Mother and Baby Dolphin

Hey guys, I just got out of the water from a super fun swim with Junior (trainer) and Tela and her new baby Pasku.  Actually I was on scuba and he brought them to me, it was great!  For me it’s like a private underwater dolphin show every time, Junior just loves to show me all the cool stuff he can get Tela to do!  What your seeing here is Junior stationing Tela on his hand to do a straight up and down rostrum stand and her baby doing the same thing.  I think little Pasku said “hey I can that to” and joined right in.  This also gives you a bit of an insight into one of our “all natural” lagoons that these dolphins call home.  They are identical to the reef outside, filled with every fish and creature you would find on any given dive, it’s so great for them.  People ask me all the time if the dolphins catch their own fish?  Yes.  Many times the dolphins show up to a session with a live blue tang or parrotfish flopping around in their mouths and love to show it off just like a cat would with a mouse.  When we try to take it from them that’s another story, they usually always eat them after playing with it for a bit.

I am doing a fun dive with my buddy Mark from the World famous “Dive Bus” at 9:00 in the morning and have lots to do to get ready for that.  Hope you all are well, thanks for all the compliments we aim to please!  Till tomorrow, Barry

February 23, 2009

Grand Karnaval

Good evening guys and gals, it was another fast paced day of fun!  This evenings photo is for my friend Dan in Rapid City, a man who appreciates the finer things in life!!  I thought of Dan all day today as he is very partial to these beautiful island gals but still has not come for a visit??  I am hoping this shot will help??  I left for the Grand Carnival at 9:00 today and waited till 1:00 for it to start?!  Yeah well everyone told me it starts at 10:00, wait till I get to work tomorrow someone’s gonna pay!!  During my waiting period, I saw a mother with  seven children all ranging in size.  They walked by me all strung together with a piece of rope and each child was numbered one thru seven, momma was just dragging them right along, it was really quite the site!  Whole coconuts were the snack of choice today.  They serve them with just the tops cut off and a straw to drink the coconuts milk or chopped directly in half served with a spoon to scoop out all the yummy fresh, soft coconut.  In waiting I started to get hungry so I bought what looked like a Mexican sopapilla.  Turned out it was fried but not as good, I think it was just fried bread dough I donated it to the local “eat anything homeless dogs”!   Once the main Karnaval started I walked from the start to the end, that took me hours and I walked miles!  I think I was out there for seven hours in the blazing sun!  Shooting this kind of event is fun but a lot of work, I dashed in and out of thirty three groups for three hours snapping away for your viewing pleasure!  From just the pictures I took today I could send you one a day for a full year and you still wouldn’t see them all, it was a big event!  More to come.

My feet are doing so much better thanks to our friend Michiel they didn’t bother me at all today only my knee is hurting a little after my  seven mile hike!!  I still have a bunch to do this evening, have a great Monday.  Curacao regards, Barry

February 22, 2009

Surfing Sunset

Good evening friends, family and folks I still haven’t met how is the weekend treating you??  It’s was a very windy day here in Curacao today!  I was thinking about how much fun those surfer’s must be having as the wind always brings in more and bigger waves.  I can tell you from experience, the only thing better than the feeling you get from surfing and boogie boarding is talking about it right after a session!

Getting ready to take Aimee out for her Birthday dinner so I have to get moving, I will see you tomorrow, Barry

February 21, 2009

Curacao Surfing

Good evening all, I got off work and went directly out to Canoa on the North side of the island to see the big waves that are currently rolling in!  I went with my friend Michiel who is an avid surfer and outdoors person not to mention the guy responsible for taking care of my feet for the past few weeks!  I had a wonderful time this evening watching these talented surfers shred wave after wave wanting just one more ride before dark!  The evening went so fast being that there was only an hour and a half of light left, would have loved to spent more time there, it’s such a beautiful place!

It’s late, more tomorrow, Curacao regards, Barry

February 20, 2009

Candy Basslet

Hello all, once again I have another new fish for you all this evening, this is a little 3 inch Candy Basslet.  This is one of the most colorful fish on Planet Earth and will never be seen by recreational divers because they live in around 200 feet of water!  This beautiful fish was collected by the sub last week and can now be seen in person at the Sea Aquarium.  I have been told that these Candy Basslets can live for many, many years in captivity and are one of the most sought after salt water aquarium fish (especially in Japan) commanding prices of $300-$500 each.  These fish are not rare they just live super deep so collecting them can be quite difficult and life threatening!  Once again, I know I am starting to sound like a broken record, but why do fish need to be this colorful if they live in the darkness at such great depths??

