We headed from the north end of Baie aux Prunes around Pointe Prune without high expectations. There were scattered soft corals on a rocky bottom that seemed like it could have hosted more life. Things change, however, when we reached a natural arch just out of view of the beach. After swimming through the arch we found massive schools of a couple different kinds of fish. The smaller ones seemed to be herring, perhaps redear herring (Harengula humerali) and were present in the thousands. There were also schools of what looked like bonefish (Albula vulpes), which were much larger and present in the hundreds. Smaller groups of bar jack were hunting amidst the schools and several brown pelicans were diving down from above to fish in the shallow water.

Overall it turned out to be an amazing snorkel. Further out from the point there were a decent amount of tropical fish and small corals on the underwater rock formations, but the huge schools near the point were definitely the main attraction.

The small, offshore islet of Pinel is a well-known snorkeling area, but most of my favorite snorkeling spots on Pinel are outside the designated snorkel course. Earlier this month we visited three of the areas.

Since we were having lunch at Karibuni, the first one was around the coast just north of the restaurant. The sandy area around the restaurant’s pier gives way to seagrass, and then shallow rock formations covered in soft corals. Tropical fish were plentiful, and the area is relatively well-protected from waves.

Our next stop was the beach on the north shore of the island. It’s a beautiful beach that is generally quite quiet. Offshore, there is a large lagoon area that is protected from waves by coral formations that ring the beach with a few small breaks leading out to the ocean. Inside the lagoon the water is usually relatively calm and soft corals and fish abound. There are also numerous elkhorn corals, some of which reach over six feet in diameter.

We also took a few minutes to explore a series of shallow tide pools on the eastern side of the northern beach. Mostly less than a foot deep, they are populated primarily by juvenile fish.

On our next visit we’ll hopefully get a chance to explore the shallow drift zone and southern beach, two other great snorkeling spots at Pinel!

Despite less than ideal visibility, we headed to Pelican Key on January 4th with Laura to investigate the snorkeling. Even with relatively poor conditions, it was an interesting area. I found a small moray eel inside a large conch shell and an octopus. We departed from the point near the key and took a wide circle around it. Most of the undersea terrain is relatively shallow with rock formations that are host to small corals and sponges. Although it isn’t the best area we’ve seen, it’s definitely worth a visit, particularly if you’re nearby.

It’s been a busy month, but I’m finally going to try to catch up with some of the very interesting things I’ve seen above and below water this month. Right now, we’ve got creatures from both sides of the island from the beginning of this month.

Our first stop is Quartier de Orleans on the eastern side of the island. I overslept and missed the start of the SXM Trails hike, but went over anyways. I wasn’t able to locate the group, but I did take a nice walk near Mont Boeuf and saw a few interesting critters including a large hemipteran with loads of babies.

Later in the day we went to Christian’s house for some post-New Year’s relaxation and I found a few critters in his yard. Notables included a few caterpillars (one buckeye caterpillar and one I’m not familiar with), lots of gulf fritillaries, a gorgeous butterfly egg, and a variety of hemipterans. The most interesting find was some tetrio sphinx caterpillars that were on a tree beside a frangipani (their normal host plant). They were quite young and many were dead. Perhaps the mom goofed and laid them on an inedible tree by accident.

We made another quick stop at the three small islets by Baie de l’Embouchure on New Year’s Eve. We had a particularly great time walking out towards the southernmost islet in ankle-deep water, then letting the current push us back to Saint Martin at great speed through very shallow water.

As I gradually close out my photo library for 2010, I have a few insects from around our apartment in December.

And, a few more photos of the sky.

And now, a break from our regular programing to share a little holiday culture from Grand Case. First, a few local buildings, including the Christmas house.

Next, the annual Christmas parade, including the Snow Princess and Johnny as Santa.

And, what holiday season would be complete without the traditional Caribbean pirate party?

I had a couple last excursions in December, one of which was the inauguration of a new trail around Pinel Islet. There were a variety of important folks there, like the prefect of French Saint Martin and the director of coastal areas for France, who had flown in to check out Saint Martin. Yann and Marie had made a fake boat with wildlife games for children that is now on the beach at the end of the new trail.

The other excursion was an SXM Trails hike from La Belle Creole to various parts of Terres Basses. En route we stopped by Le Trou de David and at the end of our walk we lucked out with a lovely rainbow.

Our next day of snorkeling expeditions brought us to two shallow shipwrecks. The first was in Cay Bay, a boxy, barge-type wreck. The visibility was generally poor due to the swell, and the wreck was not too picturesque, but it was still worth checking out. The bay is currently being developed for a new hotel, so who knows what the area will look like in a year or two.

Traffic kept us from the south shore beaches, so we had lunch and then did a quick snorkel of the wreck in Galisbay. Again, visibility was poor, but it was still pretty fun to snorkel the half-submerged wreck.

On Monday we managed to visit four snorkeling sites. The first one was Gibbs Bay, which is located on the Dutch side between Dawn Beach and Guana Bay. It’s quite out of the way and also really nice. There were loads of soft corals, mixed schools of blue tang and surgeonfish and even some living elkhorn corals.

Next, we headed up to Dawn Beach and snorkeled the North side of the bay. Near the beach, there were some algae-covered patches of dead coral that were not that interesting. If you swim far enough to reach the outer side of the reef, there are a few soft corals, but overall it wasn’t that exciting.

Next we went to Coralita, the beach at Baie Lucas. The bay is relatively shallow, with sea grass and sand which gives way to some coral formations as you swim out. It seemed like a perfect place to see spotted eagle rays, and we did see one. There were quite a few nice soft corals there as well, and the bay is relatively protected, making it fairly calm.

Our last stop was at Le Galion, which is extremely shallow and calm. We swam out around the north corner of Baie de l’Embouchure and encountered a shallow area filled with sea urchins. In some slightly deeper areas there were a handful of living corals, and on our way back we found a couple spotted eagle rays feeding in the sea grass.