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 ABOUTfeatured: 30 Best Snorkeling Blogs Fun Ways to enjoy the caribbeanArchive for July, 2010Jul 17, 10 Comments Off
Do you have the feeling that “someone or something is watching you”??? Living here in Curacao and walking in the desert or the bush you get that feeling a lot! I once asked a local guy why I don’t see more Iguanas, I know they are here but I just never really see them. He told me that Iguanas spend most of their day high in the tree tops where they can bask in the sun or they find a nice big rock somewhere to crash on. So I recently started looking harder and sure enough if you walk under most big deciduous trees and look up you can see a tail or the underside of a belly just laying there completely motionless. When we went to Christoffel Park with our friend Junior (who is from Roatan) he would constantly spot poop on the trail and look up and point to an iguana way up high hanging out in a tree! I think we ended up calling him “Iguana Man” or something like that but he said where he comes from in Roatan they are everywhere and as a child they learn how to spot them because most locals eat them. I found this one the other day right in our own backyard high up in a tree just bathing in the warm morning sun. He was just watching me do my thing from high above and seemed very content laying there but moments later when I went to check on him again he was gone or I was looking right at him and never saw him as the blend in so well with their natural surroundings.
Yesterday was day four with the sub and all went well! We had our first actual paying customers and they had a GREAT time to say the least! On the first sub ride at 9:30 we took the passengers to two sunken tugboats at 200 feet and then down deeper to explore the reef at 350 feet. Later on, the second run they took the group to a massive sunken ship that lays in about 450 feet of water out in front of Mambo Beach, everyone had a great time! For all of you asking about prices and the website be patient and keep checking back, they are working on it and it should be done soon, I will also get some of my sub photos on there for you to see as well.
It rained again yesterday and last night so it’s still green around here. Off to the sub, Barry
Jul 15, 10 Comments Off
Hoi, Hallo, and Goedendag to everyone this fine evening, I thought a little Dutch greeting would be perfect for tonight! Well we had a nice cool overcast day with just a touch of rain and very little sun. I am quickly finding out that overcast days and wide angle photography do not mix unless you can stay in shallow water. Until recently I never realized just how important the sun can be when shooting large objects like the mini-sub, it makes all the difference in the World! Today was another day of basically testing the sub and taking a few lucky folks out for a short ride and of course I followed and took a few photos. Today after the sub left me at 50 feet and took off into the deep a friend and I scouted the reef for possible areas to do future photo shoots with the sub. We ended up finding this big Orange Elephant Ear sponge and 70 feet so we swam up to 40 feet and waited until the sub came back and then did a quick test with the sub and the sponge, it’s gonna be great!
Here’s four colorful Blackbar Soldierfish hanging out behind a giant sea fan. This is a very common reef fish and for the most part easy to photograph as they seem to be more curious than scared. I still remember when Aimee’s sister was here diving and after the first dive I asked her “out of all the fish you just saw what was your favorite”?? Yep you guessed it. Soldierfish are in the family of Squirrelfish or as they are know by in the scientific community Myripristis jacobus, say that ten times real fast!
I need to work on a dozen other things tonight, still see you tomorrow, Barry
Jul 14, 10 Comments Off
“Houston we have lift off”, breaking the bonds of Earths underwater world has long been one of humanity’s greatest dreams and most difficult challenges. Since we first began to have conscious thought, we have looked to the sea, hoping someday to explore it. Well folks the underwater World is now at your fingertips, it’s just a mouse click away and trust me when I say, it’s one of the coolest things you may ever do!! Look at this baby, it’s hundreds of years of innovation all put together into one small deluxe package! The day started with everyone working on the sub and me getting my underwater equipment ready. There are countless tests that have to be done in the sub before it hits the water not to mention charging batteries, checking the lights, adding more lead for weight and so on and so forth. Finally at around 2:00 today the big white garage door opened and out rolled the new Curacao Mini Sub. It was like a scene from “Top Gun” when the pilots came walking out (in slow motion) all decked out in their uniforms and then climbed into those beautiful jets! Then within minutes they had it tied to a big crane with heavy duty straps and gently lifted into the ocean and parked it in it’s specially made dock. They then did all kinds of water tests while it was still attached to the crane and moments later the signal was given and the sub was released from the crane and slowly departed on it’s first ever voyage in Curacao waters. I quickly shot photo after photo and followed the sub on a short but fun tour of the reef with a maximum depth of only 60 feet, remember this was only a test run. We ended up doing two short dives, the second was with a group of photographer and writers that are here from “American Way” magazine, “you know the magazine that is on all the American Airlines flights”, they are doing a story on the dolphins and the sub so keep your eyes out for that the next time you fly. So I think it’s safe to say the first day went really well, they are now open for business. You can make your reservations by contacting me or go to www.substation-curacao.com Stay tuned for more.