I had a busy day today, went on dive with my friend Marco, took the dogs, bikes and Aimee to Canoa for a bike ride and beach combing and the rest of the day doing errands!  Aimee’s B-Day is Sunday, you can send her a b-day wish at, aimee@curacao-sea-aquarium.com .

I am tired and off to bed, talk to you tomorrow.  Barry

February 19, 2009

Black Brotula

Good evening readers, once again I bring you a new find!  This is called a Black Brotula.  This fish is around two and a half inches long, swims like an eel and spends it’s whole life in the deep recesses of caves!  No regular diver will ever see one of these they are that rare and elusive.  These fish can be found in caves along with giant green morays and other cave seeking creatures.  These fish are considered a “cleaner fish” and have been observed swimming in the mouths of giant eels, picking away any left-over’s then exiting thru their gills covers, cool huh??  I also learned that this cool creature has it’s babies born live instead of in eggs like all the other fish out there.  The other cool thing is when you see this fish normally underwater or in an aquarium it’s a dull black color but when hit with flash it changes to this brownish red.

Today was one of the busiest days I may have ever seen!!  Not only are the cruise ships here every day it’s also a Dutch holiday right now so we are getting travelers from everywhere!

I am off tomorrow, I plan on doing a Superior Producer dive at 10:30, anyone wanting to join just show up at the dive site.  Talk to you later, Barry

February 18, 2009

Karnival-rafting

Good evening readers.  I have a major treat for you all this evening compliments of our friend Tom Wiewandt, one of the finest photographers on planet earth!  He may blush a little upon reading that but hey, when your good your good!  Many of you on my list have met or seen Tom’s work and know what I say to be true!  He recently made a trip by himself to Costa Rica in search of local flora and fauna.  Here is the link to view 139 of  these spectacular photos.  http://www.wildhorizons.com/WildCostaRica  You can also see his work along with some of my underwater shots at http://wildhorizons.com and please feel free to send him or I a note about anything you see on the site that interests you.  You know photos make great gifts, hint, hint, hint.  Enjoy and thanks again Tom for sharing!

Here is another fun shot from the kids Karnival and one of my personal favorites.  This to me was hands down the coolest and most beautiful float or group that I photographed.  You have to first picture this big long piece of painted fabric that looked exactly like a raging river being held by walkers all along the sides.  Then you add colorful kids floating in neon inner-tubes with every kind of beach decoration you could think of and you have the makings for an action packed floating exhibit!  I tell you guys it looked so real, the kids really looked like they were floating down the street on a big magical floating carpet I really enjoyed seeing this one!  I rushed up to this little beauty and snapped away, she just loved the camera and was having such a blast, I think the picture speaks for itself.  Right after this group passed there was a group called “the Happy Jolly Kids”  I never saw one smiling face!

For all of you asking for a Sharon and Luke update I just got reports today they are in Rapid City, South Dakota having a blast!  I think they were going mountain biking today and I had heard thru the vine that Sharon fell in love with the area, I hope she comes back, we miss her!

It’s been raining non-stop all day!!  I did a reef dive this morning with our friends Sara and Ann.  We had planned on doing a fun photo shoot underwater but we were greeted with high current upon entering forcing us to do a drift dive instead all the way down past Royal Resorts, so much for photos!

Ok, sorry kind of long for a rainy day there’s a lot going on.  I’m out, Barry

February 17, 2009

Karnival

Good evening from sunny Curacao!  Today was kind of a frustrating day as it was the first day ever I have tried to shoot “specimen fish” in an aquarium.  If any of you out there have ever taken photos of little fish in your own aquarium’s and had good results let me know because I don’t see any easy way to do it??  The “fish collectors” for the aquarium occasionally bring in new specimens from the reef that I have never seen and the only to get a photo is to shoot them in a little aquarium but man is it ever difficult!

Here is another Karnival shot for you all this evening, the reason it’s spelled with a “K” is because that’s how it’s spelled here.  These young ladies with the big o’l red hats were on fire!  They loved the camera!  Each girl seemed to be more energetic than the next and before I knew it I had photographed them all.  Not sure how yet but I will have to track them down and get them to sign a photo release form and give them a copy of their picture.

