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 ABOUTfeatured: 30 Best Snorkeling Blogs Fun Ways to enjoy the caribbeanArchive for the ‘Uncategorized’Apr 7, 11 Comments Off
Hi all, I just got home from a very long day, lots of time in the water today! When I photograph clients underwater, inside the sub, I usually get out on the reef way before the sub does meaning I have some fun time to explore. Then once the sub arrives I take around 3-5 minutes for my photo-shoot and then normally head right back to the surface. Lately I have been finding all kinds of cool things either on my way out or on the way back and once located I usually go back later with either a macro lens or my trusty 28-70 because when I shoot the sub I use a 10.5mm wide angle. So among my many cool finds was this little sweetheart swimming from one gorgonian to the next in search of that perfect feeding area or returning to his or her home after a long morning of exploring. All seahorses belong to the genus Hippocampus in the family Syngnathidae. They share the genus Hippocampus with their close relatives the Pipefish. The females will deposit their eggs in a brood pouch on the chest of their male partner and the male will fertilize the eggs inside his pouch and then carry them around and care for them until they hatch. This is a photo I am still looking for! Seahorses might not look like traditional fishes, but they are true fishes of the class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes). Sea horses inhabit both tropical and temperate waters and are found in many different parts of the world. There are over 30 described species of seahorse and many are endangered or at risk of becoming endangered in the near future due to disappearing mangroves, global warming, and poaching just to me a few. Ever since Omar we have not seen many of these or the frogfishes, my guess is they went deep and then just stayed there!I hope all is well out there, it’s off to bed for me! Take care, Barry
Mar 21, 11 Comments Off
Hi friends, because of all the pictures from Bonaire I have been sending out, someone asked me today, “what is the most popular dive site in Bonaire”, and I answered 1000 Steps, and yes that’s my personal opinion. 1000 Steps is one of the most renowned beaches in Bonaire, and it’s also one of the island’s top dive sites. A Thousand Steps dive is something that the most seasoned of divers won’t forget, and even if you don’t engage in underwater exploration, a visit is bound to prove memorable. The hike down to the beach is part of the reason why a 1000 Steps visit is hard to forget. From the main road, visitors will have to negotiate the 67 steps that lead down to the beach. There might only be 67 steps that lead down to this beautiful beach and dive site, but it can feel like 1000 on the way up. This is how 1000 Steps got its name. If you want to go diving at 1000 Steps, there is no way to avoid the fact that you’ll have to get your gear both up and down the 67 limestone steps. Some divers make multiple trips to try to lighten the load, while others load everything up and try to make it in one trip. Once it comes time to enter the water, the entry from the shore should be relatively easy. The swim to the drop off is a short one, and there is an excellent reef to explore. The Bonaire marine Park goes to great lengths to protect its reefs and area waters, and this reef is teeming with life. In addition to an array of colorful fish, anyone on a Thousand Steps dive can also admire colorful coral and sponges. In addition to scuba diving at 1000 Steps Bonaire, visitors can also go snorkeling. The waters are usually relatively calm, not to mention relatively shallow until the drop off. Thanks to the clarity of the water, it’s not necessary to dive deep to admire the marine life. As for the beach at 1000 Steps, it’s a small strip of sand that is backed by dry cliffs and shrubs. Cacti, which are abundant on the island of Bonaire, are scattered about, and the overall atmosphere is very inviting. The view from the top of the limestone steps is particularly impressive. 1000 Steps is located on the west coast of Bonaire about five miles north of Kralendijk. Even though this beach and dive site is renowned, it manages to stay relatively deserted, so it can be an excellent place to simply kick back and take a break from it all. As for some of the other top rated Bonaire dive sites that you might consider, they include Karpata, Tolo, Salt Pier, Invisibles and Hilma Hooker just to name a few.
