Coral Reef Photos » Starfish + Urchins + Kin

Merry Christmas, Sea Biscuit, Holiday Cards, Curacao

barry — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:16:56 +0000

Merry Christmas from Curacao friends! Aimee reminded me yesterday that it’s already the 21st and I still had not posted our holiday card! Actually I have a few different ones this year and will send out another tomorrow or on Christmas. This card was created by using a small, two inch sea biscuit from the Philippines and using sea-glass under it for the colors, sounds easy but took me hours to create! As I have said before, sand dollars and sea biscuits, order Clypeasteroida, are irregular echinoids. Their bodies are disk-shaped, with a five-petal sculptured design on the back (as seen here). The mouth, which has an Aristotle’s Lantern, is centered on the underside, with the anus toward the rear. The very short compacted spines that cover the body appear as fuzz, and are well adapted for burrowing in the sand. Like heart urchins, they are rarely sighted in the open during the day but come nightfall they crawl out from under the sand and feed.

Another year has passed and we are still on this long vacation, I never would have guessed in a million years we would have been here this long. We want to thank everyone again for all the support this year especially my buddy Mike at Ikelite, without his help in keeping my underwater equipment working and running smoothly there would simply be no website or no fun underwater photos! Also, our Editor and friend Tom in Tucson for all the work selling these photos, and keeping us on a focused road, our parents, all our visitors for hauling supplies to us, and to Joe and Nancy for all the shipping and receiving they do weekly. You will never know how much we appreciate all the replies and photos you all have sent this year, it’s what helps to keep us going! Have a great week and Merry Christmas!

Our holiday guests arrive Saturday afternoon and we busy getting the fort ready for them. Our plans are to a whole lot of diving while they are here so stay tuned for some fun new shots!

Aimee and I are taking the dogs for a quick walk before we head up the US Embassy, see you tomorrow, Barry

Black and White Crinoid, Nemaster grandis, Living Fossil

barry — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:42:33 +0000

Good morning friends, how are you all this fine day?? Christmas is coming up just too fast this year, I would love to slow it down a little as I still have so much to do. Our annual Sea Aquarium Christmas party is tomorrow night and will be held at the Aquarium this year, should be a lot of fun! Yesterday I was in and out of the water all day and kind of feeling a bit sick like something is coming but taking it’s own sweet time. Here in Curacao if your sick the locals will just tell you, “go swim in the ocean” it’s their cure for about everything including sore throats and athletes foot! Aimee is off today and tomorrow and I am sure will be super busy working around the house. She needs to go make an appointment for both of us at the US Embassy to have our Passports renewed, hard to believe we have been here this long!

Here is a friend of mine photographing a beautiful Black and White Crinoid, Nemaster grandis, on the reef at Blue Bay. These spectacular extant fossils can be found all over the Tropical West, Atlantic and Southern Caribbean in waters up to 130 feet. They have forty arms that are darkish/black with white tips and live completely open and exposed night and day. You will usually find them perched high on top of sponges or corals with their arms spread open. Crinoids, also known as sea lilies or feather-stars, are marine animals with a mouth on top surrounded by feeding arms. Although the basic echinoderm pattern of five-fold symmetry can be recognized, most crinoids have many more than five arms (as you can see in this photo, they can have a LOT more). They feed by filtering small particles of food from the sea water with their feather like arms. This kind of crinoid has a stem used to attach itself to a substrate (in this case the fan coral). You can gently remove them from the substrate and observe the “feet” of the stem wiggling about trying to grab hold of something. There are several hundred known forms of crinoids and I have seen them in an amazing variety of colors.

It’s off to the sea for me, still not feeling real well but maybe another dose of salt water will do the trick! PLEASE send us any and all photos of your decorated Christmas trees or house, we will be having a contest and I will post the winning picture before Christmas!! Have fun out there and be safe, Barry

Red Heart Urchin, Meoma ventricosa, Sea Urchins

barry — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 10:04:36 +0000

Good morning friends, I am up early again at 5:00 as Stijn and I are headed out early with the dogs to finally get some much needed trail work done, with all this non-stop rain we are having the bushes are growing like crazy! My one meter wide trails are now in some places just inches thick which makes it very difficult to ride thru. If the rain holds off today we will also be taking off on a long training ride in the afternoon but I am guessing we will have to avoid many of our favorite trails due to standing water, we will see.

