Mangrove Expedition

Before our expedition to find the big bat cave, Madam J and I went with Yann and Marie on a semi-ill-fated expedition to snorkel the mangroves. Poor visibility in the water made the mangroves less than ideal, but we were able to see quite a bit of interesting life in Baie de l’Embouchure. The first exciting discovery was a hermit crab in a conch shell with an orange-tentacled anemone attached to it – a walking menagerie. Next, we saw a small octopus in the sand which gradually went into a small hole. While Jenn was taking some video, he even reached out to grab her camera. Finally, we came upon a group of seemingly abandoned fish pots that were full of lobsters, a large nassau grouper and even a big green moray eel. I did take a few spooky photos in the murky mangrove, but even at the highest tide it wasn’t very clear.

Inflated Sea Biscuit (<em>Clypeaster rosaceus</em>)
Checkered Puffer (<em>Sphoeroides testudineus</em>)
Madam J Films Hermit Crab with Anemonea
Hermit Crab with Anemone
Hermit Crab with Anemone
Small Octopus
Small Octopus
Abandoned Fish Traps
Abandoned Fish Traps with Lobsters
Sea Grass Shallows
Murky Mangrove
Murky Mangrove

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 at 3:06 pm and is filed under Extreme Shallow Snorkeling, Fruits News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “Mangrove Expedition”

  1. Stormy Snorkeling at Baie Maria and Molly Smith Point | Les Fruits De Mer Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 12:28 pm

    […] We also found a couple scorpionfish, which despite their excellent camouflage, are often spotted by an alert snorkeler noticing a patterned fin on an otherwise cryptic body. West Indian sea eggs, a type of urchin which often grabs bits of algae to camouflage itself, apparently does the same with whatever is around, be it small stones or limpet shells. The last great find was a starfish that Yann discovered clinging to a loose piece of sponge with an anemone attached. A closer look revealed a cleaner shrimp inside the anemone. Another portable menagerie! […]