Well, all is good, I am doing a dive tomorrow with friends that just arrived from the States and on Thursday we are doing a Superior Producer dive around 1:00 all are welcome!  Bye now, Barry

February 16, 2009

Curacao Childrens Carnival

Good evening my friends, I am sun-burned and worn out from a spectacular day of fun at the children’s Karnival parade.  I picked my friend Marro and his girlfriend up at 11:00 and off we went to find parking near the parade route.  I work with Laura and Marro and had asked them a week ago if they would like to join knowing Marro is really into photography as well.  The parade started at 1:00 and took two and a half hours before we found the end!  Get this, there were only around 20 groups today (big groups) and it took two and a half hours, next Sunday is the Grand Karnival and there are close to 60 groups?? That will be a long day!!  This is Marro “jumping in” and getting up close and personal, this is the only way you get the nice shots, you have to become part of the parade!!  The kids today for the most part loved the camera and stopped walking or dancing for a brief moment and would “strike a pose”, it was a blast.  Marro and I never took a break today, we dashed in and out of the parade like two crazy white boys  just snapping away burning up batteries!  If your wondering what this little boy is wearing it’s a horse around his waist!  You can’t see the head real well but you can sure see the legs, great little cowboy outfits!  The costumes today were mind blowing ranging from these little cowboys on horses to little mermaids on fish lots more to come so just stay tuned.

Well that day sure did go fast, I can’t believe it’s already after 7:00, you guys have a wonderful evening I will see you tomorrow, Sunny regards, Barry

February 16, 2009

Newborn Baby Dolphin

Good morning gang,  sorry about the no e-mail last night but we came home from work and got ready to go out for Valentines Day!  We had such a great time last night at the Avila Hotel, I highly recommend this place to everyone!  During the meal we were serenaded by three amigos equipped with guitars and hand shakers.  These guys sang away while other tables looked on, it was really fun and was a nice addition to the already fun evening!  We also had a visit from two ladies who came to the table and took our photo and it was ready for us when we left, also a very nice touch!

Your photo is another of baby Tikal at day four just coming up to take a breath.

I am off to see the children’s Carnival parade today, it starts at 1:00 so that means I have to get there two hours early and find a place to park, it will be a long day!!

Have a wonderful day, till tomorrow, Barry

February 15, 2009

Curacao Pelican

Happy Valentines Day everyone!  I searched all day for an appropriate photo but came up empty handed every time.  I figured if I sent another photo of two dolphins kissing I may start getting hate mail so I settled on Mr. Pelican instead!  I took this shot this afternoon so it’s fresh off the press.  These pelicans are sitting on everything we own around here all day long just waiting for an opportunity to steal fish from someone.  I swear some days it looks like a pelican refuge instead of a dolphin park, they are in the air above you, floating everywhere in the water and parked on every fence post we have, really some days it’s quite the sight.  Occasionally one will land in the dolphin lagoon.  The second they land it’s like they know “this was a big mistake”!  I have never seen a dolphin grab one but they sure love to chase them and surprise them, it’s actually pretty funny!

Aimee is feeling much better tonight which is good being that we have dinner plans at the Avila Hotel tomorrow night, would hate to cancel that fun evening!  My feet are doing much better, this is the first night in 2 months that I don’t have a band-aid covering an open crack on my foot.  I am going to start wearing socks from now on, no more walking around bare foot.

Aimee just made us another meal from our new Newcastle Wyoming cookbook.  The friends I stayed with while fossil collecting a few months back sent me home with an awesome cook-book that was put together from recipes from all the surrounding ranches, I am loving it!  If this sounds of interest to you as well let me know and I will hook you up!

Hope you all have a great Valentines Day, talk to you tomorrow, Barry

February 13, 2009

Baby Hair

Hello everyone,  well, believe it or not Dolphins do have hair!  I only had a few guess that correctly so congrats to you guys, my dolphin experts!  Dolphins are born with just a few little hairs (around 6-8) as seen here on the sides of their rostrum and loose them within the first week.  This was taken on day five and if you look close one has already fallen out.  These little hairs will not re-grow once gone but the follicle’s or holes where the hairs used to be will remain visible for life.  This is another first for Aimee and I, we have been trying to get this shot for years but again it’s tougher than you think!  For the other questions I asked, here is the correct answers.

#1 Dolphins can swim at a top speed of 25mph, this is true.
#2 Bottlenose Dolphins have approximately 84-86 teeth, this is true.
#4 Dolphins nap at the surface, they do not sleep because they are voluntary breathers.  They rest at the surface with their heads floating and their bodies straight down rising every few moments for a breath of air.  This is true.

