throttle of the Carolina Skiff wide open as we skipped over the surf weaving in and out of clear turquoise water. As we rounded the south end of the island and hit the eastern trade winds the ride became rougher and we were showered with sea spray. Turning north Tim throttled back and we saw our destination, the uninhabited island of Gibbs Cay.

At the southern most tip of the Bahamas and north of Hispaniola lies the Turks and Caicos Islands. We had spent a week diving with Oasis Divers on Grand Turk and Tim Dunn was our divemaster for most of that week. Tim’s family has been on the island for over 300 years and at one time owned Salt Cay’s Harriott Salt Company that provided about half the salt used in North America. Tim’s family still owns the great white stone house called the “White House” on Salt Cay and Mary and I were thrilled to be given a personal tour of the great house by Tim, but that is a story for another time.

Lovo Feast - Taveuni, Fiji

People often ask me where my favorite dive spot is. It is very difficult to answer that question because each location offers something different or unique. So I cannot honestly say I have a single favorite dive spot but I can say I have a single favorite dive resort and that is Paradise Resort on the Garden Island of Taveuni, Fiji. Owned by Allan and Terri Gortan it is an absolute delight for those of us who are travellers and seek the adventure of remote locations. This is our story of the Lovo Feast at Paradise Resort. While each village and resort has a lovo Feast what made this such a memorable experience, for Mary and me, was the personal attention and openness of the the staff at Paradise. Such joy is rarely found but is in abundance at Paradise Resort.

Cleaning Station

The cleaning station is where fish go to get parasites picked off their body by juvenile fish, small wrasses, gobies or shrimp.  You may see a fish with its head up, fins out and mouth open, this is one typical position to signify that it is ready to be cleaned.  Many times you will see a moray eel or a large grouper sitting motionless, with its mouth open, while a shrimp or cleaner fish cleans the inside of its mouth.  A gentle shake of the grouper or eels head signifies to the cleaner that the cleaning is done and they both part ways, each having gained from the bargain.  One got a free bath and the other a free meal.

Christmas Reef Wreath - Merry Christmas!

Littering the ocean floor around the island of Statia in the Caribbean are numerous anchors some of them dating back hundreds of years.  Many were caught on coral and had to be cut away so the ship could sail.  Some were cut away to free the ship from approaching storms or enemy ships.  Over time these anchors have become encrusted with generations of coral and sponge.

Leaf Scorpionfish

On the Fijian island of Viti Levu we stayed at a remote resort called Wananavu which means wonderful in Fijian. This scorpionfish was perched on a coral head at a dive site called Vatu Express in the Bligh Waters. Yes it is named after the famous Captain Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. It is a beautiful dive site with clear water, lots of hard and soft coral and an abundance of fish life.

The scorpionfish is an ambush predator that will normally rest on the bottom until prey comes within range. They have the ability to change color for better camouflage. This fish is of the yellow variation but can also be white, pink, tan, brown and black with mottling. While the scorpionfish looks docile it does have venomous fin spines with poison embedded on both sides of their spines.

Cuttlefish at Lionfish Rock

The first and last giant stride you make, off the Palau Aggressor, is at the first dive site called Lionfish Rock.  All other dives are conveniently made from a skiff that is lowered into the water with you in it.

If you were to ask me what irritates me most about diving, I would say it is the obligatory T.A.D.  TAD is an acronym I made up for "Throw Away Dive".  Each dive shop has you do a TAD to check you out and usually it is a monumental waste of underwater experience.  So most TAD's really are throw away dives, but, not on the Aggressor.  This first dive was one of our favorite and the reason was the Cuttlefish at Lionfish Rock.

Dark Descent

One of the great things about scuba diving is that you get to meet interesting people from all over the world.  On a dive, at Ulong Channel in Palau, I looked over my shoulder and saw Gabriel Ganme descending into the cavern.  Taking a quick shot, without flash, I didn't think anything more about it until I reviewed it later.  Notwithstanding the fact that the fins merge with the coral and reduce the balance of the composition I really like this silhouette because it adds a  perspective of ominous surrealism to the underwater scene.

