Today Madam J dove The Gregory and I dove The Porpoise. Both are wrecks on the Dutch side of the island. The Gregory is a natural wreck. It started taking on water and they were in the process of trying to tow it to the shore when it sank. The Porpoise is a large tugboat that was sunk for diving purposes.

On The Porpoise I had the chance to take the type of photos that I think the 35mm macro lens behind a dome does best. For small groups of fish, like the blackbar soldierfish, or slightly larger fish, like the honeycomb cowfish, you can be close but still have a wide enough field of view get them in the frame. To do the same shots with a 60mm macro behind a flat port, I would probably have to be two or three times as far to take the shot, which would put a lot of water between camera and the subject.

The first shot in the gallery below was serendipitous, taken while I was testing my strobes with the autofocus accidentally turned off. The last shot is a bubble ring blown by Sally, who is getting pretty good at it.

Yesterday I walked down Route de L’esperance to visit the brand new US Market supermarche. The marche was not that super, but I did see some interesting things, including:

• The remains of the milkweed where I took the monarch chrysalis. Perhaps I saved a life.
• A new kind of millipede.
• Fresh water pools that have some sort of very small fish in them
• Iguana crossing at the airport.
• A smaller, bright green iguana. Is it a different species, or is that just how the big iguanas look when they are young?

As a special birthday treat, we went out with the Octopus Diving team to explore a reef that Aure discovered while passing over it on his boat. To our knowledge this area had never been visited by divers, so it was a rare treat to explore a virgin reef.

The seas were quite rough, and Chris stayed on the boat as large swells broke over the bow. Underwater, there was a strong current, which made swimming difficult, particularly for Stuart, who was towing a surface marker buoy. The reef itself was quite beautiful with a wide variety of sea fans and other soft corals waving in the surge. The topography featured stratified rock jutting out at an angle and small sandy channels where fish congregated.

There was a considerable amount of sea life, including very large spadefish and angelfish. A skittish hawksbill turtle did not seem to be comfortable around divers, unlike many of the turtles we see at frequently-dived sites. There were a great many sponges of varied types, including a strange, maze-like formation on the underside of a rock ledge.

After 40 minutes, we scrambled back onto the boat amidst crashing waves and headed to Ilet Pinel for a drink, and to discuss plans for future explorations of this new site.

When I take the little camera out, it is often somewhat difficult to use the strobe, particularly in relatively shallow water where there is already quite a bit of light. In these situations, the strobe easily overwhelms the camera with light, even when set to low power. Yesterday I tried adjusting the exposure control darker, since the camera doesn’t have aperture or shutter speed controls. I think this did allow me to use a bit more strobe to capture colors without blowing out the pictures.

I also found a decapitated rat carcass floating in the bay.

Madam J hosted a lovely birthday party for me at our apartment last night and all the folks from the dive shop came by. This morning the very small ants on our veranda were escorting an uninvited termite guest off the premises.

Our street (Rue de Petite Plage) doesn’t seem to have one, and one of my favorites (Passage des Escargots) is in disrepair.

Madam J and I went out this evening for a brief, but action-packed snorkel in the bay. While I was heading out towards the boat debris, Madam J spotted a stingray, which was being followed by the same fish that had been circling me this morning. It seems that in both cases, it had been following a larger animal, hoping to share a meal. After one close approach, the stingray darted off, leaving a cloud of sand that you can see in the photo.

Next, I found that the interesting fish had returned. Madam J believes it is a scorpionfish. It was so well camouflaged it is hard to make it out in the photos. We also saw banded coral shrimp, arrow crabs and a juvenile high hat. The octopus from this afternoon had moved on.

On my way back from Bell Point, I stopped by the boat debris in the bay near our house. Hiding there was some sort of stonefish or toadfish, but due to a camera malfunction, I was not able to photograph it. I stopped by the house to switch cameras, but when I returned it was gone. I did, however find an octopus, a mantis shrimp and I was repeatedly circled by one of the large silver fish with blue and black accents, the name of which I don’t recall.

If you are walking shoeless on a rocky shore, you may find these tips useful:

• If you find a usable sandal, wear it. Under most conditions, having one protected foot gives you a great deal more flexibility to find comfortable spots to step with your bare foot.
• Also, if you are lucky, you may find another sandal.
• If you find two sandals for the same foot, try wearing the larger one on the wrong foot.
• Should you find a better sandal, trade up.
• Be careful walking too far with just one found sandal. If it breaks, you may have to walk back with none.
• When leaving the shoreline, stash sandals above the water line for future use.

Bell Point is the closest point on the island to Creole Rock. To get there, I swam past Grand Case Beach Club and walked down the shoreline to the point. Snorkeling the area past the beach club is quite a pleasure. There are rocky outcroppings that provide a nursery for small fishes, and a variety of small corals and sponges live there, too.

While traversing the shore to reach the point, I encountered a great deal of matter washed up on the shore, including shells, dead corals of various types and, of course, manmade trash. The area at the point was very pretty, although too rough to snorkel.