We did two sub dives yesterday, the first at 11:00 and the second one at 3:00. The visibility yesterday could be the worst I have ever seen! There is very little wave moment on the surface and underwater there is zero current which makes for poor diving conditions. Luckily for the sub and it’s passengers they go below the murky, still water and get down where it is still nice and clear, everyone came back with smiles glued to their faces. While ascending from the second dive I found a skeleton from a Red Heart Urchin, Meoma ventricosa laying upside down in the sand and gently scooped it up and took it back to the Substation. Once it dried in the sun I took it inside and made this photo of the top of the urchin. The top of these animals has a beautiful five-part sculptured design, much like a sand dollar or starfish and there is no end to the photos one could make. These Red Heart Urchins are rarely seen by divers during the day as they spend most of their lives buried under the sand.

Last night as we went to bed Aimee said, “it’s hard to believe we have the air-co going full blast when our friends back home are locked in a blizzard”. I guess it’s that time of year, you get snow we get rain!

Have a wonderful weekend friends, off to the trails, Barry

Sea Urchins from Taiwan, Colorful Taiwan Sea Urchins

barry — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 01:24:31 +0000

Hi friends, here are some more fun colored sea-urchin skeletons I found on E-Bay and these came all the way from Taiwan. The sad part is, I can’t find a name for them?? They were sold without a name, just a location so I am on a quest to find out. These urchins are the exact same size as you see them on your computer, very small but super colorful. I have been really looking for urchin skeletons this past year to photograph and it seems like some of the coolest ones are from the Taiwan area and believe it or not all have arrived safely! I am again amazed that a creature that is covered in spines when alive has these beautiful colors hidden underneath and you will only see these colors once the urchin dies. Most of the urchins in Curacao are either green or black but again once the skeleton is exposed they even have a beautiful hidden pattern laying underneath.

Aimee and I both took off on our mountain bikes tonight and headed to Jan Theil to watch a road bike criterium that started at 5:30. We thought Frank and Andy Schleck would be there racing tonight but apparently it was just a locals race but fun to watch just the same. We ended up having to leave before the race was over as we had to be back home before dark and it’s getting dark now here at around 6:25. Aimee got caught out in the desert this morning with the dogs in an all out downpour with no where to run! She said Inca raced back and forth like a crazy dog loving every second of it while Indi found a dense bush to hide under, wish I could have seen that!

Not much going on, more tomorrow, Barry

Compsocidaris pyrsacantha, Sea Urchin Skeletons

barry — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:17:28 +0000

Good morning friends, boy did we ever get a big storm yesterday and it’s still going! While at work yesterday the wind shifted or turned and created these big waves that were now coming in from the South West!! This only happens a few times a year and when it does it’s never good! Remember Omar, well that was the same thing! Because of the big swells, we had to quickly remove our giant floating sub dock with a large crane and get it out of the water immediately because the waves were so big in our little bay that it was breaking apart! Once the dock was lifted out of the water little fish and crabs starting falling off it onto the pavement and of course I was there to save them all! I ran around with a small bucket of sea water and picked up every living thing I could find and then took them all back to the ocean but in a calmer area without the waves. We ended up having heavy rains off and on all day and this morning the sky is black, there goes my day off!

Here is a new Sea Urchin skeleton I recently acquired called a Compsocidaris pyrsacantha. This photo took close to four hours to set up, I had forgotten how difficult they are to shoot but in the end it’s really worth it. This little beauty is less than an inch wide and all colors you see are natural. A big thanks to my aunt Shari who sent us a new piece of black velvet and some custom made velvet boxes, they were a big help and I have been waiting to use it just for this project. I still have 25 other urchins to shoot and they are all different so stay tuned for more.