Gabriel Ganme is an instructor in Sao Paulo, Brazil at the Diving College.  Mary and I dove with Gabriel's group in both Palau and Yap.

Eel Wars at Watamula

At a dive site called Watamula, in Curacao, Mary had spotted a free swimming spotted moray eel so I moved in to take a photograph.  I was framing a shot for one eel when suddenly another one popped up from the sand, giving me a unique photograph of two spotted moray eels in one shot. Immediately upon taking the photo, one eel attacked the other eel. A fierce battle ensued, resulting in an lightening attack that displayed the strength and agility of these magnificient creatures.  One of the eels came out of the coral at lightening speed headed directly toward me and a part of my anatomy that shall remain nameless.  I put my camera down to block him, from the aforementioned nameless private parts, as he rushed past me and circled back to engage in another heated exchange, that I was just able to catch on video.  It all happened so fast that I really was lucky to get any of it.  Of course, Mary was laughing at me the whole time!

Black Brotula - A Lucky Find

At a dive site in Curacao, called Jeremy, I was struggling with focusing my camera on a juvenile trunkfish, the size of a green pea, when Mary banged her tank and gave me the come here sign. She was pointing excitedly toward an opening between two coral mounds. You almost had to stand on your head to see into it and at first I could see nothing. Mary shined her light into the tunnel and we waited. Suddenly a small creature, no bigger than 1-1 ½ inches, darted across the light beam. Its locomotion was ribbon like with a blunt head and tapered torso surrounded by continuous dorsal and anal fins ending in a pointed tail.

Humphead Wrasse

Diving Palau aboard the Aggressor Liveaboard, Mary and I came across this Humphead Wrasse, also called a Maori or Napoleon Wrasse. They are one of the largest fish and can live up to 30 years. They are friendly and not afraid to approach divers. Threatened by overfishing they are knocked out with cyanide gas and served live in some Asian countries. Going for over $100USD per kilogram it may not be long before there are no more Humphead Wrasse.

The Humphead Wrasse can grow to over 7.5ft (229 cm). You can get an idea of how big this one is in relation to the diver. It is huge...the fish not the diver!

Man House - Hidden Art of Yap

The island of Yap is located in Micronesia, between Palau and Guam.  Mary and I had travelled to Yap to see manta rays after a week of diving Palau.  On a surface interval Gordon, our divemaster, took us to see a Man House.

Each village has a man house, sort of a community dwelling like a city hall, where official business of the village is conducted.

On our visit Gordon relayed a story that the night before the elders of the village had held a council, at the man house, to discuss the the fate of two teenage boys.  They had apparently damaged someones property and it was up to the elders to determine how the boys would be punished.

Curacao Underwater - A Photographic Selection

Mary and I just returned from Curacao where we stayed at the Kura Hulanda Lodge on the West End and dove with Ocean Encounters West.  To view a selection of photographs of Curacao Underwater please click on the link below.

Photographs of Curacao Underwater

Sergeant Major Egg Feeding Frenzy

Sergeant Majors are damselfish, feisty little fish, with five distinct vertical black stripes from which they derive their name. They lay their eggs in round patches on hard structures and the male generally guards them like a pit bull.

We found this purple nest of eggs on a dive in Curacao called "Airplane". Someone had the brilliant idea to sink a Fokker Fairchild 27 airplane onto an otherwise healthy reef not realizing that in a few years time it would become a junk pile of aluminum and wire. What we found interesting was that surrounding the "junk pile" were a myriad of sergeant major nests where high drama in real life was taking place.

This nest was being guarded by two sergeant majors, male and female, but they were quickly overwhelmed by the ferocity of the feeding frenzy. Yellowhead wrasse, bluehead wrasse, parrotfish, other damselfish and even a graysby join in the feeding. The poor sergeant major loses his eggs in a matter of seconds.

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.