I just heard the dinner is ready yell, I am out of here!! Barry
Feb 15, 11 Comments Off
Good morning all, after a great night out with my loved one we both ended up hitting the sac early. With full bellies, a little wine and a full day in the sun there was no staying up late last night. Yesterday was fairly quiet at work for me, Aimee was busy. I have been busy packing for the trip over the last week and still am not ready, I will have to pay for excess baggage for sure.
I had a request for a photo weeks ago and I forgot all about it until last night going thru old photos. Someone had asked if I had a photo showing how big a seahorse is when sitting on the reef compared to a person, so I found this. This is my buddy Mark who found this great little yellow treasure on his house reef at Pier Baai. I remember this seahorse also being or living in a super hard to get to spot making any photos almost impossible especially with my mega monster camera. So Mark ever so carefully came in from behind and was able to get into a better spot than myself so I said ok, I will just shoot the both of you, it’s more interesting anyways. Seahorses are pretty hard to come by on the islands here, it is hands down one of the top 10 creatures divers dream of seeing but most times leave without spotting one. I can’t even remember the last one I saw, and it’s not that they are not out there, it’s that they are so darn hard to see, except for the yellow ones.
Sorry so short guys, I am in a rush this morning, still lots to do before work! More soon, Barry
Feb 9, 11 Comments Off
Good evening from the Caribbean. For those of you who have never seen a dog smile, this is what it looks like! Inca and Indi had so much fun this morning running along side us as we made our way up the coast to our favorite little hidden beach called “Inca’s Place”. For you Geocachers there is even a cache hidden there and it’s named, yep, you guessed it, Inca’s Place. The desert is still nice and green from our two solid months of rain, look on the ground we even have grass of sorts! This mornings ride was so much fun. We parked the car near the bat caves and rode down a dirt road straight to the ocean and then took a left, we could now see the giant windmills up ahead in the far distance and with a strong tailwind we got there in no time at all. The dogs again ran straight to the water to cool off and while they were doing that we set up their water bowls and went in search of beach treasures. I kept telling Aimee, “watch where your walking, there are little hermit crabs everywhere”!! She sat down at the edge of the tide-line and collected little shells while I walked around looking for fossil corals to be used as jewelry, it’s amazing how much stuff there is to find. After around 30 minutes of resting, collecting and playing with the dogs we grabbed the bikes and headed back this time straight into the wind. I hate riding a bike into a strong wind but the dogs love it as it helps to keep them cool, needless to say it took much longer to get back. Fun Curacao morning, I highly recommend this trip to any of you who have not done it, you can walk as well but that would take quite awhile and you would need to leave very early.
That’s about it, was a nice relaxing day! The puppy got her first vaccination today, will send a new photo out soon! Help us find her a great home, she will be a winner!!
Good-night all, Barry
Feb 1, 11 Comments Off
Hey gang, here’s a big beautiful Stoplight Parrotfish taking time out of his busy day for a little personal grooming or cleaning as we call it. Most fish generally swim around until they spot a “Certified Cleaning Station”, they then stop, point their heads upwards towards the surface and just wait for the cleaning fish or shrimps to come to them. Here you see the yellow juvenile Bluehead Wrasses racing all around our happy customer in search of any little tid-bit of food that might be hanging on the outside of his body or many times stuck or caught inside the mouth. These little fish are such a major part of the wellness of the reef as they act as cleaners, removing parasites and debris from larger fish. Without this free service many fish would become sick and die from infection or disease. Many fish like this big parrotfish tend to be so caught up in the moment that they can often be caught with their guard down giving a quiet diver the chance for closer approach.
Today I did one dive with the mini-sub at 9:00am and spent the rest of the day in my Photoshop. At 2:00 I said good-bye to Bernard and Rosa as Aimee swept them off to the airport for a 4:50 flight to Miami and then over the sea to the United Kingdom, we sure will miss them!! At 5:00 I met my young super-fast rider for a hour and a half mountain bike ride thru the wilds of Curacao, other than breaking my chain, it was great fun!
