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 ABOUTfeatured: 30 Best Snorkeling Blogs Fun Ways to enjoy the caribbeanArchive for May, 2010May 16, 10 Comments Off
Hello gang, it’s me again. I received a funny e-mail today from someone I have never met who just recently found our blog online at www.coralreefphotos.com. He asked me how in the World do you find time to do this every single day and asked how long I had been sending these out? I replied to him and told him that our daily blog is now in it’s seventh year and for the most part I have sent it out almost every day even if I am on vacation. Before we left the States I gave my word to friends and family that we will send out photos and reports to keep everyone at ease and to know that we are only a mouse click away.
I finally got the entrance to my new trail opened today but still need an exit, I am very close to being done. While at my entrance this morning I saw the end of a bottle sticking out of the side of a dirt bank and went over to investigate. I slowly pulled it out and to my surprise it was not only complete it was a major find. It’s a beautiful “blob top” bottle all hand blown with bubbles in the glass most likely dating back to the early 1800′s, it’s very cool. Aimee and I always find broken ones but this is our complete one.
Here’s a new fish for you all tonight and for me as well, these are called Bermuda Chubs or Yellow Chubs. This school as kind of moved into our area over the past year and this was the first time I was able to get close enough for a shot. These are considered “silver fish” or fish with “sloping heads” and are very difficult to shoot because the flash can easily kill the side of the fish because it’s so reflective. These cool fish are around 1-2 feet in length and travel around in schools but love to be close to the reef or along rock walls as you see here.
I am worn out from another day of “puppy babysitting” I have cleaned up more pee than a man should have to and have moped the house around 10 times today!!
Till tomorrow, Barry
May 16, 10 Comments Off
Good morning again from Curacao! Very sorry about these morning blogs I just haven’t had the time or energy to get them out in the evening. Yesterday I did two dives at work, one with Tela and Pasku in the morning and the other with my friends John and Laura in the afternoon. This is our dolphin Annie below taken on Friday with George (yellow fins) petting her. The dolphin dives we offer are nothing short of spectacular. Divers usually arrive by boat and descend to a certain depth and wait for George or another trainer like Junior or Zenzi to bring the dolphins or dolphin as you see here to the waiting divers. Once our dolphins are outside in the wild open ocean we really have little control over their behavior meaning they have to choose to come and join the divers we don’t or can’t make them. Also the dolphins are not fed or rewarded for this activity until after the 30-60 minute dive so trust me when I say there is a lot of training and trust that goes into this. On most mornings the dolphins will show up the same time our trainer does but then they usually take off to explore and to make sure the area is safe before coming back to the divers. These dives are great because unlike our other programs here you can actually see a dolphin in it’s natural habitat doing what dolphins do. Many times the dolphins are above our heads surfing the waves or in Tela’s case out catching fish or squid. Here you can see Annie stopping for a moment to allow divers to take photos and if your a good diver and move slowly you can swim up to her and pet her.
The puppies continue to grow and are as cute as can be but so far no homes in sight? Aimee and I are working hard at keeping them safe and the potty training continues.
I have to go walk to waiting dogs, talk to you more tonight, Barry
May 15, 10 Comments Off
Good morning all, after work yesterday our friend Tom who will be taking one of the puppies soon stopped by and said, “take the night off on me”!! He paid for dinner and a movie for us while he stayed and watched the puppies and without much argument for either one of us off we went for a fun night out. We went to see Iron Man 2 and it was as great as the first, it was solid packed action all the way thru.
I did a fun dolphin dive yesterday morning out on the reef with our dolphin Annie and our head trainer George and a group of divers from Ocean Encounters. I will also be out this morning as well but this time with Tela and Pasku, the two dolphins on the front of the recent Sport Diver cover so I need to hurry and get moving.
Here’s my little Saffron Finch again, this is the same bird I sent you a few months back as I have a matting pair that now live here at the house. Aimee and I put food out for all the birds about three times a day and I built it next to these beautiful Peacock Flowers making a beautiful backdrop.
