Belize Diving misc.

Finally, the last batch of diving photos from Belize.

We saw spotted eagle rays a few times. They are such graceful animals as they "fly" through the water. Faces only a mother could love, though :-)





Southern stingrays were more common. I think the fish follow them in hopes of getting food that they stir up from the sand.



Despite local lobster fishing, there were still quite a few around. They are the most bizarre creatures when you look at them close up.



The Channel clinging crabs were a little harder to find. They got quite large, maybe 8 inches across the body and an arm/claw span of 2 feet or so.



We always like to look inside the sponges. Usually there's nothing, but occasionally you get a surprise, like this Channel clinging crab in a big barrel sponge:



Usually all you see of the moray eels is their heads sticking out of holes. But occasionally they are out swimming around (hunting?) like this one.



It seemed curious and started swimming towards me. At first I was happy to get a closer view, but it kept coming closer and closer. I held my camera out in front of me and it bumped right into the lens! Perhaps it could see its reflection? After that it took off. They seldom attack people but they have an impressive mouthful of teeth. As well as the usual green moray eels we also saw quite a few spotted. They were usually smaller.



There weren't a lot of sharks around. We saw a few nurse and reef sharks. A lot of divers want to see sharks more than anything else. I can't quite understand it. They're just big fish, and not very colorful!



My favorites are the sea turtles. The first few days we didn't see any, and I was a bit disappointed, but our luck changed and we saw quite a few in the end. Including a few curious ones that didn't just disappear into the distance.







See all 35 photos in this album

Crocuses and more

I hadn't been back to see the crocuses since they were first emerging, so I grabbed a coffee and my macro lens and went to have a look. I sat and drank my coffee and admired the flowers. It seemed like a good crop this year, although it depends so much on when you visit - both time of year and time of day.



I've taken lots of crocus photos over the years, so I hesitate a bit to take any more. But there's always a new angle to explore.



With the macro lens on, I was mostly shooting closeups of individual flowers.



But there were a few nice groups as well.



I love how furry they are. (It helps insulate and conserve moisture.)



The bees were also loving the first flowers of spring. They were mostly trying to get to the base of the flowers, but in the process they were getting covered in pollen, and no doubt spreading it around.



There were at least two different kinds. One with a red abdomen, and one with stripes.



Most of the time they didn't sit still and you just had to shoot lots and hope to catch them. But occasionally one posed for its portrait.



It was windy, which made photography a little tricky, but it was also a bright afternoon which helped (by allowing fast shutter speeds).

I was trying to photograph a patch of crocuses when something else showed up in the frame - a 13-lined ground squirrel. I don't see them as often as the Richardson's.



Despite their bold stripes, they blend in well with the grass.



Of course, there were regular "gophers" (Richardson's ground squirrel) too.





There was also a tiny (1/4 inch) white flower. Thanks to Meghan Michelson, I think it's moss phlox.



See all 41 photos in this album

Sparkle

There was heavy fog when I got up this morning, but it had cleared by the time I was walking to work. When I reached the park, the trees were covered in water drops, sparkling in the sun. I'm not sure if it was just from the fog or if it had rained a bit in the night. Regardless, I was captivated by it and had to pull out my camera and see if I could capture a little taste of it.



I experimented with what was in focus and what wasn't, trying to get the feel of how it looked to me in real life.





When I reached the railway bridge the trees on the far side were backlit by the sun. When I reached them I found they were covered in a thin layer of melting ice, so maybe there was some freezing rain.









As I was taking photos I ran into my retired neighbor who goes out walking rain or shine. As the years go by he gets slower, but don't we all. He always has a cheerful hello for whoever he meets.



See all 15 photos in this album

Prairie Crocuses

It's always a nice sign of spring when the crocuses finally emerge. It seemed like they were late this year, but I think that's just because the snow has been gone for a while. Some years they're earlier and other years later.

I had a hard time spotting them at first since they were still just peeking out of last years dead grass. They were covered in dew, probably from melted frost. I'm sure they'll progress fast if we have some warm days. I was out running and just happened to have a camera with me so I stopped for a few minutes to take some quick shots.

Belize Diving - coral & sponges

An amazing variety of coral and sponges form the backdrop to diving in Belize (and other places). Some of them might look like the equivalent of plants on land, but they're actually animals.



Corals are colonies of invertebrate polyps. A given coral colony consists of "clones" growing as the polyps reproduce asexually. Corals also reproduce sexually, releasing gametes into the water to establish new colonies. It's a bit similar to how groups of aspen trees consists of asexually produced clones, but they also sexually reproduce via seeds. Except that corals also have a "coenosarc" a living tissue that is shared by the whole colony. And to complicate things further, corals actually get most of their energy and nutrients from single celled half animal half plan dinoflagellates that live inside coral. Coral bleaching results from the loss of these symbionts.

When people think about coral and coral reefs they are thinking about hard or stony corals. These corals build up a "skeleton" of calcium carbonate (like shells). These are the corals that gradually build up reefs. But there are also soft corals that don't have a rigid skeletons.





Some of the corals make great abstract patterns. It's hard to reconcile this with idea of them being a colony.





Photographs are great for viewing the details of the corals that are often hard to see while you're diving.





Some of them do look more like colonies.





Especially when there's a bit of a current, the polyps will be open and feeding.



Some of the corals form "plates" (these were dinner plate size)





Some of the names don't make a lot of sense to me. Spiny flower coral don't look spiny:



And smooth flower coral don't look smooth. (I keep thinking I must have the names backwards, but I don't think so.)



This one does look a bit like lettuce:



Sponges are also animals (as opposed to plants) but they are single organisms, not colonies like coral. Sponges were the first to branch off the evolutionary tree from the common ancestor of all animals. They are quite "primitive" and do not have nervous, digestive or circulatory systems.

My identification of corals and sponges is even sketchier than my fish ids. Corrections are welcome. I think this is an orange icing sponge and a coral. But I'm not sure if the sponge is growing on the coral, or the coral is growing on the sponge.







I love the variety of colors of the sponges.



These were mostly watermelon size, but some of the big barrel sponges were huge - six feet high and as big across.





Who needs science fiction aliens when you've got real life creatures like these!



I think this next one is the dead "skeleton" of a sponge



Most of the sponges didn't have the intricate detail of the corals, but a few came close



See all 37 photos in this album

See also: Belize Diving - small stuff and Belize Diving - fish