Aimee has now been sick with something for the past few days, seems like a bad cold or something?  So today I took the hounds on a little bike ride and sent mommy back to bed.  It’s been a very quiet day for the both of us nice to just relax a bit and catch up on odd projects.  Many have asked about my driftwood furniture and if I stopped making it.  I have one big table that I am still working on it still needs legs and a bit of decoration but I guess I have slowed down a bit, I do plan on getting it going again real soon.  Today I went to an ATM next door to a gas station.  I took out 25fl Guiders, like a $25 bill and handed it to the lady for gas.  She gave it back to me saying it’s no good because it had a tiny corner missing!  I said but I just took it out of your machine?  The look she gave me would have killed most people but I am strong and said ok lady I’ll go get you another and prayed it would be one without a tear this time!  I tell you the things we have to deal with some times here, it’s not always fun and games.

Have to go walk the dogs again, talk to you tomorrow, Barry

February 12, 2009

Baby-Dolphin-Tail

Good evening my hard working friends.  Here’s a fun picture your never going to see anywhere but here, this is Tikal’s little baby fluke at day four!  I have been trying for years to get a baby fluke shot but that’s way harder than you think because the babies hide along side momma for 99% of the time just swimming and feeding.  I still don’t know what Tikal was doing here?  It was like he was trying to use his tail for the first time and it just wouldn’t work it was really kind of funny!  This little tail is now all light grey.  He has lost all his dark baby colors and fetal fold marks and seems to keep changing a bit every day!

I have a trivia question for you all that will be answered tomorrow.  Which one of these four dolphin statements is TRUE??  And please no Google searches just take a guess.  Just say #1, 2, 3, or 4.

#1  Dolphins can reach speeds up to 35mph?
#2 Dolphins have approximately 150 teeth?
#3 Dolphins have hair?
#4 During the night dolphins sleep laying on their backs?

Oh yeah for all of you asking about Luke and Sharron all seems to be going Great!!  They should be in Rapid soon, keep your eyes open!!

Till tomorrow, Sunny regards, Barry

February 11, 2009

Newborn Baby Dolphin and Mother

Good evening blog readers how was the day?  Mine has been so busy starting at 5:30 in the morning.  Today was my first day off in eight days so I had tons of odds and ends to do and that kept me busy till around 1:00.   I had to go back to the doctors office to get my blood checked again for any remaining signs of Dengue.  When I first went in I had to use the restroom very bad and when I came out the doctor hands me a little cup for a urine sample??  I just stared at it thinking “you got to be kidding me”  I told her I just went and there’s nothing left, so she handed me the cup and said bring it back later in the day!  What a drag!  At 2:30 I loaded the bike on the car and took Inca to the windmills at Canoa.  We parked at the first windmill and rode to the little beach at the end, once there Inca went swimming and I collected sea shells, it was a really fun afternoon.  I love taking the dogs to this area because it’s a perfect place to wear them out, I ride they run what more could you ask for?

Here is another shot of DeeDee’s baby Tikal.  This was taken on the fourth day in the afternoon and as you can see the water was very calm.  Many thanks for all the messages we received today about yesterday’s photo.  I know a lot of you have waited a long, long time for these dolphin photos, thanks for being so patient.

It’s back to work tomorrow but Aimee is off that means the hounds will be in good hands!  See ya, Barry

February 10, 2009

Newborn Baby Dolphin and Mother

Good evening all, finally after over two months I am able to announce the birth of not one but two new baby dolphins!  On December 4th at approximately 6am DeeDee gave birth to this beautiful baby boy who we named Tikal.  On Christmas morning Tela (remember that’s Aimee’s favorite dolphin) gave birth to another beautiful baby boy who has yet to be named!  Now this is where you all can help.  Go to www.dolphin-academy.com <http://www.dolphin-academy.com>  and cast your vote for one of the four names we have selected, it’s right on the front page.  So I think it goes without saying that I have been photographing baby dolphins every chance I get, and have enjoyed every second of it!  You can’t believe how much fun these two little boys are having together and the trouble they are getting into, it’s just a thrill to watch.  Being that I have so many shots I am going to start by sending you pictures of the first baby “Tikal” kind of in the order I took them so you can see how they change in size and color in such a short amount of time.  This photo was taken 3 hours after birth.  On the first day I was in the water with many other trainers during the birth for three hours guarding a section of rocks in case the baby were to get away from momma and swim out of control, that never happened.  With Tela’s baby she had it at like 4:30 in the morning “Christmas” and not one soul ever had to enter the water, it went that well!  I have spent countless days swimming with the babies and my camera, I have tons of fun pictures to send you so sit back and enjoy!

No other real exciting news for you today.  Oh, yes Indi is doing very well after her surgery I have never seen a dog recover that fast!  We are still getting hit with rain, it’s the most I have seen since we have been here?  Hope you had a good Monday, mine went fast!  Curacao regards, Barry

February 9, 2009