I have to go, see you tonight, Barry
May 13, 10 Comments Off
Good evening, it’s me again! Here’s another fun shot from a few days ago, this is a pair of Foureye Butterflyfish moving thru the reef at top speed! The species gets its common name from a large dark spot on the rear portion of each side of the body. This spot is surrounded by a brilliant white ring, resembling an eye. A black vertical bar on the head runs through the true eye, making it hard to see. This pattern may result in a predator confusing the back end of the fish for the front end. The Four-eyed Butterflyfish’s first instinct when threatened is to flee, putting the false eye spot closer to the predator than the head. Most predators aim for the eyes, and this false eye spot tricks the predator into believing that the fish will flee tail first. When escape is not possible, a Four-eyed Butterflyfish will sometimes turn to face its aggressor, head lowered and spines fully erect, like a bull about to charge. This may serve to intimidate the other animal or may remind the predator that the butterflyfish is much too spiny to make a comfortable meal.
I honestly woke up this morning with good intentions to take it easy and relax today but that didn’t happen! I left the house at 6:30 this morning and went to Saint Joris and worked on the trail for 3 hours until it was too hot to continue. Once home, and after washing the dogs and taking care of the three amigos (puppies) I put air in my tires on the bike and took off for a 2 hour bike ride back to Saint Joris to give the new trail a little try and it was great! Although it’s still not finished and it’s still too short what I have done is super fun, I think I have close to a mile in now. This was the first time that I ever did a long ride in the heat of the day and all in all it wasn’t bad even though now I am completely wiped out and off to bed!
Going diving in the morning out in the ocean with the dolphins will try to get something nice to send you!! Take care and thanks for the notes, Barry
May 12, 10 Comments Off
Good evening friends, this is the ultra-cool pickup truck that we found deep out on the reef at Vaersenbaai the other day. I had found this truck years ago and honestly didn’t think I could find it again as it is such a long ways down the reef and also it’s very deep! I think my dive buddy John thought I was kidding or exaggerating when I first told him that once we enter the water we will have to inflate or BC’s and swim on our backs for a long, long ways to the start point. Our swim was around one fourth of a mile and took around 25 minutes, that’s the down side to this dive but once there it’s worth the journey. Before we went under John and I both caught our breath and relaxed and then with an “OK signal” down we went. We immediately swam down to 60 feet and then to 80 because if your going to find this wreck you have to begin the search at this depth. To my surprise moments after starting I saw the outline of the truck way below us sitting on the side of a coral hill at 130 feet. I immediately banged on my tank and pointed down but was having problems with one of my ears so I signaled to John to go ahead without me and start taking photos. I hovered at 100 feet watching as John swam all around checking it out and finally after my ear popped I was able to go down and join him. Once in position I again signaled to John to hover above the truck as it was starting to look like a “Kodak Moment” It is so difficult to light up a large object in deep water, talk about a challenge! At this depth we can only stay for a few minutes. The sun wasn’t shining above us making it seem even deeper and darker than normal. As we ascended up to 100 feet we started seeing other cars and car-parts everywhere, it’s a place very similar to the car-pile in front of Breezes. You can see the nice cluster of yellow sponges below where the door used to be but most of the truck is covered in some kind of green algae or sea weed of sorts, I didn’t see much coral. Anyone wanting to go here let me know, I love this place and would love to keep exploring because there must be other cool vehicles down there still to find and photograph.
Today was the last of our super busy days for awhile everyone is tired! The puppies are fine, we still have no home for the two black ones but potty training and great care continues!
See you tomorrow, Barry
May 12, 10 Comments Off
Hello friends, months ago someone asked me if there was anything you could make with a coconut and at the time I couldn’t think of anything! Well the other day as I walked by our Sea Aquarium gift shop I noticed all these brightly colored coconut fish hanging in the window and had to check it out. Turns out some local artist is making these and doing quite well selling them for around $45 each. They have around 15 different colors to choose from and no two are alike as you can well imagine, some kind of look like a real fish and others are just crazy and colorful. Anyways I thought it was different enough to send out for your viewing pleasure!
I won’t put you asleep with the story of my day but it was again like trying to set a Worlds record in doing as much as a human can do in a day, I am wiped out! The puppies are getting bigger and look great, so far so good we just need to adopt out the two black ones and then we are home free!
