Sunset from 40,000 feet

As we flew from Curacao to Miami, we had to move up to 40,000 feet to avoid clear air turbulence. Below us, some of the clouds were quite striking, particularly to the west, as the sun set.

Curacao

On our way home from Bonaire, we spent about half a day in Curacao. I have long been a fan of the Dutch colonial architecture, so I spent about an hour taking photos, mostly of buildings.

I stitched the photos together for panoramic views of both sides of the entrance to the harbor.

Flamingos

It's time to pack up the computer and follow the flamingos, that is, it's time to fly away. I hope that you have enjoyed the journey. Off to Oregon!

Have a great year.

Trunkfish

Trunkfish are some of the most charming fish on the reef. They are members of the boxfish family and are nearly triangular in cross-section, with a broad, flat base. They swim rather slowly, and are often unconcerned when divers are near by.

Spotted trunkfish (bottom photo) are occasionally seen on the reef. They mostly seem to be hiding in protected areas of the reef. The grow up to 6 to 12 inches in length.

Smooth trunkfish are more common (top 3 photos), and are often out in the open. Occasionally, we find the early juvenile stage. It looks like a polka-dot pea. The smallest that I found this year was about the size of a golf ball. As adults, they range from about 6 to 10 inches in length.

A trip through the mangroves

The prop roots of mangroves provide an excellent refuge and nursery ground for all kinds of juvenile fishes. We snorkeled around the mangroves this afternoon, and I took a few photos of what I saw. The visibility was pretty limited, but we found quite a few Upsidedown Jellyfish (bottom two photos). They were resting on the bottom, with their "arms" extending upward. They ranged from about 4 to 6 inches in diameter.

We also saw several barracudas. One large barracuda was lurking about, chasing many of the small fish, but this juvenile (middle photo, about 6 inches long) stayed around long enough for a photo. In the background are juvenile grunts.

I also found a juvenile Foureye Butterflyfish in the turtle grass (next to top photo). It was only about 2 inches in length. To the right of the butterflyfish, a juvenile gray snapper is visible (about 3 inches). The top photo also shows a juvenile gray snapper.

Squirrelfishes

The squirrelfish family can be simply described as red fish with big (squirrel-like) eyes, and a long second dorsal fin. As you might guess from the size of their eyes, they are most active at night. And during the day, they hide in reef shadows.

The bottom photo is a Longjaw Squirrelfish. This species prefers depths of 50 to 200 feet.

The middle photo is a Blackbar Soldierfish, a rather common species down here, that can be found from 15 to 60 feet deep. Despite its name, it is a member of the squirrelfish family.

The top photo is a Longspine Squirrelfish. This species can be found from 4 to 100 feet deep.

All of these fish were about 6 inches in length.

Marine Mollusks

As you may remember from biology class, the phylum Mollusca is a diverse group of invertebrates that includes snails, shell-less snails (slugs), bivalves, squid and octopuses.

Today, one featured mollusk is the Lettuce Sea Slug (bottom photo). It was out during the day, grazing on algae, and was only about 2 inches in length.

The other mollusk is the Flamingo Tongue (top 2 photos). The shell of these lovely little snails is generally cream colored or white, and the beautiful spots are a part of the living mantle of the snail. Unlike cowries, whose spots are on their shells, and so their spots persist after the animal dies, dead flamingo tongue shells are plain and undistinguished. Last year, flamingo tongues seemed to be everywhere. This year, they appear to be much less abundant. They are an inch or less in length.

Mini Artificial Reefs

Not everything that ends up in the ocean becomes an artificial reef, but as we dive on the reefs here in Bonaire, we often find man-made objects that have been colonized. Metal barrels often become landmarks on the reef, and home to all kinds of things.

Another example, in the lower photo, a tire has been colonized by several species of sponges.

In the upper photo, an old engine block has been colonized by brain coral and other species. If you look closely, an eel is peering out from under the block.

Banded Butterflyfish

Although basically a black and white fish, the Banded Butterflyfish is quite lovely, and is rather approachable. This year, we have been fortunate to find a couple of early juvenile Banded Butterflyfish. They look much like the adults, but have a large black spot, ringed in white, on the back of their dorsal fin. This black spot functions as a false eye spot, that confuses predators. The early juvenile in the bottom photo is about an 1.5 inches long.

Adult Banded Butterflyfish, which are frequently seen on the reef swimming in pairs, are about 5 inches long.