Good morning friends, I received a FANTASTIC  letter yesterday from Aimee who arrived safe and sound in Michigan with Lola puppy and she said all went well! So well in fact that she said Lola and her walked all over the Miami airport together, including going into stores shopping and eating at a restaurant, can you believe that?? The letter she sent me will be posted right here for you all Sunday evening with a photo, so stay tuned for this story, it’s really something wonderful!

Yesterday was an island holiday but I went into work for half the day any ways! I had a ton of work to do on the underwater housings like cleaning and re-doing some of the push pins and afterwards took them to the pool to be checked for leaking. I was going to go diving yesterday but with overcast skies the photos would have looked like it was a night dive so I will just wait for the sun.

I did go for a long 27 mile bike ride last night starting at 4:00. It was hot and windy when I left so I first spent an hour riding all the single-track trails around here before heading out into the open and heading for the North coast for another hour and a half. I really hate riding in the wind and yesterday was about as bad as it get here, it just makes you feel like you are so out of shape and slow. When I finally got home I grabbed the dogs and took them for another walk and then passed by the Ribs Factory for dinner, since my chef is gone these nice folks are keeping me fed.

Here is “Dolphin Girl” doing what she does best, holding her breath and swimming underwater with the dolphins. This is her new found love Ritina and her baby Alita who is now almost two months old. When she returns we will be doing  more of these photos and of course some video, I just have to figure out how to post it for you to see but I think it will be easy.

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

Good morning folks, hopefully Aimee and Lola made it safe and sound into Michigan last night, I only got word that they arrived in Miami and had to wait there for nine hours before the next flight! I am finding out that many think we have lost our minds taking a local dog all the way to the States but as you may or may not know we tried and tried to find her a home here. We had a friend from Holland that was going to take her but for some reason they ended up not even coming to see her and went straight to the pound and picked up a dog there, so there went our last window. Over the years Aimee and I have fostered so many puppies and found homes for them all but now it’s getting much harder to do, everyone we know has a puppy now. So when a friend from the States said, “I would love to have her” we didn’t even think twice about taking her there ourselves, at least we know she will have a wonderful life and for sure will be the only dog in Michigan from Curacao! I did take a photo of them both at the airport before they left with Aimee’s camera and will post that when she returns and I am sure Aimee will have quite an adventure to share with you all as well!

Yesterday I spent a good part of the day underwater with the three baby dolphins and their mothers. I used my new D-800 and for the first time ever was able to get a little video, now I just need to figure out how to post it for you all to see!

Our dog Indi is really missing Lola so when I got home from work I took her and Inca to Saint Joris Bay for a full evening of running and swimming in the ocean, they both had a blast! Indi is so funny how she hides along the trail some place and waits to ambush poor Inca by launching out and chasing her, man can those two run fast! We ended up not getting home till pretty late last night and after a shower for everyone they were finished!

Good morning all, it’s 4:00 in the morning and we are getting ready to take Lola (puppy) and Aimee to the airport for their all day trip up to Michigan.

I just got out of the ocean a few hours ago doing my second night dive with my new Blue Lights that make the reef Fluoresce. Fluorescence is the name for the absorption of light at one wavelength and its re-emission at another wavelength. What that boils down to is that some things will glow when you shine the right light on them. The ‘right light’ can be different for different targets. We are most used to seeing fluorescence produced by ultraviolet light, often called “black light” because we humans can’t see it.  So I recently purchased these new lights from Night Sea www.nightsea.com called; specially filtered blue lights, because the blue has proved to be better at making most things underwater fluoresce. Fluorescence is kind of magical, especially at night and underwater. You point one light at a target and a totally different color comes out. One of the characteristics of fluorescence is the intense, highly saturated colors. We are used to seeing things illuminated by white light, which contains all the colors of the spectrum. When something fluoresces it usually emits only a narrow range of colors, making it appear like a pure color. There are fluorescent items around you all the time. Highlighter pens, orange traffic cones and safety vests, and bright plastics for children’s toys are just a few examples of the way fluorescence is used. The fluorescence of these products is what makes them appear especially bright. This is some kind of tiny Anemone that I found last night glowing on the reef and soon after shooting this photo one of my strobes died so I had to call it quits and get back out. I had spent quite a bit of time yesterday afternoon getting my camera ready for last nights challenge but for some reason that one light went out and really without two lights (strobes/flashes) you will never get any good shots with blue lights. For the short time I was underwater last night I did see tons of beautiful things glowing and now am on a mission to learn how to do this better so stay tuned for more glowing underwater images to come.

I need to get to the airport, have a wonderful day, Barry

Good morning friends, still trying to recover from my crazy weekend. Stijn and I went on a night dive Saturday night and for the first time ever did something new, we dove with blue lights. This means instead of having the normal white light underwater to see where your going you now have a blue one and it makes all the corals and anemones flourese, it’s so cool! We both wore a pair of yellow glasses that fit over our masks and I had the camera set up with a yellow filter over the lens and two blue lights, one over each strobe. The corals turn electric green when hit with the blue lights and the anemones are absolutely beautiful! We also found out that lizardfish and goatfish really fluoresce as well but trying to get close to them is another story. We ended up not having great luck with the picture taking but had a blast with the hand held lights but hopefully with practice I will have a photo to show you real soon.