Off to bed, talk to you tomorrow, Barry
May 10, 10 Comments Off
Good evening from Curacao. Here’s a real shocker for you all tonight, this is what a dying coral reef looks like up close and personal! I can’t even begin to tell you how beautiful this reef USED to be just two short years ago. Hurricane Omar hit our South coast line with such force that it just wiped out everything in the shallows and as you can see here even in deeper water as well. When a Hurricane comes to shore it drives massive waves with it that completely churn up the ocean bottom. This means the sponges are the first to go as they are so delicate and are only attached at the bottom to some kind of solid substrate. The corals immediately get covered in silt and sand and slowly choke to death as there is no current to flush the sand away and your end result is this, just barren mounds of rock where corals and sponges used to call home. While swimming thru this mess we saw so many different kinds and colors of algae and moss that are now taking over making it impossible for new coral growth to begin. Also the water temp here at Varsenbaai was warmer than usual which also is a clear sign of Global Warming and is the fuel that keeps the alga’s growing.
Yet another super busy day at the aquarium today, this sure has been two busy weeks!! Many thanks for the countless compliments on the Sea Lion photo from yesterday, boy was that ever an unseen hit with everyone!!
It’s off to bed, the puppies are wearing us out!! Barry
May 9, 10 Comments Off
Good evening once again, I hope all the moms out there are having a wonderful Mother’s Day, live it up this is your day!!!!
Here’s something a little different for you all this evening, this is Yukiko our top female sea lion trainer getting a big wet kiss from Nemo our biggest male Patagonian Sea Lion! Nemo is eight years old, he was born in Isla de Lobos, Uruguay and weighs 263 kilograms, that’s around 578 pounds folks!! Two years ago Nemo became the proud father of Mapuche who can be seen daily swimming around the sea lion lagoon looking as cute as can be. Nemo eats around 10-18 kilograms of fish a day which is around 39 pounds. These sea lions have around 36 teeth and have 6 canines, 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom, this is not an animal you want to mess with! You can see from this profile why they are called Sea Lions, they really have a lot in common with a real African lion and in time Nemo with also have a mane of hair that will grow thicker ever year. These animals can hold their breath for 5-12 minutes and dive to depths of 1000 feet! That’s really amazing! The good news is that Patagonian Sea Lions are one of the few animals out there that are doing well and on the “least concern” list meaning their numbers are strong. But, over fishing has caused a drop in their numbers over the past 10 years! I want to say Yukiko is very brave to say the least, I was scared just taking the picture, but I was assured by her and her boyfriend Johnny that all was good! They told me like any other animal even dolphins they have their good days and their bad and they know by his actions what kind of day he is having. Nemo does this fabulous show everyday that you just have to see to believe so come on down to the Curacao Sea Aquarium and see him and his family for yourself, you won’t be disappointed!
My day has been go from the start again and am half asleep right now. I left the house at 6:30am and picked up our friend and dolphin trainer Junior who wanted to help me with my new trail. We spent three hours out there and got so much done today, he was like a trail cutting machine!! At 1:00 I met my friend John who just got here from Holland and off we went to Varsenbaai, a place I had not been to for two years or since Omar! We swam on our backs for 20 minutes up the coast and then down we went in search of a sunken pick-up truck that I found years ago. To my surprise we found it but it was deeper than I had remembered, it was at 125 feet! We could only stay there for a few minutes so I shot fast and then off we went to safer depths. Once we got to 40 feet we relaxed a bit more and then ended up staying at around 35 the whole way back. The sad news is that this dive site is trashed beyond believe!! And not with human trash but with so many different kinds of alga which is killing all the coral and sponges! Apparently when Omar went thru those monster waves covered the reef with sand killing most of the corals! And we also noticed today that the water temperature was way to warm! Global Warming is alive and well and is really knocking out our corals, if this continues it will be a nightmare for the Caribbean reef systems! Varsenbaai is a place I dove three times a week just two years ago as it was so spectacular now it’s nothing but a memory, really, really sad!
