Coral Reef Photos » Sponges

Peach Encrusting sponge, Clathria, sp, Encrusting Sponges

barry — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:37:14 +0000

Good morning friends, is it me or did that particular weekend go by way to fast?? I burned my Saturday up by working and diving at the Substation www.substation-curacao.com And while I am on that subject, for those of you asking, our underwater “live feed” is currently not working, it was in need of maintenance and is in the shop.

After work on Saturday I ran the dogs out to Saint Joris bay for a walk and swim. About half way thru the walk they both found an iguana sitting in a tree on a ten foot cliff. Well to make a long story short, the iguana jumped off the cliff into the ocean and Inca followed! I watched this from far away and just couldn’t believe that my eight year old pride and joy just jumped from that height, I was almost in shock! The iguana of course landed perfectly at the waters edge and took off swimming but when Inca landed she crashed and burned! I honesty thought one or two of her legs would be broken but after she got up and shock it off she was fine!?? I’m telling you she landed so hard and even though she was now walking I figured she will be limping bad tomorrow so I better get her home ASAP. To my complete surprise she is fine and never showed any signs of body damage even though her landing looked painful, so thank goodness for little miracles!

On Sunday, yesterday I drove the dogs out to the Jan Thiel area and we walked to my Calabash trail to check on a tree that has fallen over the trail and try to fix it. When I got there I found that it did not fall but a large trunk has now gotten lower because of it’s weight and is in fact so low that you can not ride under it anymore. I studied it for 15 minutes but there will be no way to fix it as the tree itself is know as “Ironwood” and can not be cut, it’s the hardest wood I have ever seen! I am thinking I will have to just build a new trail around it but will have to wait till the dry season, it’s a jungle out there!

After the walk I worked on a driftwood table that will be a gift for a friend and then took off on an hour mountain bike ride. It pretty much rained off and on all day so the trails were still fairly muddy and riding was a bid dangerous with the slick rocks. Because of the rain my morning ritual is now going outside before work each morning and picking up the land snails that are taking over our yard and driveway! If I don’t pick them up they get stepped on and to hear that sound under your shoes is not a pleasant feeling. In the process of picking them up this week I have found two new species of snails that I have never seen here in Curacao before. I have sent the photos to the “snail experts” at the World famous Smithsonian Institution in Washington and should have photos and a report for you sometime next month, I got some really cool shots of them.

Here is something else cool that again most divers will never stop to look at. This is a variety of Peach Encrusting sponge, Clathria, sp with beautiful little orange Golden Zoanthids, Parazoanthus swiftii attached to it. This species of sponge encrusts dead areas of reef and walls, especially under ledges, in recesses and other protected areas. And the Zoanthid colonies grow in meandering, band like rows. When the Zoanthid polyps are closed the colonies appear as golden patches. Large numbers of individuals colonize several species of sponges, including; Thin Rope Sponge, Rhaphidolphlus, Green Finger Sponge, Iotrochota birotulata, Brown Tube Sponge, Agelas conifera and of course Peach Encrusting Sponge as seen here.

Have a great Monday, I need to get this party started!! Do the best you can out there, Barry

Caribbean Reef Scene, Sponge Bowl, Sponges

barry — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 11:03:07 +0000

Good morning friends, it’s open season on mosquitoes here, it’s always the downside to having too much rain! Aimee and I are now keeping the house sealed up especially the rooms so you can at least have a good nights sleep without feeling drained in the morning.

Had a crazy bike ride with Stijn last night. We left the house at 5:00 and of course at full speed, so much for warming up anymore! We sprinted for 30 minutes thru the Curacao jungles and popped out onto the road at Jan Thiel. From there we headed over to Caracas Bay and soon passed a beautiful Dutch girl laying alongside the road next to the bike path topless! We were actually going so fast downhill when we spotted her that I yelled to Stijn, “was that girl topless??”, he said yep and that was that and we just kept going. Well 20 minutes later we returned the same way (of course) and there she was again but this time walking with her friend on the sidewalk, still topless! Ok, we see a lot of topless chicks here on the island every day on the beach but never walking thru a very busy neighborhood during rush hour! This girl and her friend were so drunk they could hardly walk! Stijn and I both found it very entertaining watching these two stumble up the sidewalk with cars honking and people waving, it was like a mini parade in December! Stijn and continued on and laughed about that the whole way back home, the things you see in Curacao.

