There was an intense rain for the morning and early afternoon of Christmas Day. We could barely see the peaks of Goat Mountain, and any further mountains were rendered totally invisible. It seemed they would last forever, but later the skies cleared up considerably. In the evening, the rain over Anguilla was quite striking, with curved plumes descending from the clouds.
Yesterday we visited Fort Louis with Nuzum and Olivia, who were visiting from New York. The fort was built in the early 1700s to protect the harbor of Marigot. Prior to its construction, the settlement was basically a handful of people whose meager crops were regularly stolen by British privateers. After construction of the fort they were able to successfully defend against invasion and the colony began to prosper. Today it is the most intact of the early forts on the island and still offers outstanding views of Marigot and much of the rest of the island and surrounding seas.
Over the past few days, I’ve photographed a few new insects. Two are moths, one is a smallish (wingspan about 2″) sphinx moth and the other is the Spotted Oleander Caterpillar Moth (Empyreama affinis), which is the adult of the fuzzy orange caterpillars I found earlier. Interestingly, the pattern of white spots is shared by caterpillar and moth. The last is a very small insect with white tufts coming out of its rear. I’m not sure what it is, but they are quite small. The actual body is probably only about 1mm long.
Here’s where I post close-ups of some Butterfly Farm residents.
I have a few more photos from yesterday’s dives. The first set is from a wreck near The Proselyte. Little remained of the ship, but nearby there were large mounds of rock covered in sponges and corals that were quite interesting…and divers in Santa hats.
We also made further explorations of the area around Creole Rock. Late in the day, it was a bit dark and spooky underwater. As we were leaving the familiar parts of Creole Rock, Sally found an injured spadefish. As we continued on, the sea floor became like a scrubland with small sponges, corals and sea grasses and a variety of small fish hiding amongst them. Not a place where one would guide divers looking for excitement, it was an interesting chance to see a terrain not frequently explored. In many of these photographs, I had the background underexposed, which makes them look a bit light landscapes taken on a starry night.
Madam J was tired, but I managed to rouse her to attend the Grand Case Christmas Parade. We ran into Stuart there and were just in time to watch all the floats go by. Afterwards, we went to the Christmas village to enjoy a Presidente and the festive yuletide sounds of the Jolly Boys.
Today we went out to dive a number of spots that I have not been to previously, which was quite a treat. The first was a large rock or very small island called Molly Beday. Although it is a known dive site (we found an abandoned mooring when we went down), I don’t think it is in common use these days.
We anchored and dove on the side of the island facing St. Martin, and it was basically a fairly steep slope with large, coral and sponge covered rocks trailing down to the ocean floor. There were quite a few nice elkhorn corals, which we don’t see a lot around here. We also found an old porcupinefish that seemed to be blind in one eye. The reef seemed quite healthy and the slope and large boulders made it easy to take some nice photos. It isn’t a convenient site to reach, but it was rather rewarding.
A couple days ago I visited The Butterfly Farm, which is a nice attraction and definitely worth a visit. The farm features a variety of tropical butterflies, including many Asian species. They give tours where they teach the life cycle and habits of butterflies.
The staff was very nice, and very helpful. Earlier I had emailed asking names of some of the local species and Karin was kind enough to email me back with them. While visiting, they also identified a colorful moth I had seen on Goat Mountain, the hieroglyphic moth. Unfortunately, there are few indigenous species remaining on St. Martin due to habitat destruction and mosquito spraying. According to Karin, there are more remaining on Saba, particularly at the higher elevations.
Visiting on a cloudy morning was ideal for taking photos because the butterflies were relatively sedate and easily approached.
Today we undertook one of the most exciting explorations I’ve ever done. With a rental car, we headed to the southern end of Baie de l’Embouchure where an inlet connects Étang aux Poissons with the ocean. This is where I noticed yesterday that there are mangroves at the very edge of the sea. You may see the photo and think that a single small clump of trees seems inconsequential, but it is the only mangrove I have found thus far that doesn’t stand in contaminated, unswimmable waters.
We entered the water in the bay and swam to the outermost mangrove. The floor was a mix of shallow sea grasses and deeper (but still only perhaps 5 feet deep) sandy channels. There were scores of small fishes schooling and numerous young barracuda. As we approached the mangrove, we began to see checkered puffers (Spphoeroides testudineus) alone or in small groups.
From the well-lit shallows, it was a sudden transition at the edge of the mangroves. Fishes swam amongst the mangrove roots and young lobsters clustered in great numbers. There were also clusters of anemones, which may prove difficult to identify.
Though it could often be said, the photos truly do no this locale no justice. In the nearby area, we saw several very speedy crabs and a small fish that rests vertically, but turns on its side to swim. Perhaps it likes to keep one eye on the lookout for predators from above.
After exploring the mangroves, we swam through the bay and out to a small island that was separated from the shore by very shallow water. In just a few hundred yards, we had traversed several types of sea grass beds, sandy banks, stony shoals and mangroves. Truly an extraordinary site for Extreme Shallow Snorkeling that deserves more attention!
Yesterday I headed to The Butterfly Farm (which I will post about separately), but my travels actually took me quite a bit beyond there to the town of Oyster Pond at the French/Dutch border. My route was down the airport road, past Cul de Sac and Orient Bay to The Butterfly Farm, then around the seaward side of the Étang aux Poissons and then around the coastline to Oyster Pond. On the way back, I returned along the coastline, then on the inside of Étang aux Poissons to French Quarter, where I took a bus back to Grand Case.
En route I saw many interesting things. Since the morning was cloudy, I was able to get a couple close shots of the local anole lizards, including one that shows the orange neck-flap, although it is not fully extended. I was also able to get my first decent shot of the large sulfur butterfly. In the marsh across from The Butterfly Farm I was lucky enough to witness the large white butterfly laying its yellow eggs. There was also an egret/heron type bird that was at least twice as big as the other ones I’ve seen around here.
After traversing the seaward side of the fish pond, I found a shallow bay where the mangroves extend to the ocean. Perhaps this is the best (or only) place to snorkel the mangroves in uncontaminated water. Not wanting to head back the way I came, I was forced to ford the inlet through chest-high water with my shoes and camera gear hoisted above my head. Perhaps not the smartest thing I have done with my camera, but at least I did have the presence of mind to test my route without my camera first.
The area past this bay was quite lovely, a scrub-land that reminded me a bit of the American southwest. Returning past the mangroves, I found a couple jellyfish that seemed to be trapped and an interesting duck.