This month on the 15th I leave for Bonaire for a week of taking photos for Sport Diver Magazine www.sportdiver.com on my first official assignment! I will be meeting a professional writer named Aaron Gulley and our task is to show all you great folks out there all the fun things there is to do in Bonaire as well as diving, sounds fun doesn’t it?? This will be for the June 2011 issue and if any of you miss buying this issue, well I need not say more! During this trip you lucky folks on the e-mail list will not receive your daily, you must go to www.coralreefphotos.com to keep up on what I am doing, I will post the blog there and continue the e-mails when I get back home in a week.
Well all, very tired this evening, that was a fast bike ride! Be back tomorrow, later, Barry
Jan 23, 11 Comments Off
Good evening friends, I had a request for something made from Driftwood and dug this out for you tonight. These are Paper Towel holders made entirely from wood we find at Saint Joris bay. I made 10 of these in just a few hours and sell them for around $25 and they work great. We have one hanging in our kitchen as well as toilet paper holders in the bathrooms and driftwood coat and hat racks, it’s great stuff to work with! I made a big toy box a few months ago and sold it for around $600 but can not find the photos anywhere, sure hope I didn’t loose them. We have a lot of wood still here at the house but could use some more big stuff to make more furniture, the problem is Saint Joris is still a complete mess from all the rain.
This morning I took the dogs and my bike to the North Coast as we needed to replace a flooded Geocache called “Inca’s Place”. This cache was reported flooded a few days ago and like a good Geocache care-taker I rushed off to replace it with a new one. When we got there it had just rained leaving a beautiful rainbow and lots of mud! I rode the bike down what used to be a dirt road which is no longer passable by vehicle, there was standing water and mud puddles everywhere! The dogs had an absolute fantastic time running thru all the mud and I struggled thru every minute of it, my bike and I were a complete mess! At one corner I came around too fast and was met with nothing but mud and water and had no option other than to hold on and go for it! The dogs loved it and charged thru while I hit the water with my eyes closed but immediately became stuck in solid mud! The bike slowed down so fast and I was not yet thru it, I stood to try and get out but was stuck and then tried to get out of my clip-less pedals but only one came loose so I fell over on my left side in solid mud and water cutting my hand, knee and leg! I laid in the mud still trying to get my foot out and finally stood up. I was bleeding and caked in mud, it was completely awful! I then had to push the bike because of the caked mud to a nearby bay where I had no choice but to put my bike in the water and rinse off as much mud as I could. I tried not to get the salt water in my bearings and used a stick to scrape the mud. It took a long time to get myself and that bike cleaned up, what a mess and I felt so stupid! Once clean I then proceeded to find the old Geocache and get it replaced with the new one, that turned out to be super easy and after I took off back to the car going a different way home, what a morning! It took me over an hour to clean the dogs, myself and the poor bike not to mention my muddy clothes and trashed backpack!
The rest of the day was much better doing fun stuff with Bernard and Rosa, they are so much fun! Well, off to bed, Bye now, Barry
Jan 7, 11 Comments Off
Hi all, here’s a little creature I have never sent out before and I am not sure why as they are on this island by the millions! This is called a Cosmopolitan House Gecko or Hemidactylus mabouia, the locals here in Curacao call them Pegapega, Toteki pegapega. This is a tiny baby, smaller than a leaf that lives in the driftwood by our backdoor and we see him almost every night. There are seven different gecko species living on the three ABC islands, this is now thought to be the most common. Formerly another species (the leaf fingered gecko), Phyllodactylus martini was the most common found in houses however this little guy here has taken it’s place inside our homes and banished it’s nephew to the great outdoors. Here in Curacao having Gecko’s in your home is a wonderful thing as they catch and eat all kinds of pesky insects, even small cockroaches. These almost transparent lizards are strictly nocturnal, you will never see them out hunting during the day but you may find one if your cleaning the yard and moving pieces of wood or junk around. Aimee and I just love these little guys, they are so cool to watch at night, they mostly hang out near lights on the side of walls and wait for unsuspecting insects. Under it’s little toes it has tiny scales which makes it possible to hold on to just about any surface! Although this guy here crawled into my Tupperware container and was unable to get out so they can not climb up slippery plastic items. If another gecko approaches they may emit a soft rattling sound something we personally have never heard. Also because their tails break off very easily they tend to loose them while fighting but will re-grow a new one very quickly. For a predator the broken tails which usually flop around on the ground when severed are a nice tasty meal, they contain a considerable amount of fat, yummy!