I photographed a new deep water fish yesterday and had planned on sending it out today but will do it tonight for sure. The new one we have is called a “Robinsi Fish” and may be a new species never found before, wait till you see it! For those of you asking, many of these deep water fish are headed to two of the top aquariums in the United States. They first go to Florida to a specialist who takes care of them, kind of a first stop before going on to other locations. Now that there is a safe way to collect these fish (with the sub) more and more aquariums want to open deep water exhibits, it’s really something everyone will enjoy. The fish travel easily by plane in a cooler, they just place each fish in it’s own little bag and hours later they are in their new home, the success rate for this very high.

Here is a typical reef scene with a beautiful sponge bowl and some gorgonians, see why I like sponges so much, they decorates the reef!

Need to get to work, we have a sub dive at 11:15 and I have to get the camera ready! Have a wonderful day,

Barry

Diver with Purple Stove Pipe Sponges, Aplysina archeri

barry — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:18:43 +0000

Hi friends, I am so glad a few of you were able to see me and the sub underwater yesterday, it really is a super cool thing! I will again be under at 11:15ish (our time) today so check it out if you are able at www.seesubmarine.com And remember the video has a one hour delay, so if I am under there at 11:00 it won’t air till noon. We currently have two people here from Sweden who are doing a story for their local dive magazine, one a writer and one a photographer. They did two sub dives already one was just the normal reef tour and the other was yesterday and they went down to 1000 feet! Today at 1:00 I will take them both on a dive in front of the Sea Aquarium so they can finish up on some general underwater photos for the article they are putting together. On December 31st we have a family of 18 coming down to ride in the sub and NO not all at the same time! The sub can fit 4 passengers at a time which means we all will be very busy on that day! I have a friend from Dolphin Academy who will be helping me on that day so I don’t have to do so many dives, he will do one, I will do one, ect..

Aimee is home sick as can be with either a serious cold or the flu, she is in really bad shape! We slept in different rooms last night as I don’t need what ever she has and I am trying keep everything around here wiped down with bleach. Last night at midnight we all woke to the sound of two cats fighting outside and all of us raced outside to see if our cat was involved. Thankfully it wasn’t ours but now we were all awake, I then sat on the side of my bed for the next 30 minutes trying to find and kill one single mosquito that had been driving me crazy all night and I never did end up finding him!

After work yesterday I raced home and got ready for a bike ride with Super-Stijn who showed up right on time at 5:00. Little did I know that on Saturday he did a six and a half hour ride, AGAIN!! That’s like 60 miles! He has been riding hard and won the last race on the West point a few weeks ago, the kid is good! So last night we did an hour ride but he ended up killing me on every climb and every sprint, I kept thinking “I have created a monster” but it’s so wonderful to see! I really have to get some long rides in if I want to continue to ride with him now, two rides a week won’t do it! He seems to be loving his new 29 inch Specialized hard tail, it sure hasn’t slowed him down any on the tight single track like I thought or hoped it would do!

Here is a wonderful cluster of purple Stove Pipe Sponges, Aplysina archeri for your viewing pleasure today and just a nice general photo of the Curacao reefs. Many here call me “Sponge Barry” and have hinted that I am a sort of “sponge freak” if you will. That’s fine, say what you will, I think they are the coolest creatures on the reef and add that special flair to the whole scene! Most of you know that if you dive with me I will be stopping to check out every cool looking sponge I see so if your wanting to tour the reef at a faster pace I will just see you at the exit!