I am going to try and get the dogs out for a walk before more rain comes, have a wonderful weekend! Barry

Ruby Brittle Star Eating Eggs, Ophioderma rubicundum

barry — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:41:18 +0000

Good morning friends. Here is another photo from last months coral spawning. This is a big Ruby Brittle Star, Ophioderma rubicundum franticly grabbing freshly released coral eggs. The eggs are from a colony of Boulder Star Coral, Montastraea annularis that annually release their eggs late at night during an event called coral spawning. This unbelievable event only happens twice a year, and for only a few days in September and October following a full moon. Once the eggs or bundles as they are called are pushed out and released the reef at night is transformed into a “liquid buffet” of sorts and everything that is awake is out searching for and feeding on these eggs including the brittle stars. During the course of the year when out doing night dives one will rarely ever see a brittle star as they hide deep down inside the reef and fear light like a vampire! But on this special night as the eggs are being released they crawl out of hiding and grab as many eggs as they can possibly carry and then quickly return to the darkness to eat their fresh coral eggs in peace. For me this is one of the hands down hardest things to photograph because the second they see light they disappear!! Aimee is a big help during this event, she finds the brittle stars and points to them in the darkness without a light. I then hover above them with lights off and then as fast as I can turn the light on, focus and shoot, most times they are too fast for me! This one here was trying as hard as he or she could to grab as many eggs as possible before they all floated away, in the end it got quite a few. We will again be out trying to see more coral spawning in just a few days, I think there is going to be two good nights coming up.

Have a wonderful day, Barry

Mating Brittle Stars, Banded Brittle Stars, Curacao

barry — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 11:06:27 +0000

Good morning readers, our household is waking up very tired and very slowly this morning after a super fun evening out at LaLdea, www.laldeacur.com This is one of the newest restaurants in Curacao and is all designed in Mayan motif, you will swear your have walked back in time and discovered some lost ruins the minute you walk thru the doors. There is no menu, it’s just a salad bar to die for and twenty kinds of grilled meat! The meat is brought to your table on large steaming hot skewers and will be continually served until you say “stop”, so come hungry! What we love about this place the most is the customer service, you will never have to ask for more water or the check as it’s all been taken care of in a clever electronic way. We came here with our friends Sal and Patty who arrived again last night at around 5:30 from a week in Bonaire and it’s safe to say we all had a great time.

Yesterday was a fairly quiet day here in Curacao. At 2:00 three of us from the Substation went on a Lionfish hunting trip out in front of the Sea Aquarium. There are now restaurants in town that have added Lionfish to their menu’s and we are helping to supply them with fish and at the same time keeping our reef somewhat clean. We ended up doing a deep-dive or should I say the other two did, they went down to 165 feet while I hovered at 135 taking pictures. My co-workers Bruce and Michiel ended up catching some big Lionfish around the two sunken tugboats but in all the excitement of putting the Lionfish into bags Michiel got himself badly stung in the hand by their poisonous spines. He came up to the surface unable to hold anything and was just grasping his arm in pain! We quickly loaded the boat and got him back to the Substation as fast as we could where he immediately grabbed a small bucket and filled it with the hottest water he could stand. After putting up with me taking photos he sat in the shade and placed his swollen hand in the water and that’s where he stayed for the next hour. I always say leave the Lionfish hunting to the experts but even the experts get into trouble some time, I learned from watching him that one needs to just stay calm and get the wound into hot water ASAP and just leave it there. He said after an hour it was already feeling better and really folks there isn’t much more that can be done!

Here is a new photo of two mating Brittle Stars that we recently saw on this years coral spawning. These are by far the most shy creatures you will ever find in the Caribbean sea and they only come out of hiding a few times a year to spawn out in the open, late at night as you see here. After finding the right mate the female will then release her eggs into the liquid darkness, something I have only seen a few times but it is so cool! We have been told that coral spawning should be better next month so hopefully I will get another chance to find some more cool shots!