My week is really messed up with the arrival of the sub, I will now have to work both my days off but still plan on taking Sunday off as usual. All is well, see you tomorrow, Barry
Jul 13, 10 Comments Off
Hello Friends, have you ever stopped to consider how many people are saying ”Hello” to each other today, and in how many different languages? If you want to say “hello” to everyone on the planet, you would have to learn at least 2,796 languages and greet at least 6,500,000,000 people, good luck with that!
Well good news everyone, the Curacao Mini-Sub has arrived!! They say “good things come to those who wait” and as you can see here it was worth the wait! This is a custom made one of a kind five passenger mini-sub hand crafted with pride by our friends at Nuytco Research in Canada. www.nuytco.com This sub has three main windows, one in front and one on each side and will take it’s passengers to depths of 1000 feet! For those of you thinking “oh yeah I want one to” get your check books out and just start writing zero’s, you will need a million bucks to start! The sub arrived today in this big container on the back of a semi-truck and then the container was hoisted off the truck and onto the ground. Next they ever so slowly pulled it out, actually Dutch our faithful leader pulled it out, that’s him in the white back-hoe. It actually took quite awhile to get it out of the container as they had to attach wheels to the sled that it sits on and then once attached they rolled the sub into it’s new home. The yellow buildings in the back were made just for the sub. There is a full shop with air and supplies, a cozy little garage where the sub will sleep in cool air-co during the night and offices on the right, that’s were I will be working now. I think it’s safe to say everyone was happy and relieved to see it arrived in good shape and if all goes well we may have it in the water tomorrow. Check out the new web site for the sub at www.substation-curacao.com and trust me when I say this sub ride is worth every penny! This is your chance to see something that very few humans have ever seen and who knows you may even spot something down there that no one has ever seen before, so bring your camera!
After taking photos all day I met a friend for a super fun hour and a half bike ride at 5:00. This morning I cleaned up an old section of the World Cup course and tonight we rode it. That’s about it, have lots to do tonight still, talk to you tomorrow, Barry
Jul 11, 10 Comments Off
Good evening all, this one’s for Aimee tonight, this is her favorite flower called Frangipani or Plumeria. As the story goes, a year ago Aimee was walking around near Punda and passed some gardeners trimming a giant Frangipani Tree. She grabbed a freshly cut piece and brought it home and immediately placed it in water and set it in our kitchen window where it stayed for next two to three months until it finally had roots. Next we bought a big pot and planted it in fresh soil and placed it outside for the first time since she brought it home and weeks later it started to grow. It then stayed in the pot outside on our porch for the next few months until she finally asked the gardeners if they would plant it outside in our garden where it has been ever since. Because of all this rain it finally started to really grow and this week we had the first flowers! Plumeria flowers are most fragrant at night in order to lure sphinx moths to pollinate them. The flowers have no nectar, and simply dupe their pollinators. The moths inadvertently pollinate them by transferring pollen from flower to flower in their fruitless search for nectar. Plumeria is related to the Oleander, Nerium Oleander, and both possess poisonous, milky sap, rather similar to that of Euphorbia. Each of the separate species of Plumeria bears differently shaped alternate leaves and their form and growth habits are also distinct.
Well lets see, what’s going on? We all thought Holland would win the World Cup of Soccer today but Spain took home the gold, we have a whole lot of disappointed folks here tonight! Lance Armstrong is currently 12 minutes behind in the Tour de France and doesn’t think he will be able to make up that much time but may concentrate on a stage win instead. Big congrats to Andy Schleck for winning a very tough stage of the Tour de France today, he’s one of the top riders that comes to Curacao every year and we always end up running into him and his brother Frank.
