While the bay is usually very calm, this morning in bed we could hear and feel great waves crashing against the sea wall a couple hundred feet away. Below are some photos taken from our telecommunications center, where the ground is approximately 12 feet above the water level. The waves shown were, for this morning, merely average in size.
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.
Below you will find photos of Les Fruits de Mer expedition field headquarters. Located at the Flamboyant (of course), in the town of Grand Case, they serve as both our living quarters and our expedition staging area. Our telecommunications center is located outside near the bay, where we are able to access WiFi. Unfortunately, I need to cut this post short, as the telecommunications center is also frequented by mosquitos.
Today we did an Extreme Shallow Snorkeling mission on Ilet Pinel, a small island near the town of Cul de Sac. While waiting for the ferry, we saw an octopus…and a man washing it down with leaves and sea water. Once we arrived, we were accompanied by a dog on our walk across the island and found that the surf on that side was too rough for snorkeling.
Returning to the protected side, we found that a new eco-tour business, Wakawa now occupied the main snorkeling area. We chatted with the marine biologist staff there for a bit before snorkeling. They have high-tech snorkels that give guided underwater audio tours of the snorkel area. While snorkeling, we saw many needle-nosed fish (I’m not sure of the name) and one spotted eagle ray, but again I did not get a good photo of it.
After a delicious lunch at the Yellow Beach restaurant (finishing with some coconut delight) we rested briefly before snorkeling the very shallow waters off the nearby beach. As we often do, we found a sea hare, a slug-like creature that feeds on sea plants. I also found a brightly colored crab and a very small green moray eel. Although there were not a great deal of corals, there were many small, green Cnidaria on many of the rocks.
Overall, it was a beautiful day and a very successful mission. There were so many interesting small fishes in the shallow areas, I really must return soon with my proper camera for some macro photography.
Yesterday morning we went over to the Dutch side of the island to take a class with Fraser Purdon. He taught us how to troubleshoot, disassemble, service and reassemble R-series Scubapro regulators. We also learned how to do maintenance on BCDs.
The class was great, and it was really cool to see how simple and straightforward unbalanced piston regulators are on the inside. We learned not just how to open them up, but also why they are designed the way they are and how everything works together. I love the idea of being able to understand and maintain my own gear, particularly because underwater I am depending on it for my air supply.
For anyone who doesn’t know, the regulator is the piece of scuba equipment that takes the high pressure air in your tank and converts it to a pressure that is easy to breathe. Because divers experience different ambient pressure at different depths, the regulator provides air at the required pressure whether you are on the surface or 100 feet underwater.
This morning I took a walk to a pond ringed with mangrove on one side down at the west end of Grand Case. I found several birds, including a black, duck-like bird with a red bill, an egret and a dove. I also noticed a large iguana on one of the mangroves.
After circumnavigating most of the mangrove, I went up the hill on the west end of the bay, starting from a small cemetery. At the top of the hill, I found the exact same tree that was at the top of Goat Mountain, and so far, those are the only two I’ve seen. I’m not sure if there’s a natural cause for that, or if they are purposely planted at the top of hills.
From my vantage point, I could see that the beach directly beside the cemetery holds considerable promise as a future E.S.S. location. Perhaps I can explore that this afternoon. A small sailboat is wrecked on the shore there.
Other life I encountered on my walk included some sort of weevil, crabs with one big pincer arm, a land snail and le champignon. Some of the photos from today aren’t that great, particularly some of the longer shots using the 70-300mm zoom.
The winds from Tuesday and Wednesday brought crashing waves to Grand Case Bay, and either swept in or uncovered quite a bit of shipwrecked boat in the bay. With the waters calm again, I investigated and found a small clay pipe, perhaps a year old, perhaps a hundred. I also found the sea floor full of the little sandy volcanos that perplexed Jacques Cousteau for so many years, apparently built by small mantis shrimp. In the photos below you can also see what happens to rebar after some time in the water.
Last night I found an interesting insect whilst walking to the beach. I forgot what they are called, but I feel like it might be mole cricket. If that’s not what they’re called, it should be. I also tried taking some long exposure photos. On the water side, you can see Grand Case on the left and the photo taken to the right is Grand Case Beach Club. In the distance, the lights are from British-owned Anguilla. The last photo is Goat Mountain, as seen from our back veranda. If you look closely, to the left of Orion’s belt you can see a shooting star.
(Update: it is a mole cricket.)
Yesterday afternoon I decided to climb the mountain behind our house. Maybe it isn’t exactly a mountain, but it was a pretty good hike. On the way up I encountered many interesting things. In certain sandy areas near trees there were numerous funnels, and when I stepped near them, causing sand to fall in, something started flinging the sand out. I’m guessing they are some sort of spider that uses the funnels to trap insects. I also encountered a green caterpillar with a big yellow head and a pair of brightly-colored moths.
At the top of the mountain, there were many goat skeletons and a special tree with white flowers. Perhaps they died of natural causes, or perhaps they were used in Obeah ceremonies. It is hard to say. The view from the top was pretty impressive. Looking back towards Grand Case, it was easy to see the whole bay as well as the local airport. On the far side of the mountain I looked down on Anse Marcel. I again took the Tokina 35mm macro lens, which I think was a good choice to capture landscapes in decently wide angle as well as macro shots. I came back down the mountain very much scratched up and covered in little seeds.
