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Archive for the ‘Soft Corals’May 30, 10 Comments (0)
Hello Sunday readers, I would love to know what everyone is out doing on this wonderful day, please drop us a line and let us know. I left the house at 7:00 on my bike and didn’t get home till 10:30, that was a long ride! I first rode to the North coast and then over to Saint Joris where I met some friends and finally got to show off the new trail, it was really fun. For now the only way folks will find this trail is by word of mouth as the entrance and exit are very well hidden. It was a beautiful morning for riding, we again had no wind and on a bike that’s good news! I rode up some long hills today very fast and they normally are very difficult. When I finally did get home I just put the bike on the back of the car, loaded two waiting dogs and took them for another bike ride to a small beach for a morning swim. When we got to the beach I was still super dirty from the ride and just dove into the ocean with the dogs to clean off and be refreshed, man-o-man did that ever feel great! I swam pretty far out as the ocean was still dead calm and the dogs followed, both are great swimmers! So now I am back home and worn out, my legs are very tired and I have a small headache. Aimee and I are going to the movies at 6:00 to see the new Shrek and fill up on popcorn!
Here’s my very hidden seahorse from yesterday’s dive. What I like about this photo the most is, look at the gorgonian he is holding onto, the polyps are all closed where his tail is attached. Gorgonians are soft coral or live animals and when you touch them they retract their individual polyps for safety and will re-open once he leaves or moves to another area. Without the flash this seahorse looks black and is very hard to see, this was the first time I had ever seen him up this high before, usually they like the sandy areas.
Need to get ready to go, hope your all having a great weekend, Barry
Mar 27, 10 Comments (0)
 Diving O'l Blue with Tammi Good morning from the Caribbean. Got busy again last night with other things and had no time for the internet. Yesterday at around 10:30 I did a fun sea lion dive out in the open ocean. I think Curacao is one of the only places that does this and let me tell you it’s very cool. They open a gate and a sea lion swims out and follows a trainer underwater to waiting divers way out on the reef. If you put your arms straight out with a flat hand the sea lion will then come over to you, pull up along side and let you pet him or her, it’s super fun. After the initial introduction you then swim with them to two different sand patches where we stopped and sat in the sand. We again put our arms out and one by the sea lion came to visit everyone and from what I noticed if your a good and gentle petter he came back to you more often. After the dive it was back to work and after work we raced downtown to get Aimee signed up for her triathlon on Sunday. At around 6:30 I took the dogs out to the desert along with as much water as I could carry and filled up my new bird water stations which seems to be a big hit!!
Remember yesterday I sent a photo of Scott shooting some video, well this is his wife Tammi hovering above a beautiful collection of gorgonians at O’l Blue in Bonaire. This dive site had so many beautiful little coral scenes like this one and I tried to shoot them all! Moments before we jumped in when we were still on shore a big pod of wild dolphins swam by, if only we could have been underwater to see that! When we first came to Curacao we bought all our dive gear from their dive shop in Rapid City and they still supply me with my hand held diving lights and clips for my fins, stop on in and check out all the goodies for yourself.
I need to get to work, talk to you tonight, 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
Jan 12, 10 Comments (0)
 Slit-Pore Sea Rods Hi all, here’s something really cool, these are either Giant Slit-Pore Sea Rods or Slit-Pore Sea Rods both are so similar and it’s hard to tell without a close-up of the retracted polyp itself. These are live corals or what we call soft corals. Most divers refer to these as Octocorals or the more common name that everyone knows and goes by Gorgonians. What’s cool about this shot is that the Sea Rods on the left are open meaning the live polyps are open and feeding while the other half (on the right) of this colony is closed and the polyps are retracted, cool huh?? These beautiful corals sway back and forth with the passing of every wave and are again home to countless little creatures! The little Slender Filefish loves these gorgonians and I find a lot of baby or juvenile trumpetfish hiding in there as well, so divers the next time you pass these slow down and really look you might just find a hidden surprise.
We all worked today including Emily. The strong winds finally slowed a bit and the ocean wasn’t as crazy as it has been. We did have rain off and on today but we really could use it, we didn’t get the normal amounts for this time of year yet? Our little Indi hurt her leg somehow and can’t put much weight on it, needless to say she won’t be going with us tomorrow, she needs to rest.
That’s it for today, all is well. Have a great evening and a wonderful day tomorrow, Barry
Dec 2, 09 Comments (0)
 Gorgonion Good evening from Curacao!! I finally got back into the water today and did a very short but fun dive. While exploring the reef I came across this very beautiful really fluffy gorgonian sitting all by itself on top of this big rock!! I just sat there for a moment and watched as it swayed back and forth from the passing waves overhead, it was really beautiful! I think this is called a Porous Sea Rod but not for sure, I need to see the polyps retracted for a positive I.D. I did notice a bit of coral bleaching today as well, we always see it this time of year maybe due to more rain which brings a lot of debris and contaminants into the ocean from land.
Not a whole lot to write home about tonight, it was kind of a quiet rainy day. Aimee was off today she took the dogs back to the beach again, and yes they are spoiled but it sure is fun! Sorry so short, all is well with us we sure miss our friends and family even more this time of year but thanks to the internet we are never far away! Talk to you all tomorrow, Barry
Nov 16, 09 Comments (0)
 Gorgonion Reef Scene Good morning guys, yes I am late again on the daily blog. Even though I am home sick I am keeping busy going thru old pictures, a project I have wanted to do for a long time. Slept pretty good last night and feeling better this morning, I will go to work today. Yesterday I did manage to get outside a little, I took the dogs on a morning walk but by the end had wished I hadn’t. At around noon I worked on my wooden driftwood box a bit more, talk about time consuming can hardly wait to get this thing done.