Ok, I am so tired, it’s off to bed, see you tomorrow, Barry
May 8, 10 Comments Off
Hi Friends, I first want to send a big warm hug to my mom in Tucson, Arizona and wish her a “Happy Mothers Day”!! I unfortunately don’t get to see my mom or friends much as we are so far away on what seems like another planet at times!! My mom who’s name is Joy, is one of about four people on the list that replies to almost every blog I send out and should get a medal for that alone!! I have tried and tried to get her to come down here and visit but she is just not an “outside girl” but makes up for it by sending us goodies and being my number one fan with constant support filled with compliments. So momma, even though we never get to see you thanks for everything you do!! And for all my other mothers out there I wish you the best on your special day as well and hope the men in your lives didn’t forget or drop the ball!!
Aimee and I are still struggling with the puppies, yes they are cute and cuddly but man-o-man are they ever a lot of work!! Aimee gets up every night now at 1:00am and takes them for a walk outside and then again at 5:00, she usually goes to work half asleep and in a daze!! Please help us with a home for the two black ones, the pictures can be seen on the www.coralreefphotos.com site so send your friends there to check them out, the brown puppy is taken.
Once again, Happy Mothers Day to all and to all a good night!! Love, Barry and Aimee
May 7, 10 Comments Off
Good evening, I got an e-mail today asking for a “Crazy Water” photo and found this one from many months back. This was a very calm water morning and if memory serves me correctly this is our friends Michelle and Eline walking across a wooden bridge on their way to work. I remember them yelling at me “what are you taking a picture of Mr. Brown”?? I yelled back, YOU!, and the look on their faces was priceless and confused. Most people now at the aquarium have learned to just except the fact that I photograph everything and that it’s best to not ask questions and just wait to see the final product!
Today was yet another mega busy day!! Thank goodness for the help of a friend coming over to watch the puppies or we would have been in a whole lot of trouble! The puppies are currently still under strict house arrest as the deadly Parvo virus is alive and well in Curacao! Every time we walk in or out we mop the floor with bleach and we are only walking them in one area out back and this must continue for three more weeks!
Have a great weekend, Barry
May 6, 10 Comments Off
Good evening from Curacao. Here’s a little action packed photo from a recent dive I did a few weeks ago. This is not Photoshoped! I went on a dive and set my camera’s shutter speed very low and was able to create the illusion of speed (called Panning) but found this is a very difficult thing to do underwater. I learned you can only do this in very low light conditions meaning one must dive either early in the morning or late in the afternoon otherwise there is just too much light. This is a Banded Butterflyfish at the top a Blue Tang below and a bunch of Yellow Wrasse to the left and chunks of Fire Coral below and to the right. I haven’t been diving much lately as we are just too busy taking care of the puppies, it’s a round the clock job!!
Another busy day of trail building, running errands and working around the house and of course taking care of the little sweethearts who still are in need of a home, hint, hint. We did do another puppy photo shoot the other night and managed to get some really great shots I will have to send those your way. Just got home from carrying 15 liters of water out into the desert and filling up all my water stations, the birds and animals are loving it!!
Off to bed, Barry
May 5, 10 Comments Off
Good evening readers, this is going to be super short because I am so tired after one of the busiest days ever!!
On Queens Day when I took Bernard and Rosa for a walk-about around the crowded city of Punda we found this big beautiful Punda Mosaic leaning up against the wall on the Outrabanda side of the harbor. It was made in 1988 but depicts a common everyday scene from the early 1800′s, it was really beautiful and looked super heavy!! You have to look carefully but each piece was made by hand, painted and fired then set in this monster frame for all to see, I was kind of shocked that it was just sitting out in the street as it looks like it should be in a museum!
Sorry so short my little brain is fried, talk to you tomorrow, Barry
May 5, 10 Comments Off
Good morning, it’s 5:00am, I have to take Bernard and Rosa to the airport in a few minutes and I’m sitting here half asleep just staring at the computer! Yesterday went by so fast again as I kept busy with something new every hour. I met our friend Michelle at Saint Joris at 7:30, she then helped me with the new trail while our dogs had a great time chasing and playing with each other. After that I came home and unfortunately woke the puppies up so then I had to spend the next hour taking care of them. The puppies are doing great but are so much work!! I then took off around town for two hours doing errands while Bernard and Rosa went on an island tour on the four wheelers. In the afternoon I cleaned my bike and then went on a bike ride with the local group at 4:30 and returned home at 6:00. Bernard and Rosa took us out to eat last night at a place called El Gaucho, it was really fun and the food was great.
