^^My favorite shot from this trip: A Banded Coral Shrimp (Stenopus hispidus) with eggs. Not sure if the eggs belonged to the shrimp or if they were dinner. And she (he?) wasn’t saying!
Below, a Caribbean Reef Octopus (Octopus briareus) hunting on a night dive; he allowed me to follow for a bit:
Here’s a Graysby Grouper (Cephalopholis cruentata) who kindly allowed me to shoot him as a Pederson cleaner shrimp (Ancylomenes pedersoni) removed parasites:
And a new-to-me species of blenny called an Arrow Blenny (Lucayablennius zingaro):
Isn’t he adorable? My dive buddy and I agreed he looks like he should speak French (Oui, oui, Madam, zhou may shoot moi!)
Same dive buddy and I, along with a few other intrepid explorers, went out to snorkel one night, just offshore from our charming casita. We (literally) stumbled upon a Caribbean Reef Squid (Sepioteuthis sepioidea), who we decided should be named Effie:
Amazingly, Effie hung out with us for quite a while. The surge near shore made navigation difficult, and we (well, mostly it was me) fumbled about, trying not to drown. I left feeling like I hadn’t made a very good impression on Effie. Snorkeling is MUCH harder than diving!
These and more are in the gallery below. Enjoy!
Very nice!
Thank you!
I love the pictures.
Thank you!
One word- incredible!! Thanks for sharing this with all of us!!
Thanks Melissa! I want people to see how amazing the underwater world is, in hopes that others will join me in coral reef conservation. The most amazing creatures live there!
Excellent shots!
Thank you Ellie! I love sharing the amazing underwater world!