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Feb 8, 10 Comments (0)
 Lionfish in Curacao Good evening readers, this is for my mom who thought this Lionfish was one of the coolest looking fish I had ever sent out, and I would have to agree. This was another that was found and captured and will be on display at the aquarium along with all the others soon. As many of you already know this beautiful creature is not supposed to be here and folks are trying their hardest to keep it that way. This is where the big controversy starts. The whole island is now aware that these fish are here and measures are underway to TRY and control their numbers. One local organization has offered a cash reward for ever five you bring into them, it’s that serious. Once the fish are brought in they will then determine just what fish they are eating the most and do other kinds of DNA tests as well. They are also offering free “catch kits” for anyone finding one, if you need that info just let me know. Is it possible for divers to patrol 70 miles of ocean reef that surrounds Curacao and keep their numbers to a minimum?? This remains to be seen, some say it’s possible and others are saying, “why bother” I think it’s a tough road ahead and by this time next year we should know a whole lot more about their exploding numbers. I have been to many dive shops that have posters saying” Wanted Dead or Alive” and I find myself asking what’s next??
Last night we went to a friends house for dinner and it was out of this World delicious!! I personally learned that I know nothing about grilling and admitting this is the first step to recovery and better food. We had some of the best grilled meat I may have ever had, it just melted in your mouth. I found out last night that I have been grilling to fast and over too much heat. The stuff we had last night was hand rubbed, laid out at room temperature before grilling and then placed on the grill but not directly over the coals and left to cook very slowly! Oh man!! Yummy, thanks again guys!
My knee is still swollen, I had a doctor look at it today and he said I have a hematoma and yes it’s very swollen and may be 2 weeks before it’s better! That stinks! I was planning on going to Bonaire but not sure that is going to work now.
That’s about it for tonight, glad you all liked the little bird so much, they really are beautiful. I’ll be back tomorrow, Barry
Feb 7, 10 Comments (0)
 Saffron Finch Good evening from Curacao. I am still down and out. My knee is really sore and super stiff making it very difficult to walk on. I was off today and ended up doing the same thing I did yesterday, NOTHING!!
Months ago I built a driftwood bird-feeder out back and since it’s introduction into the back yard it has been a big hit. I mainly only get two kinds of birds with the seed I am using, pigeons and finches. When I first put out the food and water in the morning we immediately get visited by approximately 30-50 pigeons that now live in a tree across the road, they just sit there and wait for me to put out the seed. After the “PIGS” leave, I again go out and put out more food for the waiting finches that immediately got pushed out of the way when the “PIGS” flew in! This is a Saffron Finch or as they say in Dutch and in Papiamentu a Saffraanvink. They say these birds were introduced to these islands in the 70’s by man but no one can quite pin that down for sure. I have around six pair of these colorful birds that now live here at the house, all are a little different in color. If we put out bread or food we always get the Troupials and the Yellow Orioles but the Troupials are too aggressive and seem to be mean towards the other birds so we tend not to feed them as much.
I’m out, we are headed to a friends for dinner, see you tomorrow, Barry
Feb 6, 10 Comments (0)
 Lobster Hi friends, guess what I did today?? Yes that is correct, NOTHING!! My knee is pretty swollen and stiff making it difficult to even get around the house. I didn’t work today I just sat home watching movies and t.v. with my leg propped up with ice on it.
Here’s a big Caribbean Spiny Lobster that we found the other day while searching for the Lionfish. This big fella was standing under a coral overhang at the mouth of a big cave. I carefully pushed the camera into his cave opening and snapped away while he used those two big antenna to check me out, it was pretty cool!
Back to the movies and the sore knee, Barry
Feb 6, 10 Comments (0)
 Strong Current Good morning readers, after work yesterday I took off on the bike for a ride and near the end I crashed and burned! It’s a section of trail that has a steep step-up and for the first time I just didn’t do it right and couldn’t get out of my cleats fast enough causing me to land right on my knee. Our landscape here is very rough, it’s all razor sharp limestone meaning when you fall it’s usually not good. I cut open my knee pretty good and had a very tough time getting back home thankfully Aimee came to the rescue and was able to ride the bike back home and I drove the car. So this morning the knee is very sore, I can’t even walk on it very well meaning I will be staying home today, good times!
Throughout the year I talked about our strong currents we have and many readers have asked for a photo explaining this. Well I found this one although it still doesn’t do justice, it’s like trying to shoot the wind, you can feel it but you can’t see it, current is the same way. When our currents are running full blast it is impossible to swim into it, the only thing you can do is let it carry you and hope you can make your exit point. I always explain current to folks as a fast moving underwater river, you can’t swim up a river and you can’t swim into current unless you pull yourself along the bottom holding onto rocks. You can see by this photo that the gorgonion is being pushed in one direction, I shot this as I passed by as there was no way to stop. Some of you may remember that this year strong currents kept me from shooting coral spawning, remember, that was the worst current I had ever been in.