This is a beautiful hard to find and hard to photograph Rainbow Parrotfish that I found the other day out in front of the World Famous Dive Bus Hut. This is hands down one of the most colorful fish on the reef but trying to get close to one can be quite a challenge! I don’t see many of these on most dives but did see a bunch of them while in Bonaire especially on the rough side of the island. Many years back I sent you a photo of one of these I did shoot in Bonaire and it was close to five feet in length with Aimee in the background. This is one of the largest species of parrotfish on Earth growing to a maximum size of five and a half feet!!
Just got back from the airport, I have to get to work, see you tonight, Barry
May 3, 10 Comments Off
Hi Friends, I received a few requests asking for a photo from Queens Day in Punda and I think this one is pretty fun. Like I said a few blogs back, on Queens Day it was wall to wall people either eating and drinking or selling and buying. I came across this stand in downtown Punda and just had to stop and check it out. These are wooden shoes from Holland or as they are called here, Clogs or Klompen’s. Why wear wooden shoes you ask?? And what kind of folks are wearing or buying them, well here’s your answer. Farmers, market-gardeners and so on are most of the time wearing wooden shoes. That is because it’s very handy to wear them when you walk on dirty ground. It’s also to protect yourself. You can wear boots of rubber, so you won’t get dirty feet, socks and trousers (at the underside of course). But there are some disadvantages when you wear boots instead of wooden shoes! If you are a gardener you probably won’t need wooden shoes, but if you are a farmer and you have some dangerous, sharp objects on your farmyard, and it would be everything except nice to have the weight of a cow on, a nail, a point of a pitchfork or something like that in your feet, therefore you can better wear wooden shoes, because
Wooden shoes used to be made entirely by hand, but now they are made by machines. Making wooden shoes by hand has almost completely disappeared. Only at some places in Holland you can watch people who make wooden shoes just as in the past, like the old artisans.
To make wooden shoes of a piece of wood you need to have professional knowledge. The artisan gets this professional knowledge out of experience, but you have to have some natural ability. For more info on Clogs check out www.cloggieshop.com That’s it for this evening, a big thanks for all the compliments on yesterdays photo, as usual you guys are the best!! Be back tomorrow, Barry
May 2, 10 Comments Off
Good evening readers, someone asked me yesterday what speed island life in Curacao runs at and I told them in two words, fast and slow!! If your out driving around you would think most of the islanders are late for an important date or something because they drive so fast and seem to be in such a hurry to get nowhere??! But if your at the store, and I mean any store or a restaurant or the airport you will swear your on another planet because everything is in slow motion!! Like many counties, Curacao shuts down and closes it’s doors for business from 12:00 in the afternoon till 2:00 everyday!! For those of you who have never experienced this consider yourselves lucky because it is frustrating!! For Aimee and I one of the worst things we have to do here is go to get our local ID’s every year at a place that put’s the “S” in SLOW!! Almost all business’s in Curacao operate on the “take a number and sit down and shut up policy”! Over the years we have found out they use this system because there are not enough employees to help the customers and ones that are helping are running on dead batteries and seem to be in no rush to help the poor waiting customer. Maybe this is why everyone is driving so fast?? You just stood in line at the bank or at the phone company for an hour or two and now your late getting back to work, hey, I think I just solved the mystery!! Walking around Punda the other day I saw so many “locals” in alleys and back streets just doing their own thing which in most cases is close to being in trouble. I was approached today when I shot this photo from two or three homeless guys not begging for money but asking if they could wash my car but my answer is always the same, “the salt and rust is what is holding it together so thanks but no thanks”!
It’s been a mega busy day again, took photos in Punda this morning, did a dive with Bernard, went to Saint Joris to pick up some wood and took the dogs for a walk, it’s game over!! Bernard and Rosa like so many others that have come to visit brought us some very unique gifts. One is a tin filled with candy but is the hands down most beautiful tin I have ever seen. It’s a jungle scene in full color with animals in relief meaning they are almost 3-D, it’s really cool! He also brought us some of the coolest currency from South Africa where he is from, I will be photographing it for you to see for yourself so be looking for that in the near future!
Off to bed, see you tomorrow, Barry
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