It was a nice day in Curacao for a change, no rain, just a nice wind and lots of sun, it was great! I did one long dive with sub this morning, we took a crew to see the new proposed spot for the sinking of the new tugboat. I shot photos from high above as the sub and it’s passengers checked out the area and then did a long swim back to the substation, not much air left when I finally returned.
So all is well, dinner is ready, later guys and gals, Barry
Nov 21, 10 Comments (3)
Good morning all. Here are the cool new spiders I found in our front yard, I found 3 in one small area. The top photo is a baby, the middle is a young female and the bottom could be a large male, all have different tops. These spiders are called, Gasteracantha cancriformis (Araneida: Araneidae), the spiny-backed orb-weaver. This is a true tropical spider. The main range of the species runs from the southeast edge of the United States through Central America and the Caribbean, and thence into South America as far as northern Argentina. Florida is often said to be its northern limit (i.e. up to about 30° N), but in fact that honor must surely belong to the tiny archipelago of Bermuda, whose latitude is roughly 32° N. Like all orb-weavers, the orb-weaver builds disc-like webs consisting of long radii and parallel circumferential lines. Its webs can be unusually large, up to 60 cm in diameter. Females, which build the webs, can grow to 7 mm long and 13 mm wide. Males are smaller (2 or 3 mm long) and do not make webs. Instead, they skulk at the edge of females’ webs during the autumn and wait for a chance to approach and mate. After fertilization, females deposit egg cases on the underside of leaves, and the spiderlings hatch in the late winter.
The spiky, vivid appearance probably evolved because it makes the spiders look unpalatable to predatory birds and lizards. These cool looking spiders are not poisonous in any way! From what I have read just having that cool spiny amour is usually enough to keep all away therefore not needing a poison of any type, cool huh?? My favorite thing about these is of course the faces on their carapace, I will be searching for more and hope to find a wide assortment of different smiles. I am quite sore this morning after carrying a 14 foot piece of wood almost one mile to the area where the salt lake is now overflowing into the ocean. For a month now no one has been able to cross this new raging river but yesterday I put an end to that. It took me around an hour to get it there stopping every 50 feet to rest and get the weight off my shoulders, it weighed around 40-45 pounds and was so long which as you can imagine would be very difficult to carry down a single track path thru a jungle. After finally getting the wood there and “building a bridge over troubled waters” I took the dogs and went swimming in the calm ocean, that felt so good after the long walk! The rest of my day was spent shopping and going to our favorite glass beach, I found 8 pieces of red glass, it was a good day! Better go, daylight is a burning, have a great Sunday, Barry
Nov 12, 10 Comments Off
Good morning friends, our little island of Curacao is finally getting back to normal after the storms but very slowly. I did my first dive yesterday and noticed the corals are more bleached than ever now, it honestly looks like it snowed underwater from high above. The visibility wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be but still needs days of ocean current to sweep all the sand off everything. I did find yet another Lionfish yesterday in just 20 feet of water! That’s four now that I have seen in the past 2 weeks, a clear fact that we are in big trouble as the numbers will be out of control before we know it, and yes I caught the ones I have seen.
Today the sub is taking a group of scientists out in search of sunken ships or any historical items. I think the plan is to take them to a few areas that we have spotted canons or big anchors and start there all in very deep water.
Tomorrow we will have the sub parked in Punda at the Heineken Regatta from 11:00 to 4:00. Please come down and join us if your able to get away, it’s near the Floating Market area.
Here’s a little Yellow Seahorse we found not to long ago and we ended up watching him for most of the dive. These really are the most gentle of all sea creatures and are the number one thing a diver hopes to see on any given dive.