That’s about it, going back to lay down and take some pain killers! Bye now, Barry
Feb 4, 10 Comments (0)
 Juvenile Highhat Good evening all, just sitting here relaxing after another fun day in the Curacao sun!! Aimee and I went on a dive 1st thing this morning at 8:30, we figured if we didn’t go early it would again be too rough to go later as the stupid wind is still a blowing!! The dive was really fun, we saw all kinds of cool things including a giant lobster and a big green moray eel, I will send those out in a few days. The water temp right now is still very cold, like 78 or 79 degrees, and yes that’s cold for us here in the land of warm Caribbean waters! After the dive Aimee was pulled into a meeting (always on her day off) so I took all the wet gear home and washed it and got it all hung up and then spent the next hour opening the camera and getting it dried as well. While downloading photos I got a call from Mark at the World famous Dive Bus Hut saying he just found a new little fish and was wondering if I had time to come for a look. You don’t have to ask me twice! I arrived at the Pier Baai dive site at around 2:00, set up all my gear again and headed into the water without Mark as he drew me a little map and said if I couldn’t find it that he would be out in about 15 minutes to show me in person. So off I went in search of a one inch fish that I had never seen before and after 15 minutes of looking I still had not found it. Mark was right on time and came to my fish finding rescue and pointed to the sand just feet from where I was looking and there it was!! We think this is a juvenile Highhat. It’s only about the size of a quarter and as you can see has such a cute little baby face still! I laid on the sand just watching this little miracle for at least an hour. As I laid there he or she would swim right up to my camera at full speed and then turn and race back, it really was quite amusing. I also watched as he ate something from the sand over and over, not sure what he was finding but he sure seemed to like it. This is a fish that is very rare in our waters, I am sure there are other areas around the Caribbean or Florida that maybe these are in bigger numbers but for Curacao you just never see them. So thanks a bunch Mark for the hot-tip you guys rock!!
When I got home I quickly rinsed everything and then Aimee and I took the dogs to Saint Joris for a fun hour hike along the water edge. We hunted for driftwood while the dogs ran and ran and ran, a tired dog is a good dog.
That’s about it, off to bed. Till tomorrow, Barry
Feb 3, 10 Comments (0)
 Sponge Bob Hi guys, I found another “face on the reef” kind of photo and thought it was worthy of a quick photo. And while on this subject, all you local divers if you see a cool face in the coral, or on a sponge please let me know, I really want to do something fun with them all one of these days, there could be a fun finders fee involved!! This smiley face was on the side of a giant Orange Elephant Ear Sponge and when I spotted it I thought it winked at me?? It could happen. Ok probably not but the mind plays tricks on you below the waters surface sometimes. These holes in the sponge are all natural, it is not damaged, they are called Excurrent Openings. To explain further, as water passes through the sponge, food and oxygen are filtered out. The water exits into the body’s interior cavity and out the animal’s one or more large Excurrent Openings or Oscula. Cool huh and you thought it was just another cute face on the side of a sponge.
I did a fun dive today with a friend from work, it was again rough getting in and out but all in all the dive was pretty fun. We are still having these high waves and strong winds but very little rain and that’s what we need the most. Curacao never got it’s normal winter rainfall this year and the island is getting very dry!!
Hope all is well, the smell of dinner is calling, Barry
Feb 2, 10 Comments (0)
 Lionfish Good evening Earth people, how’s it going?? Today was like a personal contest to see just how much a man can do in a day. I left the house with two wild eyed ready to go dogs at 7:30 equipped with a big push broom, rake and clippers. I am on my yearly mission to get the now old 2006 Curacao World Cup Course re-opened and ride-able again. This morning I tackled another section down by the ocean that needed to be swept and raked as no one has been able to climb it for so long because of all the loose rocks. The morning was beautiful as we headed out, overcast with rain in the distance and a nice cool wind, made the two hour hike/cleaning mission much easier. I love walking the trails early in the morning, the hermit crabs are everywhere, parakeets are screaming all around you, the sound of the ocean smashing against the cliff below and the smell of that fresh salt air, it’s just beautiful!
The minute I got home I quickly ate breakfast and then got my camera loaded in the housing. Next I set out to find all my dive gear that was hanging everywhere still drying from the last dive. At 11:00 I went to the Sea Aquarium for a dive in search of the Lionfish and to get some macro shots of this weird warty anemone we found yesterday as well. The ocean was again mega rough and getting in and out was a challenge but once out and down to 60 plus feet everything was much better. I spent around 25 minutes searching for the Lionfish he wasn’t where I had last seen him and I almost gave up when out of the corner of my eye I saw something strange move under a coral ledge, it was him! Again I just hovered there at 65 feet staring in disbelief, what a crazy looking fish!! I had to keep telling myself, “he’s very poisonous, so be very careful”! I am really not used to dealing with anything to dangerous here, other than scorpionfish and man-o-wars and we rarely see those! I had my macro lens and ever so carefully moved in but found him very difficult to shoot, he seems to always try to keep those poison spines pointed at you and is most of the time then facing the other direction! It was a fun dive I enjoyed just watching him and trying to learn some of his normal behaviors. Once my dive computer started beeping at me to get up to safer levels I then continued my search for all kinds of cool tiny things to photograph and there’s plenty of that out there.
