Here are a few shots from a walk we took to Eastern Point on the nature trail with Jeff and Debbie. Climbing down the rocks to the edge of Eastern Point we found a number of large, clear tide pools that were home to many small urchins and a few fish. It’s definitely a potential Extreme Shallow Snorkeling location, although as you can see, when the tide comes in waves crash violently into the pools.
I need to do some research into the history of the abandoned Happy Bay condominium project, but in the meantime, here are a few more photos of the abandoned buildings.
In addition to finding what seem to be three species of gecko on Pinel Islet, I also encountered some wingless cockroaches and a strange and hostile-looking creature that I believe may be some species of vinegaroon, which are apparently harmless. There was also a large brown spider. All three creatures were found in the leaf litter of the small forested part of the island.
On our second visit to the mangroves at the edge of Baie Lucas, we encountered less than ideal visibility. We did take some photos and video near the mangroves and further out in the bay, including some of the gregarious anemones that cling to the mangrove roots. Due to a lack of active research on Caribbean anemones, it is basically impossible to identify them exactly, although they closely resemble what is cited as the sponge anemone in the popular Reef Creature Identification guide.
The shots of green feather algae (Caulerpa sertularioides) and green mermaid’s wine glass (Acetabularia crenulata) feature a snow globe-like effect from particulate matter in the water.
After a leisurely lunch at Yellow Beach, I set out to explore Pinel Islet to determine what species of iguana lives there. Although I did not find any iguanas, I did find at least two varieties of dwarf gecko in the leaf litter of a small wooded patch on the eastern side of the island.
The lighter-colored gecko seems to clearly be Sphaerodactylus sputator, a known resident of the island and is seen in four of the photos below. It was the largest of the geckos I encountered, although you can see from the photo in the plastic cup, it is quite small indeed.
There was at least one variety of darker gecko, although it is not clear to me that it is the other species known to reside on St. Martin (Sphaerodactylus macrolepis). Additionally, closer scrutiny of my photos has lead me to believe that the darker geckos may be of multiple varieties. The blurred shot of the gecko running most resembles the photos I have seen of S. macrolepis, but the body markings and general coloring are not very similar to the dark gecko in the last photo. Likewise, the photo where only the back of the head is visible may be the same species as the blurry photo, but looks clearly different from the lizard in the last photo.
At this point I might venture to guess that the blurry photo and the head photo are a local version of S. macrolepis, while the dark gecko with the broken light bands must be a different species or local race that may not be previously known to the island. Very exciting!
Earlier this week I made a couple trips to the valley that is ringed on one side by Bell Hill, Goat Mountain, Pea Tree Hill and Pigeon-Pea Hill and on the other by Anse Marcel. The area doesn’t have a specific name as far as I can tell. During my first jaunt there in late afternoon, the calls of cattle were surprisingly loud and echoing off the hillsides, creating an ominous feel. The area is more or less undeveloped, although there are dirt roads leading to different parcels of land that are used as goat or cow pasture.
On my way out the second time, I found a large number of brightly-colored sphinx moth caterpillars on a tree with pretty yellow flowers (Plumeria, commonly known as frangipani). Subsequent research identified them as tetrio sphinx (Pseudosphinx tetrio), the adult being unfortunately much less colorful than the caterpillar. I also got a decent photo of one of the scurrying, ground-dwelling lizards and a caterpillar pooping.
I lucked into a couple interesting spider sightings: one of the large spiders with a freshly caught butterfly and a small green, yellow and red spider that was lying in wait on small blossoms ready to capture any insects that came by for nectar. I also found a very small anole with turquoise eye shadow and some bright orange fungi.
At the top of an unnamed hill I also found the same tree that is at the top of Goat Mountain and the peak near Molly Smith Point. There were two of them at the peak of the hill and one had interesting two-pronged seed pods in various stages of growth. Rounding out the set are various butterflies, caterpillars and a few shots of the local terrain.
Snorkeling out towards Bell Point amongst the large rocks along the shore and nearby grassy areas, I encountered a number of interesting creatures and some nice views of Creole Rock. In addition to the species pictured below, highlights included a close encounter with a spotted eagle ray and a night sergeant (Abudefduf taurus) the larger, duskier relative of the very common sergeant major. Although the area boasts only a scattered of small corals, it was abundant in the shallow water variation of the yellow tube sponge, which is my favorite sponge because they look like fairy castles.
Hundreds of baby spiders scramble in a mass like schooling fish, most will die before they even approach adulthood. A great southern white flaps itself to exhaustion and its wings to tatters while caught in a web. Tiny butterfly eggs are laid at the ends of delicate stalks for their protection. A plant is deformed by tumor-like growths. Ants guard aphids in exchange for their sweet excretions. The struggle for existence carries on at Goat Mountain.
In other news, I finished the best travel book of all time, The Voyage of the Beagle and I’m reading On the Origin of Species which continually amazes me, particularly when I remember that Darwin knew basically nothing about the mechanics that make his theory possible. Genetics? Carbon dating of fossils? Darwin unlocked the most important mystery of biology during a time when folks thought miasma caused tropical diseases.
In addition to the usual suspects (goat skulls, hairstreaks, etc.) I also spotted a new (to me) butterfly, the Long-tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus), and after some considerable stalking was able to get a couple photos good enough to make the ID, but certainly not worth framing.
Yesterday Madam J and I borrowed a dingy and explored the Creole Rock area on scuba for about 75 minutes. I took the 85mm macro lens that she gave me for Christmas, so this was my first proper underwater test of the lens.
Although the visibility was not great, the lens was quite good for capturing shots of small fishes and crustaceans. One interesting thing we found was a bed of sergeant major (Abudefduf saxatilis) eggs. Approximately one square foot of eggs was laid on the surface of a large rock. The eggs being about the size of sturgeon caviar, it was not surprising to learn that female sergeant majors may lay as many as 20,000 eggs.
The bright red bigeyes (Priacanthus arenatus) made good subjects, as they seemed uninterested in the photographer. Another interesting sight was a hamlet (Genus Hypolectrus) that has some features of both the yellowbelly (Hypoplectrus aberrans) and barred (Hypolectrus puella) hamlets. Other fishes encountered included juvenile slippery dick (Halichoeres bivattus), blackear wrasse (Halichoeres poeyi), juvenile french angelfish (Pomacanthus paru), orangespotted filefish (Cantherhines pullus), bluestripe grunt (Haemulon sciurus), peacock flounder (Bothus lunatus) and sand diver (Synodus intermedius).
Below are an assortment of sponge and coral skeletons found on the rocky shore near Bell Point. Amongst the sponges, it is interesting to note the wide variety of shapes that share the same underlying structure.