On Sunday I did a long walk with the dogs, went sea-glass collecting and then for a long mountain bike ride, we only have a little over a month now of training left before we head to the states to go riding. I am planning on being in the US for the whole month of July and I will most likely be posting photos from what ever we happen to be doing there.

Aimee leaves tomorrow morning early for the States with our little puppy to hand deliver her all the way up to Michigan!! The down side is she has a 9 hour lay-over in Miami!! Yeah, Yikes!! She will have to claim the dog and take her somewhere outside for the day so she doesn’t have to stay in a crate all day at the airport, stay tuned for more on this crazy story!

Your photo today is my sort-of-pet that lives at the Substation entry area and we see him or her everyday! This is a Porcupinefish, Diodon hystrix, and they are truly one of the hands down most mellow and gentle creatures on the planet! This one here loves sleeping and hiding under this rock and he is always here. If you are real quiet and careful he or she will let you move in very close but is always watching you with those big eyes. We have three dives planned with the sub today so I am sure I will be saying hi to this little beauty in just a few short hours.

Well, I need to get moving, have a wonderful day out there, Barry

Good morning everyone. Here is one of my most favorite photos in the world! I wonder why? This is what has been keeping the Dolphin Academy trainers so busy the last months. On the right is Tela and her baby girl, in the middle is Annie and her baby boy, and on the left is Ritina and Alita peeking around the corner. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful? All three babies are doing very well, and there is a current contest going on for the names of the two little ones. Right now, I spend most of my days over with the baby pool, feeding mommas, and working to get the babies used to trainers and interacting with them. The personality of a baby comes two ways, by genetics and also by environment. The personality of the momma really comes into play so much, and it is exciting to see the difference in personalities of the three mommas and babies. If a mother is relaxed and confident, the baby is as well. If the mother is an over-reactor, the baby becomes more jumpy. I think the next year will be an exciting one seeing how these little ones  grow and learn. This is a one in a million photo, and Barry has spent quite the time underwater just waiting to get all 6 of them in the same frame. Tough stuff!

Have a great day, Aimee

Good morning everyone, it’s baby day again!  You may remember a photo or two of Ritina and her baby Alita that Barry sent you over the past few weeks. Well, Alita is now 2 months old, but this is a different little one! In fact 3 weeks ago, we had TWO MORE new little miracles! This is Tela and her little girl, and Annie had a little boy just 22 hours after! It has certainly been a busy and blessed time for us all! Wow! Well, recently the great news has been announced in the local papers, so we thought it was time to announce it to you as well! We are in the process of gathering names, and they will get those in the next week or so! If you are interested in putting in a name suggestion, go to the Dolphin Academy website; www.dolphin-academy.com and you can enter one. It needs to be a local Curacao name with a good meaning. Fun! So, we have been working hard here, with our three babies, that means yes….baby night watches. We of course do 2 weeks of 24 hour watches on these new mommas and babies, and there sure was a ton to watch! Babies are quite a handful for the mamma’s, learning how to swim and nurse, and multiply that times three!  It is always a party in the baby pool! The photo shows the baby under and behind Tela. This is called the infant position, and the baby stays right here most of the time. Also, you will notice the baby is actually touching Tela, this is another way the mother can tell the baby is where she should be. Dolphins are socially complex animals with large brains, and touch is one way they communicate constantly to each other. Stay tuned, the next baby photo will be of Annie and her little boy!

Have a great day!

Aimee

Good morning from one of the most humid places on Earth, talk about going from one extreme to another?? Meaning, I just got home from one of the driest places in the United States so dry in fact that on my mountain bike rides I hardly broke a sweat and my nose and skin hurt everyday from the lack of moisture. But then the second we landed here (back in Curacao) and they open the door it’s like your just getting out of the shower, I was sweating just getting my bags to the car. Because we live so close to work we ride our bikes back and forth but in the 2 minutes it takes to get here you have to change your shirt or rinse off once you arrive because of the humidity, it’s really something! Last night at 5:00 Stijn and I took off on a one hour sprint to the North coast and back and by the time we returned we both looked and felt like we had just jumped into the ocean, it was really crazy how much we were sweating! Aimee said while I was gone it has been raining off and on so this of course adds to the all around moisture in the air but honestly it seems worse than ever. Ok, yes there is always a good side to everything and the humidity is great for your skin and the island needs the rain so I guess the good out-weighs the bad and I will just stop complaining!