I took the dogs to the beach this morning and bagged trash while they played and then spent the rest of the day at home on the computer. That’s about it gang, be back tomorrow, Barry
Jul 11, 10 Comments Off
Good morning, last month I sent you a picture of the big arch that is underwater at Eastpoint and many asked what is it made of? It is an all natural rock formation most likely made up of limestone. We have a place in the States called Arches National Park, it’s an area filled with many different types of natural rock arches (on land)and this underwater one is very similar to one of those. The orange spots you see on the arch are closed Orange Cup Corals and the yellow spots are small yellow sponges, those are the two main animals that live on the arch. Aimee and I will be going back here again in the next few weeks weather permitting, there are thousands of great shots there just waiting to be made so stay tuned for more.
I worked on turtle pictures for another possible magazine article all day yesterday and will be doing the same today, it’s amazing how tired one can get sitting at a computer all day!!??
From what I hear our little male puppy is doing well at his new home, we sure do miss him! I am taking the other 3 to Saint Joris this morning to clean trash again no matter what anyone else says!
Have a wonderful Sunday, I should be starting my new job working with the new Curacao Mini Sub on Monday which should open up a whole new World of photos to send out to you all!
Later, Barry
Jul 9, 10 Comments Off
Hello everyone, thanks a zillion for all the Birthday wishes on Facebook and via e-mail it was really great! I came home today and had 126 messages on the computer, that’s a new record! Here in Curacao and in Holland if it’s your birthday you have to make or buy your own birthday cake and take it to your friends at work, it’s the total opposite in America where normally someone buys you a cake and surprises you with it. So thanks to my dear wife she made two big chocolate cakes and took them into work today and within minutes they were gone!
I have had many readers ask me what do sea turtles eat in the wild?? Well that’s a good question and really I have only observed turtles eating twice, once a juvenile Green Turtle eating sea grass and this small Hawksbill Turtle seen here digging in the coral rubble searching for tunicates or small mollusks. Hawksbill turtles feed primarily on sponges. They show a large level of feeding selectivity in the way that they only eat certain species of sponges, some of which are toxic to other animals. Jellyfish and other coelenterates are also common prey items. These turtles are omnivorous and also eat mollusks, fish, marine algae, crustaceans, and other sea plants and animals. A preferred feeding ground of the turtles is in shallow shoals abundant with brown algae. Their sharp, narrow beaks are used to feed on prey found in reef crevices. I watched for quite awhile as this guy dug in the dead coral, he would grab a piece of rock and pick it up with his beak and move it to the side and then go back to see what was underneath, he did this over and over and would occasionally find a small “something” to eat. After following him for an hour and seeing how much work he went thru to find food it just plain left me with a very depressed feeling, I just don’t know how they survive??
Our little male puppy is gone!! I am very sad this evening and am missing him very much even though he’s just next door at his new home! I pray he has a restful night and quickly adapts to his new home, he will be missed!
Thanks again for all the kind notes and cards it’s great to have friends. Goodnight, Barry
Jul 9, 10 Comments Off
Hi friends, I am waking up very tired and exhausted this morning! I first went out early and did some roadside macro flower photography and then at 8:00 Aimee and I took our pack of dogs to Saint Joris for a morning of fun in the sun. The puppies ran and ran and played and played and by the time they got back to the car they could hardly keep their eyes open, they ended up sleeping the rest of the day. We ended up celebrating my B-Day yesterday even though it is today and it was a blast. Aimee brought back a pile of presents from the States and it was like Christmas in July! A big thanks to everyone, I loved everything! In the afternoon I finally got fed up with trying to shoot flowers in the wind and ended clipping a few and bringing them home to shoot instead. I used my little studio area I made with a black velvet background and just natural light from a window behind and it worked perfectly, no more moving flowers. I found some new tiny orange flowers out along the road that open at around 8:00 in the morning and close up completely in just two hours and some new yellow ones that close by 10:00, that seems like a very short time to be open for business. It’s still raining here off and on and it looks like rain is on it’s way this morning so our island is nice and green again. At 4:00 Aimee dropped me and my bike off near Jan Thiel and I rode to a friends house then we both headed to the North coast for a fast two hour ride. I did get to ride my new trail at Saint Joris yesterday it’s still in good shape, it just needs a little more bike traffic. After the bike ride I raced home and got ready for a fun night out on the town for dinner and by the time we got home I was so tired and said “no blog tonight”!
