The pier isn’t the only place to see interesting sea life in Grand Case Bay. Just head out to any boat mooring or large underwater debris and you’ll probably see goldentail moray eels (Gymnothorax miliaris) and a variety of other fish and creatures. Here are a few morays I saw while snorkeling. In Saint Martin, they tend to have reverse coloration from the norm, with a pattern of dark spots on a yellow undercolor.
Blennies can be difficult to identify: they are small, often their bodies are hidden, their colors and patterns may be highly variable, the sexes often look different. They are also very cute. I photographed these at the Grand Case pier in a few feet of water.
After seeing so many incredible creatures while snorkeling the Grand Case pier, I had to go back on scuba so I could take photos more easily. I ended up doing a 95 minute dive with a maximum depth of 3 meters yesterday morning. Compared to my evening snorkel (approx. 5pm), there were far fewer decorator crabs out and about, but there were still plenty of creatures to photograph.
One highlight was a mantis shrimp. These amazing creatures have perhaps the most complicated eyes of any organism, and the fastest movement: their unique forearms feature a saddle that acts as a spring to strike out at up to 23 meters/second, allowing them to crush shells and then eat the mollusks inside. There were also various decorator crabs that were out and about, and very camouflaged. Unfortunately, decorator crabs are very hard to identify, largely because they are covered in living organisms.
Yesterday was Sunday, which means the workers building a new development at the base of Pea Tree Hill were gone for the day. I took advantage of this fact to head up for a look around. The area is a mix of lowland forest and hilly pasture. Heading up the hill I encountered a few cows, saw my mysterious microteiid and surprisingly few anoles.
After crossing the pass between Pea Tree Hill and the neighboring hill to the west, I found an official hiking path, marked with red and white ribbon. The path led upwards towards the summit of Pea Tree Hill and through a barbwire fence. Although it isn’t tall (214 meters), there are some good views from the summit. To the northeast, the wilderness area of the island can be seen, along with Pinel and Tintamarre. To the southeast, Hope Estate is nestled beneath Hope Hill and Montagne France with Petit Fond in the distance.
I headed around Pea Tree Hill to investigate a rock formation for caves, but found only a few small crevices. Descending towards Route de Esperance, I headed through an area of abandoned concrete and junk before heading back home. Near the airport pond, I saw a couple very young, very green iguanas.
First, there was batfish, then there was sea robin. Sea robins are a family of fish similar to the flying gurnard, with wing-style pectoral fins. The first few spines of their pectoral fins are also unattached, and they use them like little crawly legs. After staying near the same mooring rope for several days, I went out this morning to check on it with my good camera and it was gone. I did manage to get some photos and video with my little camera, though.
Crabs aren’t the only tenants in the Grand Case Pier, there are loads of little fishes as well. Below are a selection of blennies that were hanging out yesterday. Based on my decidedly unscientific observations, this spot has a greater diversity of blenny species than any other spot on the island that I’ve seen, either snorkeling or on scuba. It looks like my next step is a ten-foot deep scuba dive a the pier with a macro lens!
Five months into our stay on St. Martin, we snorkeled the Grand Case pier for the first time. Today, I went back and discovered that the pier is almost entirely made of decorator crabs! Although that’s not literally true, the number of crabs hidden amongst the sponges, algae and tunicates on the pier astounded me. So I went back to get my camera and below are some shots of the many decorator crabs and other crabs I saw there this afternoon. You may find it a bit of a challenge to find the crabs in a few of the photos below.
Another favorite snorkeling spot for sure!
Baie Maria is a small bay tucked in between Happy Bay and Molly Smith Point. It’s also probably the best snorkeling spot on Saint Martin proper (versus Little Key, Creole Rock or other sites that are primarily accessed by boat). The bay is quite protected – wake from passing motorboats cause the biggest surf if the swell is coming from most directions. Inside the bay are a number of large rock formations which are dotted with sponges and corals. Surrounding these are large expanses of old coral skeletons that are covered with newer corals and algae. The area serves as an extraordinary nursery for many fish. It is accessible by swimming around the far right corner of Happy Bay, or by walking to the end of Molly Smith Point. Below are a few snapshots.
I was in NYC for a few days and one afternoon I went to Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn with Andres. I didn’t do any E.S.S., but we did see some turtles.
Also, the blog here has been quiet for a while because of the NYC visit, but also because my laptop hard drive died. Luckily, they’re easy to replace and now I have a 640GB drive in my laptop. More stuff coming soon!
