Pin Cushion Seastar

What do politicians and sea stars have in common? They are both bloodless, brainless critters that will eat you alive. Okay, I couldn’t resist the joke but it is true that the sea star has no head, brain or blood. Yet the politician has a head and blood but no brain, go figure.

A sea star is an echinoderm, which means “spiny skin” and literally uses water as it’s blood. The fluid within it’s vascular system is seawater with some cellular and organic material thrown in. It uses this fluid to move its tube like feet, transport food and supply oxygen and carbon dioxide to it’s body. Quite an amazing critter especially considering it’s ability to regenerate a lost limb.

Trumpetfish Comedic Master of Camouflage

Have you ever seen a kid playing hide and seek that is hiding behind a curtain with their legs and feet showing. They think they are completely hidden from you because they cannot see you, so you must not be able to see them. Well that is what I think about every time I see a trumpet fish. A comedic master of mimicry and camouflage you will see them drifting with their head down in a gorgonian swaying back and forth with the current trying to, like the child, blend in so you cannot see it. Often you will see them straddling a grouper or other large fish in the hopes of stealing a morsel or two should the opportunity arise. This is how they feed by stealth getting very close to their prey and then sucking them quickly into their mouth. The trumpet fish mouth is capable of swallowing surprisingly large prey.

Be In a Hurry

As we loaded our gear on the dive boat we saw a little old woman standing on the pier. I remember she wore a red one piece swimming suit that drooped and sagged so much I feared it would fall off her old wrinkled skin. She greeted each diver with a kind word and a gleam in her eyes and then stepped aboard with a ready to go smile as the captain handed her snorkel gear to her.

Spotted Goatfish

Sinking to the sandy bottom on a dive in Saba Mary and I settled in to watch some goatfish feed.  If you dive you have probably passed by these ubiquitous fish without a second thought.  Next time slow down and observe the beauty of the texture, shape and color of this common fish and you just might be amazed.

The spotted goatfish  can dramatically change color from white to blotched and mottled red to reddish brown when inactive.  If you are very still they will approach closely.  Look at the beautiful symmetry of the overlapping scales.  Look closer and you will see the scales have yellow tips that give the appearance of light waves rippling across the body.  Light blue dashes streak from the mouth across the eye to the tail fin as if painted on by a brush.  A row of three large brown blotches look as if an artist just dabbled her brush on the canvas of his body as an afterthought.

The Great White Wall

In the Somosomo straits of Fiji sits Rainbow Reef home of the Great White Wall. If you make it past the ripping current you will enter a tubular cave and exit at about 75 feet where an amazing site will greet you. A snow covered mountain filled with white soft coral that spreads before you like a ski slope. To say that it is breathtaking is an understatement.

Hawksbill at Punta Tunich

I told my great nephew Deacon that I would post some pictures of turtles for him.  I took these at Punta Tunich in Cozumel and they are dedicated to Deacon and MacKenzie his sister.

Stratman Trunkfish

The wreck of the tug boat Stratman sits upright in about 60 feet of water.  Intentionally sunk in Bequia as a dive site it rests on a sandy bottom surrounded by turtle grass.  I was searching for little critters around the stern when I saw Mary start to move slowly starboard off from the bow toward a curious piece of wreckage that resembled a feeding trough.  Several trunkfish, a whitespotted filefish and  porcupinefish were moving in and out of two parallel piece of steel.  Schools of brown chromis were swimming over it flitting back and forth like butterflies and a stream of creole wrasse was streaming overhead round and round like a roller coaster.

Bequia Dive Adventures

Upon arriving in Bequia we hurriedly unpacked our dive gear and headed over to check in with Bequia Dive Adventures.  We found the dive shop a couple of buildings over from the Gingerbread House.  I knew we were going to like this place because the building had so much character reminiscent of what you used to see in the Caribbean.  Painted on one wall of the small green and blue building were two mermaids being chased by an open armed scuba diver.  A couple of dogs were laying next to a green picnic table seemingly unimpressed with our arrival, a large dive flag hung from a pole out front and a walkway  led into Admiralty Bay so you can wade out to the dive boat anchored in waste deep water.  

Ruby Brittle Star

Pulling itself over the sand on its five arms was a ruby brittle star.  We were amazed at how fast it could move.  It looked to be in a great hurry, I would suspect to find a place to hide from us awesome creatures.  Having no head, eyes or ears, I wonder how it knew we were there and maybe it didn't.  Who knows, it could have just wanted to find a safe spot to hide until night time when it could come out and eat.

Beyond Pissed - Open Letter to Mr. Hayward

News flash from The Australian dated May 24, 2010.

BP's chief executive has told staff he is frustrated by the company's failure to stop an oil leak in the US Gulf of Mexico and warned that an attempt to do so starting next week could fail.

In an email to staff late on Friday, local time, Tony Hayward said: "I have shared a huge sense of frustration that we have not yet been able to stop the leak", which started a month ago when a rig leased by BP exploded and sank.