Your photo this morning is of a beautiful male Hairy Blenny poking his head out of his home wondering just what I am doing? These are some of the largest of the blennies reaching a length of 9 inches!! That’s pretty impressive. The males are so beautiful but the females are very plain looking, kind of spotted with vague to distinct banding. Both the male and the female can change colors very quickly to suit their surroundings as well and for the most part like many other blennies are complete unafraid of divers and can be closely observed! When I found this guy he was courting and mating with the female and yes I have photos of them both together. For those of you wanting to find these it’s actually very simple, they love very shallow water like 1 to 3 meters and it has to be rocky, I find them on most dives right where I get in the water. Of course the down side to that is shallow water and photography can be very difficult with the incoming waves so pick a calm morning.
It’s off to work, be back tonight, thanks again for all the presents family members you guys rock! Barry
Jul 7, 10 Comments Off
Good evening friends, just a quick note to say hi and to tell you some great news, we found a home for the last puppy!!! Our next door neighbor Sylvia stopped by yesterday and asked if we still had the puppies. She said she was interested in finding another dog as they will soon be moving to the Western part of the island near Soto and will have a bigger yard. So our little man found a great home, his new parents are really great people and he will be treated like a little king, cool huh!! Well speaking of the puppies, Aimee and Sylvia took all the dogs this morning to Saint Joris for the first time ever and they had an absolute blast! In fact they slept all day from complete exhaustion!
Aimee and I are headed to the movies tonight so I need to speed things up. I found this shot yesterday hidden in a pile of photos that eventually need to be checked out one by one. The photo pretty much speaks for itself, this is a female Bottlenose dolphin with her new born calf, one of the many great things we have seen over the years here in Curacao at the Dolphin Academy and the custom built Sea Aquarium. By far one of the coolest things I have seen here on this trip has been the birth of a baby dolphin and then getting to watch it grow up day after day, it’s truly a beautiful thing!
I have to go, see you tomorrow, Barry
Jul 6, 10 Comments Off
Hi readers of the blog, welcome to another night of “what’s going on in Curacao”! Here’s a new flower I found today. We have a local book on the island called “Our plants and trees” where I found this information, “This comes from a flowering tree called, Cordia dentata, Clammy cherry, Lolbolly tree or White manjack. Here on the island of Curacao the locals call this Karawara or Karawara di Mondi and the Dutch call it just Karawara. This tree has oval-round leaves and are rough to the touch. When flowering it grows large umbels of small yellowish white flowers which is similar to the European elder. After the blooming period, large, white, glassy berries are formed on the flower stems. The contents of these berries are very sticky. Many birds are very fond of these fruits. The bare-eyed pigeon swallows the berries whole but smaller birds which peck at the berries get the sticky substance on their beaks and when trying to rub it off on some branch they usually drop seeds on the ground which in time will make new trees. The branches of this tree are being used as ribs in small boats and the locals here put the berries in drinking water to give it a fresh taste. Also the flowers can be put into a container of drinking water and drunk during the day to “refresh” the kidneys.”
This morning I took the dogs for a nice long walk without the camera and ended up seeing a bunch of cool stuff so the minute I got back home I grabbed the camera and went back out to re-find and shoot what I had seen earlier. We had a nice rain go over this morning and after it was dead calm making it a perfect time to shoot flowers. I back home again around 10:00 and it was hot and humid so after a shower I took for an afternoon of running errands and then spent the rest of the day on the Mac! At 5:00 I went for a fast one hour ride with some friends and came home very tired. That’s about it guys, puppies are still doing great, we are walking them so much every day that they have no time to even think about being bad!
Off to bed, have a wonderful Wednesday! Barry
Jul 5, 10 Comments Off
Hi gang, how was your Fourth of July?? Send us some stories of what activities you all did would love to hear about it. There were no fireworks here last night, I think that’s a first but all in all it’s been fairly quiet around here, doesn’t seem to be that many tourists around lately.