I better get moving, I have a busy day of diving today, hopefully I will find something cool to send to you tonight! Have a great day! Barry

Azure Vase Sponges, Callyspongia plicifera, Sponges

barry — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 10:42:38 +0000

Good morning from Curacao, today is the big Amstel Gold bicycle race!! The race starts at 11:00 in the new parking lot at Mambo beach, I will be there for sure trying to get some new fun shots of three of the greatest riders in the World, Frank and Andy Schleck and our personal favorite, Mark Cavendish. Other riders here include, Johnny Hoogerland, Rob Ruijgh, Johan Vansummeren, Steven Kruijswijk, Wout Poels, Marcel Kittel, Pim Ligthart, Jelle Vanendert, Peter Sagan, Juraj Sagan and Marc de Maar, that’s this years celebrity line up, should be a great race. I need to get out of here early this morning with the dogs and get back before they close the roads for today’s race. My plan today is to carry three cameras each with a different lens so for once I won’t be fumbling around trying to change a lens and missing a great shot! We are also planning on going to the private party tonight with all the riders, that’s usually were I have them autograph all the photos I took earlier at the race.

Here is a super cool cluster of Azure Vase Sponges I found a while back on the reef in front of the Hilton. This is the first time I had ever seen these in a group and it shows how different they can be in shape and size and really is one of the most beautiful sponges in the Caribbean.

Not much else going on, I did two dives yesterday with the sub and like always the day just disappeared and was over before I knew it. I better get moving, fast paced day ahead!! Barry

New Tunicates, Small, Bright Colored Tunicates

barry — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:00:12 +0000

Good morning friends, did you have a good weekend?? Mine is a blur as usual, I seem to do so much stuff in two days that when Monday comes around I can hardly recall it all. Saturday morning I took the dogs for a long hike in search of the flamingos, we saw a few but most of them were gone and I was unable to get any new photos. After that I built Aimee a new driftwood necklace holder and yes I will try and get a photo made and sent out, that ended up taking a few hours. Saturday night we went to a party, some friends of our that we walk the dogs with everyday are packing up and moving back to Holland, we sure will miss them! Sunday morning Aimee and I took the dogs to the North coast and collected more great driftwood, like I say, “get it while you can” once others discover it and it’s many uses, it will be gone! At 2:00 yesterday Stijn and his mom came by and picked me up and off we went to the bike race. The race started at 3:20 and like all so called mountain bike races here we all had to start by doing miles of road riding before even getting to a trail. Stijn and I were behind the experts (about 8 riders) by the time we finally did get to Boca Sami but soon after riding the fun trails above the water we all discovered it was high tide and the rest of the trails were now underwater!! I immediately hit my brakes, jumped off and was the only one carrying my bike thru the water and mud, I love my bike too much to be let it be killed with saltwater! As I watched the riders in front of us all struggling to get thru this mess I threw in the towel and said forget it! I told Stijn to go, he’s young and crazy and no matter what has to do the race because he needs the points for the series here and like the determined rider he is took off in hot pursuit! After watching rider after rider catch up to me and pass, I turned around and went back carrying my bike the whole way while walking thru yucky black water and mud. Most of you know what salt does to everything, well I just can’t imagine riding an expensive bike thru deep salt water, those guys are crazy and will now have to have their bikes completely torn apart and cleaned, bearing by bearing! The good news is Stijn won and did great, I kid you not when I say this kid is fast, he has such a great start and will be the man to watch out for in years to come!

Here is another new find for Aimee and I, these red and white spots of this yellow sponge are called tunicates but we have no idea what kind, I can’t find them in any book! I found these at 135 feet at Directors Bay and have been back to re-photograph them again with a macro lens but never could find it again! If any of you know the name to these please let us know, they are super cool!