It’s 7:00, I need to walk the dogs and be at work by 12:30 for a sub dive. I should be live today at 2:15 so if your around a computer tune into www.seesubmarine.com

Have a wonderful day, Barry

Mystery Photo, Macro Photo, Starfish Close-up

barry — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 00:51:45 +0000

Good evening Earth people, how is your week going?? Well let me tell you about my crazy adventure today. Aimee was off and stopped by the Substation to say; “I’m going swimming, I’ll be back in 20 minutes”! She swims every day around the whole Sea Aquarium, that’s around 3/4th of a mile and takes her around 20 minutes! So today since I was in between sub dives I said; “I’ll go with you”! My plan was to just follow her with a small bright orange inflatable buoy and use my fins, that way when she is out in the open ocean I can at least keep her safe by having the signal buoy around her. We both started out together and at first I thought, “this is so easy and not even fair because I have fins” but within minutes I was already falling behind and struggling with the cord on the buoy, and within 4 minutes I was so tired I had to swim to shore to get out! Swimming is hard! I quickly took off my fins and exited the water at top speed and ran as fast as I could up the beach to again try and join her, this time tying the buoy line around my head (like a bandana) so I could swim without having to hold the line! I put my fins on again which honestly seemed to take forever and then launched into the water in hot pursuit! I kicked with all my might and swung my arms around like a crazed monkey but nothing short of an outboard motor was going to help me catch my human fish!! I gave up within minutes again seeing that I was getting nowhere and all this time she never missed a kick! I again exited the water this time on the rocks and once ashore raced down the paved path along the outside of the Sea Aquarium and finally caught up to her, on land! While trying to covertly get ahead of “fishgirl” for the third time she turned to catch a breath and saw me running along side her and stopped to ask; “what’s going on”?? I said; “I can’t keep up, your friggin fast”!! I almost said the “F” Word but then remembered what the taste of soap tastes like! So I again raced ahead of her, climbed down the rocks, put my fins on and this time joined her side by side! Thankfully we only swam for a short ways as she stopped to stretch before entering the open ocean part of the swim, or as she calls it the “fun part” or half ways! So off we went again this time into the open sea with big waves rolling in and crashing over you with every arm stroke, I could hear my own heart wanting to explode and for the first time ever I was actually sweating in the water!! Again, swimming is hard! I really tried again to keep up, geez I had fins on for crying out loud, but I just couldn’t do it and finally started swimming on my back, anything to get more air! Aimee again, never missed a kick and the longer I stopped to rest the further she got away from me and finally I yelled to her; “your on your own, I am getting out”!! She smiled or laughed, I couldn’t really tell, and took off again like a newborn baby dolphin and I slowly made my way to the rocks at Royal Resorts where I exited with as much dignity as I could muster. Once out I ran, yes ran at top speed and get this, she still beat me back to the Substation?? My male mojo really took a beating today, now I have been “schooled” in mountain biking and swimming by a girl, what’s next?? Aimee then went on to swim another loop while I laid half unconscious in the pool, there is a first time and a last time for everything!!

Guess the photo tonight and win a vacation with the Browns! Oh yeah, the fine print says, you have to get here first but really that’s it!! I did do a little Photoshop magic to the colors but other than that the only hint you get is that it is a macro shot!