I found this close-up shot of a Caribbean Squid and his beautiful colors from a night dive I did a few months ago. I remember this squid was circling around me flashing what looked like every color under the rainbow, it was such a great show and I had a front row seat! Many don’t know that squid skin is translucent. The color comes from pigment cells, called chromatophores, located in the outer layer of skin. These chromatophores appear as small patches or dots. Chromatophores in Caribbean Reef Squid contain red, yellow, blue, green, purple, orange, maroon or brownish-black pigments. Muscles controlled by nerve fibers control the chromatophores. Different nerve fibers control different colored chromatophores. This allows the squid to selectively retract or expand sets of chromatophores and to increase or decrease the amount of a selected color. By expanding the red chromatophores, as squid may do when excited, the squid will flush with a bright red color. Rapidly retracting all the chromatophores reduces all the colors and the squid appears colorless.
Not much news from Curacao for you tonight, the puppies are doing well and it’s great to have our Aimee home! I’ll be back tomorrow night, Barry
Jul 4, 10 Comments Off
Hi again everyone! A BIG late Happy Fourth of July to all my friends and readers in the States, I almost forgot! Yes living here with an all new set of Holidays it’s easy to forget our own. We usually have a fireworks display here at Breezes Hotel for all the Americans but it hasn’t started yet, when it does Inca will be going crazy!
I had a very calm and relaxing day for once! I first took the 4 dogs out for a two hour walk doing some macro flower photography along the way. I found a new area full of those tiny “starfish looking’ flowers and spent at least an hour trying to get a nice shot which I finally did accomplish! While shooting the two pups raced back and forth and dug holes in the dirt they had an absolute blast and upon my return home they crashed and slept the rest of the day, how cool is that! I watched movies while working on new photos in Photoshop and also cleaned up my computer room which looked like a tornado went thru. That’s about it for my day.
This is a beautiful Common Octopus all rolled up trying to blend in with the reef. When these octopus are out in the open and want to hide they either lay flat and change to dark colors or make them selves look like a coral head, it’s really pretty cool! Octopus are considered to be the most intelligent of all invertebrates, the common octopus “seen here” is found in the tropical and temperate waters of the world’s oceans. They can grow to about 4.3 feet (1.3 meters) in length and weigh up to 22 pounds (10 kilograms), although averages are much smaller. They prey on crabs, crayfish, and mollusks, and will sometimes use their ink to disorient their victims before attacking.
Hope everyone is doing well, have a safe evening, Barry
Jul 3, 10 Comments Off
Hi gang, I found another fun face out on our Sea Aquarium House Reef the other day and have been waiting to send it out. Yes, we all know by now what a vivid and wild imagination I have! When I am out on the reef I search for everything and believe it or not these natural faces are very hard to find! Usually when I find these Split-Crown Feather Dusters I have to ever so carefully and quietly sneak up on them because any sudden movement from you or your dive buddy will cause them to retract their crowns and disappear into their tubes! The featherduster worm lives in a tube that it makes from a combination of fine sand particles and mucus. It may have a calcareous (composed of or containing calcium carbonate) tube which it secretes. The worm’s body is made up of muscle, separated from the internal organs by a layer of fluid. The common name “featherduster” comes from the crown of tentacles attached in two groups, one on each side of its head. Internal skeletal rods support the tentacles. The featherduster worm uses its tentacles to breathe and to capture its food. The tentacles have fine cilia (tiny hairs) on them, and are grooved so that the particles are guided to the base of the tentacle. Featherduster worms found in deeper water tend to be larger than those found in shallower water. As you see here the featherduster has its tentacles extended to trap food particles as they pass by. The particles are then channeled to the base of the tentacles where they are sorted by size. The smallest particles are sent to the mouth and the medium-sized particles are used to build the tube. They are kept in ventral sacs where they are mixed with mucus. The sacs then secrete strands of mucus and sand and are sent to the collar at the top of the tube and in time the tube is lengthened as the worm rotates inside the tube. Once the tube is formed and firmly attached to a hard surface, the worms stay inside it for the rest of their lives. And remember I told you I had to sneak up on them in the beginning, well that’s because the tentacles contain light sensing spots. When a shadow passes over the worm, its muscular structure reacts instantly, and retracts the worm into the tube and then you must wait patiently for them to re-open.