I better go, see you tonight, Barry
Oct 21, 10 Comments Off
Hey gang, as may or may not know our island is patrolled everyday by Coast Guard planes and helicopters. With its remote beaches, tourist traffic and ties to Europe and being so close to Venezuela, this palm-fringed Dutch corner of the Caribbean is a paradise – for drug traffickers. The Royal Netherlands Navy in the Caribbean plays an important role in upholding the international rule of law. Given the geographical location of the islands, this particularly involves fighting international drug trafficking by sea. The Royal Netherlands Navy in the Caribbean therefore works in close coordination with the international drug-fighting organization Joint Interagency Task Force South, located in Key West, Florida. I think this is a Bombardier Dash 8-102 or it’s the 106, I can’t tell. This plane flies low and fast almost daily in front of the Sea Aquarium and for years I have been photographing it as it flew by. That’s the famous Queen Juliana Bridge in the background, it stands 185 feet above sea level and is the highest bridge in the Caribbean and one of the Highest in the World. As you can see our island is really green right now and with more rain today it is sure to stay this way for awhile now. Aimee was home sick again all day but is feeling a little better, I told her not to go in to work tomorrow but knowing her she will go in anyways! Take care all, be back soon, Barry
Oct 5, 10 Comments Off
Hi friends, I wanted to send a typical ”South Dakota” scene out to everyone tonight especially for my friends here in Curacao who wonder all the time what the area looks like where we come from. When I left there a few weeks ago fall was just starting meaning the days were getting shorter, the nights were getting colder and the leaves were starting to turn colors. The day before I left I stopped out to see our friends Brad and Karine, remember she is the one that came to Curacao a few months back, this is her backyard. For those of you island folks this is called “Baling Hay”. Grass that grows during the year is cut before winter and is used as food for cattle, horses, goats and sheep. This is actually really cool to watch, the tractor is a 1947 M-model Farmall and the bailer is a 1965 New Holland 269. The farmer drives the tractor fairly slow pulling the baler behind which gathers up the grass and compacts it and wraps it all by it’s self, really an amazing piece of equipment. The small bales are then picked up and stored out of the weather to prevent the grass from becoming wet which will not only cause mildew it also will cause it to lose valuable nutrients. Anyways something totally different for you all tonight, makes me a bit homesick.
Curacao is having some really bad weather right now, you may want to stay away if your planning on visiting this week. The winds are blowing from the South-West (something that never happens) the waves are going the wrong way, current, dirty water and rain, not great for divers right now. To me it seems like our rainy season has started way too early? But, because of all the rain the island is as green as it has ever been, it’s beautiful!
Hope all is well out there, see you tomorrow, Barry
Aug 26, 10 Comments Off
Good morning all, my internet is out at home so I am unable to send any e-mails out, I am doing this from our computer at work! Living in Curacao has really made Aimee and I aware of how much we take the basic life essentials for granted. There are many days here when the power is out all day, we have no gas for the car, internet comes and goes on a daily basis and tying to get something fixed like the t.v, or car can be just plain crazy. Aimee is off today and will try and get someone to come fix our DSL but I told her good-luck with that. Yesterday we did two training dives during the day but the visibility here is still terrible! Our first dive was down to 100 feet and soon after we spotted a big Lionfish that we had planned on going back to catch on the second dive but never found him due to poor visibility. We have coral researchers here at the moment from all over the World getting ready for the late night coral spawning that will take place this week. I think tonight is the first night but not sure yet if I am able to make it, having some camera-flash problems. Here’s a beautiful Iguana we have at work, he sits right there on that rock most of the day basking in the sun. Sorry so short, see you back here tomorrow, Barry Jun 12, 10 Comments Off
Hello all, something a bit different tonight, I found this tiny little Insect out back on the tip of an Agave spine and thought it was interesting enough to send out. I think it’s some kind of Katydid or grasshopper and I knew someone on the list would be able to confirm this as, yes it is, or no it’s not! I watched this tiny little thing for quite awhile as he ever so slowly made his way from the tip down eating all the new white growth that was covering the spine. Well, anyways for those of you who hate bugs I apologize, but as a photographer I am always on the lookout for anything of interest big or small, I love it all!