And last but not least, I have the link for the new underwater video camera at Substation, your gonna love this! Now you can tune in and watch yours truly and the sub underwater live or just watch the fish pass by. The lens we have on there now is not yet wide enough and we will be getting that replaced soon and we will most likely be mounting the camera a bit higher as well, so this will get better in time. I think what I will do is each night or morning let you all know what times we will be out there so you can tune in and watch the next day. This morning I don’t know what the plans are yet, usually we are out at 9:00, 11:00, 1:00 and 3:00, and normally it’s five to ten minutes later before we are actually out, so check it out at those hours today and you might just see us. Here is the link; http://www.seesubmarine.com

PRESS RELEASE

Live underwater camera

Underwater live view of the Curasub

Willemstad, 22 August 2011 – Approximately a year ago, Curacao reminded the entire world of the uniqueness of this small island in the Caribbean when Substation Curacao opened its doors to the public with the most unique attraction in the world; a 4-person submarine that takes you to depths beyond Scuba diving limits. Today we added a new piece of technology to our operation; an underwater camera mounted permanently on the Sea Aquarium reef. Everybody can now be part of this adventure when the submersible descents to the unknown depths. Our passengers will have the unique opportunity to send a live personal message to their family & friends around the world! And for those that have not have not been able to afford a trip with the submarine, we are auctioning one of our special trips, which goes to 1,0000feet deep, on Ebay. With our auction we want to give everybody the opportunity to be able to experience one of our deep sea expeditions. On the 1,000feet dive you will go beyond the average tourist dives and be part of our scientific hunts for new species.

Have a great day, need to walk the dogs!! Barry

Scattered Pore Rope Sponge, Aplysina fulva, Curacao

barry — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:53:53 +0000

Good morning from tiredville, and yes it’s my own fault again, it was another busy, fast paced, super fun weekend! Saturday morning my friend Stiyn and I drove to Boca Sami with the dogs and spent three hours cleaning the main trail that starts there and winds along the salt ponds. Stiyn did most of the cutting and I followed by raking and sweeping and when we left it looked a brand new trail! Since the trail follows the water the dogs constantly were dashing back and forth to cool off, Curacao has been getting pretty warm these days. Once we got home and washed the dogs and had breakfast we took off to the Substation and did a beautiful dive out on the reef, talk about a great way to cool down after a morning of sweaty fun! The dive was great, I spent the whole time searching for Tunicates but in the end never found what I was looking for, still have to go back again! After the dive we had lunch and then took off to the glass beach for awhile and then at 3:00 Stiyn took off to play “paint ball wars” with a team and I took the dogs hiking, it was a great day. Yesterday I took the dogs to Jan Theil early in the morning and we first did a three hour hike doing trail work along the way! My main trails there that we ride each week are such a mess from constant use and of course yours truly is the only one who cares enough to clean them! After the trail cleaning effort, which was a success, I drove the dogs to the ocean and we all enjoyed a refreshing swim. Once home and after washing the dogs I got my bike ready for our afternoon ride to Boca Sami. Stiyn showed up at around 3:45 and off we went in the car with the bikes on the back to ride the trails we had cleaned the day before. To make a long story short we rode and explored for over two hours and ended up finding a new trail and a new little hidden beach that few know exist. I came home with two of the biggest thorns I have ever seen stuck inside my front tire. If I would have pulled them out we would have had to walk back home so I ended up pushing them into the tire as far as I could which ended up working good, today I will need to pull them out and seal the holes! We rode by an area that was just filled with beautiful flamingos yesterday and we were able to get very close, I really need to go back there with the camera. I told Aimee that on Wednesday or Thursday I want to take her to show her this new beach we found, the dogs will just love it and I will take some photos I promise!

Here is a crazy cool looking Scattered Pore Rope Sponge, Aplysina fulva for your viewing pleasure today, see why I like sponges so much!! This one here just amazed me as it’s base was so small, how does it support it’s weight?? These sponges are easy to identify by looking at the excurrent openings (light colored spots) that are scattered all over the surface of the sponge, other sponges like the Row Pore Rope sponge have their excurrent openings in a row. I found this beauty at a dive spot over near San Juan on a boat dive. When we got back to boat a diver showed me a photo of a giant yellow seahorse that he said was near where I was shooting this sponge, I almost cried when I saw it and said why didn’t you show me?? He said, “I didn’t want to interrupt your shoot”, I said next time do whatever you can to get my attention! You guys know how rare a yellow seahorse is?? I have only seen three since I have been here!