Have a wonderful Friday, me and my sore arms are off to bed, Barry

Black and White Crinoid, Nemaster Grandis, Curacao

barry — Thu, 05 May 2011 11:13:25 +0000

Good morning friends. Yesterday morning I took the dogs over to Jan Thiel for a two hour walk while Aimee went in search of a stray mamma dog that hangs out in front of our house all the time and is always pregnant. Her goal was to find the mamma dog (that we feed almost everyday) and give her some drugs to make her sleep, then pick her up and get her to the dog hospital to be sterilized. I got back home at 10:00 and as I got close to the gate I saw the mamma dog across the street playing with two other wild dogs and raced home to tell Aimee. She then loaded the car with the crate and food and took off. Thirty minutes later I get a call saying, “she ate the drugs and is getting sleepy”, and now a friend was even there helping as well, so all looked like it was going to finally happen. I went to work on my driftwood creation and about 30 minutes passed and Aimee pulls into the driveway. She jumped out and I asked, “how did it go”?? She answered, “not the way we expected”! She unloaded an empty dog crate from the back of the car and began to tell me the story and seconds later, once inside the house showed me the end result of all her hard work, “she had been bit and bit hard” and I won’t tell you where! My first thought was, “where’s my camera” but she said, “your not taking a picture of that mister”, so then I thought, we have to get you to a doctor then?? She told me she had a tetanus shot a few years back but I insisted she go just the same as it looked bad. She told me that apparently the dogs didn’t get enough drugs, they were tired but not asleep. She said, they had found a new litter of puppies and when she bent over to pick one up from under something momma woke and went crazy from the puppies cries. The things we do for these island dogs?? Aimee did get into a doctor later in the day, she is sore but all is well.

Remember a few weeks back when I sent you the photo of the Lionfish fighting at 160 feet?? Well, this was why we were down there in the first place, to check out multiple barrel sponges that had these beautiful crinoids attached to them. This looks like it was taken at night but it’s just because we are so deep, not a whole lot of light down there. This is a Black and White Crinoid, Nemaster Grandis clinging to a beautiful red Giant Barrel sponge. Most Caribbean crinoids have around 40 black arms with white-tipped side branches. Crinoids have the unique ability to move around or walk on jointed legs called cirri, if they don’t like their location they will just move to a new area, they are so cool!

I have to get to work, more tonight, Barry

Caribbean Slate-Pencil Urchin Facts, Eucidaris Tribuloides

barry — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:31:38 +0000

Good morning friends, waking up tired and a bit sore after a fast but fun mountain bike ride last night with Super-Kid! Before we left the house we put a little air in our tires which turned out to be a major mistake for me as I ended up crashing hard on a tight loose corner because of the tires still being too hard. Before my little crash we had stopped twice and did let out air but still not enough, I guess my old air pump that I brought down here is no longer reading the air pressure correctly? So after picking myself up of the ground and checking out all the colorful red spots on my body we again took off to continue the ride which in the end helped the recovery a lot. I will again be at Saint Joris early this Saturday to continue work on trying to get that new trail re-opened, I think we are about half ways now.

Here’s a Sea-Urchin that is very hard to find and photograph as they spend their lives living deep in the reef. This is called a Slate-Pencil Urchin, or Eucidaris tribuloides. This sea urchin got it’s name because its spines were used as writing utensils for slate boards, and kids, that’s way back when the Earth was still cooling down. These unusual animals provide an endless source of fascination. They are closely related to sea stars, sharing the same five-fold symmetry, and they too move about on hundreds of hydraulically operated tube feet. Sea stars and sea urchins are from a group known as echinoderms, a word meaning ‘spiny skins’. Sea urchin eggs have properties that make them important for medical research. Compounds extracted from marine organisms are initially tested to see whether they inhibit the production of rapidly dividing sea urchin eggs. If so, they may have potential to provide cures for AIDS, cancer and other diseases. Sea urchins are most common in intertidal habitats and on shallow reefs, but have been found as deep as 7000 meters.

They feed on kelp and other kinds of seaweeds. Due to their ability to reproduce rapidly when conditions become favorable, they can reach plague proportions, only to die in huge numbers when they eat out their food source. In other parts of the world, people are one of their main predators. In some parts of the world, sea urchins are believed to be powerful aphrodisiacs. The roe is a prized delicacy in Japan, in islands of the Pacific and in European countries such as France, Italy and Greece. Urchins use the spines on the underside to move around, making them look like they are walking on stilts. Some tropical species, such as the flower urchin, have venom-tipped spines that can cause severe pain to careless divers.

Off to work, have a wonderful day, Barry