Today it was work as usual except I had to race home twice to check on the puppies. The good news is, I found a puppy babysitter and she starts tomorrow! Yeah!! I will take both of them over to my friend Eveline’s house tomorrow morning and she will keep them till Thursday, then I will watch them again Friday and Saturday and then hopefully they will go back to her again for a few more days. Eveline runs a dog sitting service and as some of you may know she also used to be one of our dolphin trainers as well so they should be in good hands.
It’s still raining here, the island is looking very green and it’s very muddy. I took the dogs for an hour walk tonight with a friend and his dogs and everyone had a great time. Inca is currently in bed and Indi is upstairs playing with the puppies which reminds me I better go check on them!
See you tomorrow, Barry
Apr 6, 10 Comments Off
 Curacao Reptile Good evening friends, a few nights ago after work while Aimee and I were walking the dogs I found this super tiny little reptile in the dirt. He is only an inch long by 1/8th of an inch wide and was very easy to catch with my bare hands. We have never seen one of these before, I was hoping some of you out there might be able to help with a name?? I found him in the blazing sun right where we parked the car, what in the world was he doing there? I have had him at home for the past few days in a nice little home with sand, rocks, water and food but today after taking his picture I let him go.
My cough is finally going away thanks to some new medications! I took the dogs to Saint Joris this morning and worked on my new trail for almost three hours because it was overcast and cool. When I first started this morning I ran into a solid wall of cacti and said “forget it” and went back down the trail a few yards and found a much better way around it all without having to do much cutting. As dry as it is here right now it’s perfect for putting in new trail and with a little hard work it’s going to be great!
The rest of my day has been spent around the house doing odds and ends and I can’t believe how fast the day went? It looked like rain today but so far nothing at least not in our neighborhood!
Thanks for all the letters nice to hear from so many of you! Till tomorrow, Barry
Nov 23, 09 Comments Off
 Eleutherodactylus johnstonei Good evening, by request again here is another shot of our little Tree Frogs except this time a side profile! I found this one on our porch again in the same plant as last time, could be the same one but not for sure?? As I sit here I can hear two or three right outside the window just a chirping away! Many here call them whistling frogs but I think the real name is Caribbean Tree Frog or Eleutherodactylus johnstonei as they are better known throughout the scientific community.
We had a nice little rain shower here this morning and most of the day it was overcast. Strong winds are currently driving big waves into the coast and really stirring up the water for the divers hopefully tomorrow it will calm down a bit!!
I forgot to tell you all about this driving goof-ball I ran into yesterday. We have this really terrible parking lot at the Aquarium, it’s all dirt and rocks and littered with glass bottles. This parking lot is mostly used for employees but other folks use it as well. As I came to work I was right behind this super ugly Hummer with a lady driving. She turned into our dirt parking lot and stopped and then tried to back that big monster up into a little spot between two other parked cars! She tried and tried and tried and I was now boxed in and there were now about seven other cars waiting for her to park this beast! Now folks picture this, it’s still early so 80% of the lot is empty, if fact if she would have just drove straight in and down 3 more spaces there was nothing! But no this crazy lady had her mind set on this spot and she just kept on trying! Now the honking and name calling started from many other vehicles from behind me, I was just to shocked wondering how in the world she was going to get that thing in-between those two cars! Finally after almost four minutes of trying she gave up and was forced to park 20 feet away in another spot!! Now are you ready for this, are you sitting down, she gets out of her Hummer dressed in workout clothes and was headed for the gym across the street, geez talk about one lazy human being, she had so many people pissed off it wasn’t even funny and never once acknowledged any of them, I just shook my head in disbelief, it’s a crazy world we live in!!
Till tomorrow, Barry
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