I better get to work! Have a wonderful Monday, Barry

Branching Vase Sponge Attached to Wire Coral

barry — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:30:44 +0000

Good morning friends, here is something unique and different, this is a Branching Vase Sponge, Callyspongia vaginalis growing on two pieces of fragile Wire Coral. I was just telling a friend the other day that most sponges find a nice hard chunk of dead coral or rocky substrate to start growing on but this one here is completely suspended up off the reef, it’s really cool. As I looked closer (at it’s base) it used it’s own “sponge glue” of sorts and once it felt it had a good hold it then started to form a vase shape, very clever but what will happen once it gets to heavy for the wire coral?? Any ways it’s one of the first times I had ever seen a sponge growing in this manor and have added it to my sponge collection.

I did another fun dive yesterday with a few friends and tonight I am doing a night dive at 7:30, yeah when was the last time I have been night diving right??

I forgot to tell you all about our fun adventure of saving a crab. When Christina and I went on our fun tour of the island last Sunday we first stopped at Playa Ascension to check for driftwood. As we walked along the waters edge Christina found this really nice old bottle filled with sand and algae and proceeded to rinse it out so she could take it home with her, but she soon found out it had a crab inside as well. The crab must have entered months ago because now he was too big to get back out, he tried and tried but he was only able to get three of his legs out. We both immediately felt sorry for him and agreed we had to do something. So I found a nice strong rock, set the bottle in the water and on the count of three, it’s freedom time! Well, this was the plan, turns out the bottle was thick and very strong, and breaking it was not going to be easy! I tried and tried and each blow the crab pushed harder and harder to get out and finally with one last blow the glass broke and he was free! We watched as he immediately took off to be with others of his kind, we cleaned up the glass and that was that. It’s always a good feeling to help something or someone in need, so once again, saving the World one crab at a time.

Time to walk the dogs and then get to work, have a wonderful day, Barry

Queen Angelfish Eating a Sponge, Holacanthus ciliaris

barry — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:36:13 +0000

Hello all, I am back!! Well, I still have to shoot one more farewell party tonight but other than that the task has been completed! I have had one of the busiest weeks of my life and that’s no joke! My mission has been to follow and photograph a group of 60 divers from the States who are here for an event called Total Submersion. Since Sunday my days start out at 5:00am! I first have to take the dogs out for their morning walk which means I leave the house in the dark at 5:30 carrying my trusty flashlight. By 6:00 there is enough light to see the trail and we usually return to the car by 6:30. Once home I hurry and eat and then race to work as I have to be at Ocean Encounters each morning as the boats all leave the docks at 8:00! I usually have one hour from 7:00 to 8:00 to get my dive gear ready, load the camera in the housing and burn photos to disk on the computer, it’s really been crazy in the mornings!! Then each morning we head out by boat on a two tank boat dive and that takes a good part of the day. One day we went all the way to Klein Curacao and another day to the Mushroom Forest, both these trips were real long and we returned at around 3:30 in the afternoon! A friend of ours has been going to our house each day to walk the dogs in the afternoon and make sure they are all right. After the dives I usually rush to some kind of seminar or clinic or another event and almost every night there has been parties as well, all needing to be photographed. It’s been a great week, I did have a lot of fun but I also have run around like a crazy man and never getting to bed till late, I will try and chill this weekend!

Here is a photo I have been trying to get for years, a picture of an Angelfish eating a sponge!! This is a Touch-Me-Not-Sponge or Neofibularia nolitangere being destroyed by a Queen angelfish, Holacanthus ciliaris. For years I have seen eaten parts out of the sides of sponges and we have read that Angelfish eat sponges we just have never really seen it, until now! I discovered this at Blue Bay Garden, it’s the dive spot to the East of the beach at Blue Bay. I saw this Queen eating this sponge from a long ways away and thought there would be no way she would allow me to get much closer but I was wrong. This Angelfish was not about to give up her delicious sponge to me or any other fish and really defended it by swimming around it in circles. As I watched another Queen came over for a snack but she chased that one away immediately and it never came back. I sat and watched for as long as I could, I was with 20 other divers so I didn’t have much time to linger but am so glad I got to see that and get a few fun photos. I went back here two days later and the sponge was almost all gone!?