We have the puppies back and so far it’s going surprisingly well which is mostly due to the us taking them out on the trails and running the energy out of them! Off to bed, later, Barry
Jul 2, 10 Comments Off
Good evening all and yes Aimee made it back to Curacao safe and sound! She arrived last night at around 8:00 and less than 20 minutes later was already thru customs and outside, that’s fast for Curacao! I must say I was a bit shocked at how much luggage she had, two monster size suitcases, a big backpack and her carry-on suitcase, that’s quite a load! Unfortunately she had no rest time and had to be back to work bright and early this morning and of course she is on another time zone so her sleeping and waking times are really messed up!
Here’s a beautiful colony of Christmas Tree Worms that I found the other day on our drift dive back from Directors Bay, I found these near the now destroyed and falling apart tugboat at Baya. Speaking of sunken tugboats here’s something I didn’t know, Saba which was were we have or should I say had the most beautiful sunken tugboat ever is now no longer a complete boat! I guess during Omar the tugboat at Saba got rolled and turned and the top part “the cabin” was completely separated from the rest of the ship, my best dive site is gone! At least I got the split level shots I did way back when it was a sight to behold! Anyways back to the picture. Here’s a great description of what your looking at from www.marinebio.org “The Christmas Tree Worm, Spirobranchus giganteus, is a Christmas tree-shaped serpulid tube-dwelling worm with magnificent twin spirals of plumes used for feeding and respiration. This cone-shaped worm is one of the most widely recognized sedentary polychaete worms. They come in many colors including orange, yellow, blue, and white and, though they are small with an average 3.8 cm in span, they are easily spotted due to their shape, beauty, and color. The colorful plumes, or tentacles, are used for passive feeding on suspended food particles and plankton in the water. The plumes are also used for respiration. Though the plumes are visible, most of the worm is anchored in its burrow that it bores into live calcareous coral. Christmas tree worms are very sensitive to disturbances and will rapidly retract into the burrow at the slightest touch or passing shadow. They typically re-emerge a minute later, very slowly, to test the water before fully extending their plumes.”
Have a great evening, be back tomorrow, Barry
Jul 1, 10 Comments Off
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Kayena!! This young little thing is becoming more and more like her father Copan everyday who as many of you know is the King of jumping! Most dolphins can reach a height of 15-30 feet in the air and once there soar for quite a ways! This is a behavior that has been taught but dolphins do jump in the wild as well for different reasons. When traveling, they use less energy by jumping than swimming, because water is more dense than air. Dolphins can move a long distance with one long jump, especially with their streamlined bodies. Dolphins also jump to find food, similar to how birds look for fish above the water. In addition, they will jump to scare a school of fish, which then pack tighter into a group, and the dolphin can catch several at once. Dolphins communicate with other dolphins by jumping and become particularly acrobatic during mating season. Male dolphins often do complicated spins and flips, perhaps to attract females, or to show dominance that keeps other males away. Biologists also theorize this behavior might be playfulness in the courtship ritual.
Today was a mad rush to clean the house up before Aimee arrives later tonight. I did take the dogs to the beach for an hour and while they played I cleaned up trash and carried it back to the car. I was again met with opposition in my cleaning effort this morning as a family walked by and just laughed shaking their heads. I said do you like looking at all this trash? They said back to me “it doesn’t bother us and there’s nothing you can do about it anyways”, so just leave it! So, there’s the problem with Curacao, no one cares anymore! I didn’t let it bother me because I know it’s right and that it does help so there you mean people! On the way back from Saint Joris this morning in the middle of a busy road I spotted a baby turtle trying to cross the road! Yes, a baby turtle, I almost crashed the car trying to stop without running him over and hitting the car in front of me! I stopped right in major traffic, everyone was honking at me to move my car and get out the way, the dogs were barking and going crazy but I opened my door and raced out and grabbed him, I surely wasn’t going to let him get run over! He is so cute, some kind of a land turtle and he’s only about three inches long. I immediately called Zenzi who also has turtles and she came to my turtle rescue! She took him to her house to live with her other two and I talked to her just a few minutes ago and he’s eating and doing great, photos soon! The rest of the day was spent shopping, sweeping, mopping, and I even pre-cooked dinner for my tired and hungry traveler so she will have a nice hot meal to come home to tonight! At 4:00 I met a friend and we did a fast and furious hour and a half ride and man was it ever hot! That’s about it. I better get going to the airport! Thanks for all the notes, I am now receiving about 30 Word Press comments a day from new people fining our site, so welcome everyone!! Gotta go, more tomorrow, Barry
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