Mr Hayward said an effort to cap the well using heavy drilling fluids, a process known as "top kill" that is due to be implemented this week, "would be another first for this technology at these water depths and so we cannot take its success for granted".

Arc-Eye Hawkfish

In the Atlantic there is only one member of the hawkfish family, the redspotted hawkfish, and it is a testament to the biodiversity of the Pacific Ocean that there are at least 15 hawkfishes, maybe more.  Perched on coral this Pacific arc-eye hawkfish waits to ambush small fish or crustaceans.  Not having a swim bladder to provide buoyancy it must dart out to capture prey and then return to rest, perched on its pectoral fins.

Well I Never - A Most Pecular Dive Spot

We anchored in a shallow bay separated by a long black sand beach from a sporadic row of restaurants and hotels. I look down and see sun-dappled ripples of sand through the clear water and off our bow a dark oasis of turtle grass. I’m thinking this is a most peculiar spot for a dive site but the intriguing name has me interested and also wondering how it came to be called, Well I Never.

Proud to be Making a Difference in the Lives of Children

My project will expose students to current events in Science through Weekly Reader's "Current Science" magazine. Most of my students are from impoverished backgrounds and have received few chances of being exposed to current events. Most of the households do not receive newspapers.

I want to use "Current Science" Weekly Reader to make science more relevant to students. Each issue covers covers every area of the science curriculum—life, earth, and physical science, plus health and technology. Content reinforces National Science Education standards. Inquiry-based learning activities make science come alive and excite students' interests. There are also cross-curricular activities that build reading comprehension, math, critical thinking, writing, and vocabulary skills. Therefore, I will connect science across the curriculum.

Porcupinefish - Spotted Spiny Puffer

You have to love this fish with its bulky shaped head, distinctive black spots covering it's body and those huge cow like eyes.  This porcupinefish was so curious that it kept circling to look at me.  It would back off a little ways and then come in again to look with it's other eye.

Brother Orton King - The Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary

How often do you get to meet a real person? A funny question I know but I am asking it honestly because we live in a world of phony people and to meet a real person is quite rare. Well Mary and I had the pleasure to meet a real man on Bequia. He calls himself Brother King and his mission is saving turtles at the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary.

Our time on Bequia was short so I asked Laury Stowe, with Bequia Dive Adventures, what would be the one thing we should do in Bequia.. Without hesitation he said, go to the turtle sanctuary.

The Wall at West Cay - A Virtual Dive

With Casio at the helm our skiff flew over the surface of the water heading west past Moonhole to a barren spit of rock known as West Cay. I pulled my hat down over my head and put my mask on so I could see into the wind. Mary looked over at me and laughed! What the hell it worked and I was the only one on the boat with a camera so you will just have to imagine what I looked like.

St. Vincent - Critter Capital of the Caribbean

With dive sites named "Well I Never" and "Critter Corner" you know you are about to experience something special. St. Vincent is known for muck diving in sand and turtle grass but it offers so much more. A diversity of small critters not found anywhere else in the Caribbean and Kay Wilson,owner of Indigo Dive St. Vincent, is an expert at finding them. We put together this slideshow with accompaniment of "Dive Into You" by Austin Wilacy. Click full screen for best viewing. Hope you enjoy it.

Bequia Sweet Sweet!

On Bequia we stayed at a quaint little place called the Gingerbread House facing Admiralty Bay. Each morning Mary and I were awakened by the chirping of birds. One bird in particular always had a special message for us. The Carib called it a “Grackel” and the early explorer and naturalist Frederick Ober in his book Camps in the Caribbes, written in 1880, described it thusly:

On Bequia…is a blackbird, a new species named the Quiscalus Luminosus, which makes the air respond with a joyous cry:

“Bequia, Sweet Sweet, Bequia Sweet!”

Banded Jawfish - Scuba Club Cozumel

After our morning boat dives and lunch we got a tank and headed for a shore dive. We had noticed a shell lined hole the night before on a shore dive at Scuba Club Cozumel and Mary and I wanted to get a look at the occupant.

We found the hole at the mouth of a small cove in about 15 feet of water. This shell lined burrow is the home of the banded jawfish. They excavate the sand with their big mouths and move stones and shells around it with their powerful jaws. They only grow to about 6 inches but their head is huge in relation to their body.

Batwing Coral Crab vs Spanish Lobster

Talk about crabby!  Mary spotted a creature and shined her light into the recess of a coral mound.  Suddenly sand came shooting out of the crevice and Mary motioned me over to have a look.  A batwing coral crab and Spanish lobster were having a very lively disagreement over something.  Just a quickly as it started it was over.  The obvious winner was the batwing coral crab who set about cleaning up after the altercation.  The Spanish lobster moved up the coral mound and, if he had had lips, I am sure he would have been pouting.

Both the Spanish lobster and batwing coral crab generally hide during the day and forage for food at night.  We have observed that a lot of critters considered to be nocturnal are seen more frequently during the day.