I need to go walk the dogs before my party tonight, see you soon, Barry

Dysidea etheria, Blue Sponge, Blue Encrusting Sponge

barry — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:48:57 +0000

Good evening readers, I found another new sponge for the growing Barry/Aimee collection. We think this is called, Dysidea etheria. I found very little information on this sponge but did learn they can be encrusting as you see here or grow in a massive ball of sorts. Their color can range from a grayish blue to a brilliant blue like this one and are typically found in grass beds, on mangrove roots, shallow walls or anywhere they have close contact with sediment. I found this cluster at Directors Bay in around 45 feet on a wall and with sand constantly falling over it, not directly on it but spilling over it. Over the past year Aimee and I have become so aware of all the different encrusting sponges that coat the reef and really add a dash of color to everything!

I had a fast paced day doing three fun dives with the sub. We had more scientists from the Smithsonian Institution show up yesterday and today they took off in the sub to explore the reef, each searching for something completely different. And speaking of something completely different, remember the old bottle they found a few days ago at 500 plus feet?? Well today, someone came into the office and asked Dutch if he was interested in selling it?? Dutch said, “sorry, it’s not for sale, it belongs to Barry”????? Say What? I almost fell out of my chair and choked on the water I was drinking?? I looked at him and said, “are you kidding me”"?? He said, “it’s yours, give it a good home”!! What a guy, just when I think I have him all figured out he does that, it made my whole day, in fact it made my whole week!! Thanks Big D!!!

Our guests continue to live the Curacao dream!! They went into Punda this morning and did a dive later in the afternoon and saw a baby nurse shark?? Yeah, tomorrow we go back!! Dinner is calling, be safe, Barry

Yellow Calcareous Sponge, Clathrina Canariensis

barry — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:32:23 +0000

Good morning from Curacao! Yesterday morning before work I raced in and set up dive gear and got the camera ready for an early morning dive with our friend Ron. We figured since his lady Aubrey had to be back at the World famous Dive Bus Hut for her Padi class at 9:00 he may as well go with me and get some diving in. We jumped in at the far East end of the Sea Aquarium and ended up doing another really beautiful dive along the whole house reef and getting it done in one hour. Our mission was to go back and find these new sponges that I had seen the day earlier and hopefully get some nice shots. Originally I had told Aimee that I think I found an outcrop of globular encrusting tunicates but turns out they are Yellow Calcareous sponges, Clathrina canariensis. The two look very much alike but the main difference is the tunicates have white outlines around the tiny incurrent siphons, these have none they are just yellow. I haven’t seen many of these sponges here before and the books list them as occasional to rare in Florida, Bahamas and the Caribbean. This species is bright yellow, small, and has intertwined tubes and is very soft and very fragile! They usually inhabit the ceilings of caves, deep-undercuts, and other dark protected recesses making my job of taking it’s photo very difficult. Anyways, something new and cool for our growing Caribbean sponge collection.

Our new guest Aubrey finished her Padi open water course yesterday and is now a certified diver thanks to our buddies Mark and Suzy of the Dive Bus and Tammi and Scott in Rapid City, South Dakota. She was smart in doing the book work at our dive shop back home and then coming here to finish the water part of it, so now she is good to go and cleared for take-off. I did two dives yesterday, one in the morning and then one later in the day outside of the sub. Lucky Ron, since he was standing around helping me get my dive gear ready they threw him in the sub and he got to go down to 520 feet with some guests, again, it’s a case of being in the right spot at the right time. After work Ron and I rode our bikes all the way out to Saint Joris and finally got to ride my new trail. At 7:00 just as it was getting dark we met the girls and the dogs along the coast and loaded the bikes on the car for the trip home. Another fun day in Curacao!

I have an early morning dive, see you all soon, Barry