This is a beautiful little gorgonian, it was just swaying back and forth and for some reason caught my eye. Gorgonians are often called “soft corals” because of the colonies lack of a hard, rigid, permanent skeletons like star coral or brain coral for instance. Gorgonians are really what gives a reef “the look of life”, as you can see here it looks like an underwater forest. These plant like corals are also home and hiding place to countless little creatures just like trees on land are home to birds, mammals and insects. I really didn’t realize there were so many different types of gorgonians until I actually started looking, will be a challenge to photograph them all.
I have to get moving, still need to walk the dogs and get ready for work, talk to you tonight, Barry
Aug 19, 09 Comments (0)
 BAR-1181_row-pore-rope-sponge Good evening friends, first I want to say, please stop asking me for 25 guilders!! I made that mistake once and it won’t happen again! I received countless e-mails today saying you will watch my car and even help me out of the ocean for 25 guilders, ha, ha very funny, so I’m a gullible white boy what can I say!? I guess if you can’t look back and laugh at your mistakes “and I admit this one is funny” then well, oh heck I’m sure I will do this again who am I kidding?! We are headed back to the Pen Resort beach tomorrow morning so it will be interesting to hear what he (Michael) has to say about all this, stay tuned!
I keep forgetting to ask my local friends if they would like to help watch the whale?? It can be for an hour during the day, or anytime at night or thru the morning hours they really need your help!! Please call me at 661-5795 or the Whale Hotline at 696-6926, some of these volunteers are worn out, they have been there day in and day out anytime you can donate is appreciated!
Your photo this evening is of one of the most spectacular Row Pore Rope Sponge colonies I have ever seen in Curacao! I found this beauty at Santa Cruz a few months back and have wanted to get back there again to search the area better.
We sold some driftwood furniture tonight and took an order for a driftwood toy box something I haven’t built yet but have some fun ideas!
We just finished dinner, chicken on a stick on the BBQ, yummy! Aimee is busy Skyping Emily at the moment, we sure miss her, she was such a great guest!!
See you tomorrow, Barry
19-8-2009
Aug 13, 09 Comments (0)
 Rore Pore Rope Sponge Good evening friends, I am stuck here this evening waiting for the air-co guy to stop by but still haven’t seen him yet and I am missing an important Birthday party because of him. Aimee got home pretty late this morning from the whale she was there a long time, like from 3:30 in the morning till 7:30 or 8:00?? We didn’t do very much of anything today, kind of another rest day. I had a business meeting at 9:00 and other than that we pretty much just hung out at home all day so not a lot to report!
This was another photo I took of our friend Candy on a deep dive she did with me out in front of the Sea Aquarium a while back. This is a very cool pair of Row Pore Rope Sponges sitting at around 65 feet, I see them way below me almost every time I go diving on our reef. These sponges are know for their unusual shapes and are quite common in our waters.
Aimee started packing for her trip to the states today, she will leave here around the 29th and be gone for three weeks, that means it’s frozen food time once again!! Her sister Missy will be having a baby during this time in New Mexico and she wants to be there for every minute of it and she just plain needs a vacation!
See you tomorrow, we are going to see the new Harry Potter movie tonight at 8:00, come join us!! Bye now, Barry
13-8-2009
Jul 18, 09 Comments (0)
 Diver above Gorgonian Good evening all, I thought this was a perfect photo for you tonight as it kind of goes with yesterdays shot. This is what a Slit-Pore Sea Rod looks like, the photo yesterday was just a close-up of the top of one of the branches, pretty cool huh? This was taken East of the Aquarium the morning we got dropped off a ways up the coast and did that fun dive all the way back. You can see gorgonians do look a lot like bushes and many are as big as a small trees that’s why we some times refer to a big area of these as an underwater forest.
It was a very busy day at work today and next week is crazy busy, I thought this was our slow time?? Aimee and Emily were again with the whale all day. I will get a photo that someone else took and have her write you and tell you everything that has been going on, it’s quite the story. With our car down and the eye surgery I haven’t even been over there to see it yet, yeah I know crazy huh?
The girls are out walking dogs but will be home soon so I better wrap this up. Hope your having a great weekend, Barry
18-07-2009
Jul 17, 09 Comments (0)
 Gorgonian Good evening all, just a quick note to say hi, it’s hot and all is well!! I went back to work today but it was weird! I have been using my left eye for so long to take pictures because I couldn’t see out of the right and now I can’t seem to switch back? I tried all day but it feels so strange, I can see this is not going to be an easy task. The weather here is getting hotter by the day. That nice rain we had a week ago did help put some green back into the island but now we have more humidity and of course mosquitoes!
This is a close-up view of the top of a Gorgonian. A Gorgonian is a soft coral. This is a the very top of a Giant Slit-Pore Sea Rod. These soft corals resemble thick-trunked, branched trees and sway back and forth underwater. I found taking this shot to be very difficult as you have to hover inches above it and try to focus while you and the gorgonian are swaying back and forth, makes for quite the challenge!
We just got our car back, cost a small fortune and still not sure what they did other than replace the battery? Good times!
I have to get the grill going, Aimee will be home with the dogs soon and Emily is playing volleyball on the beach with the Dolphin Academy group. I am sure to have two tired and hungry girls show-up real soon. Talk to you tomorrow, Barry
17-07-2009
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