So after two hours of diving I rushed home again, washed all my gear, cleaned the camera, down-loaded the photos and then took off on a one hour shopping spree, busy day! At 4:15 I left the house on the mountain bike, I first did a 45 minute warm up and then met some friends for another hour and a half ride. Hey I spent all morning working on those trails I had to go try them out!! So now I am sitting here feeling pretty tired, six hours of exercise that’s enough for me!
Thanks for all the great mail, I really think the World of you guys! See you again tomorrow, Barry
Feb 1, 10 Comments (0)
 Lionfish Good evening friends, I finally found a Lionfish! These are un-welcome guests and new to Curacao with close to 50 being spotted in the past few months! Pretty much everything about the venomous lionfish—its red-and-white zebra stripes, long, showy pectoral fins, and generally cantankerous demeanor—says, “Don’t touch!” The venom of the lionfish, delivered via an array of up to 18 needle-like dorsal fins, is purely defensive. It relies on camouflage and lightning-fast reflexes to capture prey, mainly fish and shrimp. A sting from a lionfish is extremely painful to humans and can cause nausea and breathing difficulties, but is rarely fatal. Lionfish are now one of the top aquarium fish in the World, in the wild they can live up to 15 years and in captivity even longer with proper care and plenty of food. Here’s a fun Lionfish fact, a lionfish will often spread its feathery pectoral fins and herd small fish into a confined space where it can more easily swallow them. Curacao, Bonaire and Aruba are on high alert at the moment as these fish are really starting to show up everywhere and they are not supposed to be here. Well how did they get here then you ask?? With the strong ocean currents we have the lionfish larvae is able to be quickly spread throughout regions it was not meant for. These fish are able to live at depths of up to 500 feet, this one here was shallow at only 60 feet, I am sure below this depth you would find even more. They also claim that these fish can eat up to 40% of their body weight a day, which means they have the potential of wiping out many young fish species in their area. They are trying to keep this fish under control at the moment by catching everyone that is spotted and killing them, we have 8 in the aquarium right now. I tried to do my part today and mark the spot he was in but this one just kept moving, I will go back again soon and see if we can find him again. Getting in and out of the water today was crazy as big waves and strong surge crashed on top of us making the dive a little more exciting! I also saw that the big waves we have had lately broke a bunch of our beautiful Endangered Elkhorn Corals and the pieces are all over the bottom, many which are dying, we will go out tomorrow and move them to a better spot! Dinner is calling, see you tomorrow, Barry
Jan 31, 10 Comments (0)
 Black and White School of Fish Hi my friends, by the lack of mail this weekend I am guessing everyone is keeping busy and away from the computers! Today I really didn’t do much for once. I drove the dogs to Saint Joris bay for a two hour hike in search of driftwood and sea urchins but really didn’t find much, it was just a nice windy walk!! The dogs had a blast this morning, they chased each other until finally they were beat and walked back to the car covered in salt and sand and soaking wet. Once home I washed the dogs put them to bed and took off on a two hour shopping spree. Here in Curacao it is impossible to find everything you need at one store so you have to go to three, sounds like fun huh?? At 5:00 I took off on an hour and a half bike ride which turned out to be the most excitement I had all day.
Here’s a school of fish in black and white for you, the fish with stripes are called small mouth grunts and the others are goatfish. This is a common Curacao reef scene, this was shot the other day when Aimee and I were diving together and found that big octopus.
See you later, Barry
Jan 30, 10 Comments (0)
 Spiny Oyster Good evening guys, here’s another colorful sea creature from the Brown studio. This is a beautiful Spondylus or as it’s more commonly called, a Spiny Oyster or a Thorny Oyster. This is another specimen I borrowed from work and just couldn’t wait to get it home to play with. I thought photographing this would be super easy but it turned out to be another big challenge and I had to make another special holder for it. You would think these spines would be fragile but they are not. These oysters are found all over the reef attached or should I say cemented to all kinds of rocks and dead coral heads and those spines help keep unwanted predators from attacking them. These oysters also love to make their homes on any kind of rusted materials, they are all over the side of the Superior Producer and on all the posts that hold up the piers around the island. Spondylus have multiple eyes around the edges of the shell, and they have a relatively well developed nervous systems. Obviously the shells are very attractive making them a hot commodity on the shell market, seashell collectors just love them! What I have noticed from diving is that they are very hard to see. The shells don’t look like this underwater, they are covered in moss and encrusting sponges you really have to look to see them and if your real still you may be able to observe them while feeding and get to see their colorful mantle.
Crazy day at work, so glad I am home!! Many thanks for the notes, couldn’t do this without your continuing support! Enjoy your weekend, Barry
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