Here’s a fun photo that shows the importance of coral reefs and the protection they provide to the creatures and fish that call this place home. These are Blackbar Soldierfish, Myripristis jacobus hanging out under the safety of a big colony of Mountainous Star Coral, Montastraea faveolata. These Soldierfish tend to find a safe place during the day like you see here and at night will come out to hunt for food. These fish are also always seen in small schools and live by the words “there is safety in numbers”. I have had many friends come here over the years like Aimee’s sister who swear these are the coolest looking fish they saw underwater and who am I to disagree??

Here is a link to one of my Caribbean Reef Squid photos that is being show-cased on the NANPA website today, http://www.nanpa.org/index.php

I have to get moving, we have a sub dive this morning. Have a wonderful day, Barry

Bon Dia from Curacao!! I arrived back to the island last night at around 8:00 after a very long day and without any problems. I apologize to everyone in the States for not calling while I was there, I just didn’t have the time and didn’t want to call too late, I promise to do it next time! My favorite thing about traveling has to be all the new people I meet. On my way to Miami I sat with a Dutch lady and her daughter and it was non-stop conversation the whole way and it made the trip go by so fast. And yesterday was the same thing, I met a super cool, very talented coulple that are here now on the island and we talked for three hours, it made the trip over the Caribbean seem so short. I flew American Airlines the whole way and I must say they did everything right, meaning no lost luggage, flights on time, friendly service and pretty low fares, what more can you ask for?? It was great seeing the family last night, it was Christmas in May for Aimee and the dogs, that’s the best part about getting home!

Here is a beautiful cluster of purple Stove Pipe Sponges, Aplysina archeri that I found on a reef in Bonaire. Most of you remember from all my blogs that sponges are the simplest of the multicellular animals. Sponges come in many sizes, colors and shapes. Some are quite small, less than half an inch across, while the Giant Barrel Sponge may attain a height of over six feet. These Stove Pipe Sponges can also get very tall, I have seen them close to eight feet in height and have found them past 100 feet before.

Again, sorry so short, will make it up to you tonight, I have to get ready for work.

Have a wonderful day, Barry

Good morning friends, this is my last day in the States, man does time go by fast! I have to be at the bus stop tonight at 4:30 in the morning for an hour and a half hour ride back to the Phoenix airport. Next I check-in and wait till 8:00 and then onto Miami for another long layover and then finally into Curacao arriving at around 8:00 tomorrow night. I am still pumped up from my thrilling mountain bike rides that I was lucky enough to get to do, sure wish I had more time for another round! I spent yesterday packing and doing more shopping and waiting for a package to arrive from Ikelite, (the folks that make the underwater camera housings) and it arrived right on time! I made a big “note to self” to return to this area next year at the same time or a bit earlier as everything is in bloom, it’s a photographers dream here right now! I was lucky enough to photograph a quail at the top of a Saguaro cactus eating the pollen out of the flowers yesterday morning, I might send that out tomorrow it’s really pretty cool.

The photo today is by request. I have had people ask me many times about what happens after a boat dive and how do you get back to the boat. Here in Curacao there is a lot of boat diving, it’s not like Bonaire where you can drive and dive, we are kind of the opposite. The boat will take you out to a chosen destination/dive spot and one once stopped we all jump in one by one, it looks just like the photo above. After the dive, the dive-master will have us all group together like you see here and once the boat captain feels it’s safe he will then slowly bring the boat closer to the group and pick us all up by first throwing out a line into the water. It can be a bit unnerving when your out there in the sea away from the reef over deep blue water and look down and it’s just dark blue almost black!! That’s when your mind can really start playing tricks on you, good thing sharks are very uncommon around our island!

Well, that’s it for me, talk to again from Curacao.

Have a great day, Barry

Good morning friends, I just got home from another insane mountain bike ride that I did early this morning in a semi-new mountain bike park called Sweetwater Preserve up here in the foothills! The trails consist of tight, 1 meter wide single track that winds itself through the most beautiful Saguaro filled hills I have ever seen! The trail system consists of around 10 different trails and each one has it’s own name and each connects to each other! I started out yesterday by just doing the first one, then I got to the next and then just kept wanting more so I ended up doing all of them yesterday in an hour and a half and then did them all again this morning, talk about fun! I found myself wanting to look around and enjoy the views but then my brain kicked in and said “pay attention to the trail dummy”!! So at least I can say I got to do some riding while I was here and it was out of this World fun!!!

Last night we drove all the way out to Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge which is located 55 miles from Tucson and about 8 miles from the Mexican border in search of Antelope Jackrabbits. These are some of the largest rabbits on Earth but we ended up only seeing 3 and they were all too far away to photograph. We also went in search of a Roadrunner nest which we did find with one new egg but no momma roadrunner, just wasn’t our day! 

The above shot was taken by my friend and editor Thomas Wiewandt of www.wildhorizons.com  He shot this a few days ago right out in front of his house on the street, it’s cool because you can see what the desert looks like here right now with the beautiful blooming Foothills Palo Verde Trees in yellow and the giant Saguaro’s that call this place home!

Sorry so short, breakfast is calling, have a wonderful day! Barry