Scuba Diving at Eden Rock (May 23rd, 2010)

Hey y'all!

Finally got some scuba diving done! I chose to go to the easy dive site Eden Rock because I hadn't been diving in a while and neither had my diving-buddy. It's also one of the shallower dives so pressure from the depth would be bearable on my camera.

We were really glade to choose Eden Rock because the staff were very friendly and helpful.

Once we got in the water, we came across a turtle:This turtle was pretty sweet and didn't mind when I got close to snap this picture. He had some funky-looking moss growing on his back so he might have been sick.

This is a video of the turtle swimming away. He got bored of posing for pictures!I like this shot from deep underwater (~40 ft). You certainly do see a lot more fish scuba diving compared to just snorkeling.
This picture is not too great but, it's a really nice fish. This is a blue angelfish.
This trigger fish was pretty cool looking. And it was pretty small. I think it was a juvenile Queen Triggerfish.

Above is the cave we swam through. Swimming through caves is what Eden Rock is known for! Awesome! (the fish at the end of this video is a hogfish)

What a great dive!

Snorkeling in Westbay (April 2nd, 2010)

Went for a quick one in Westbay and saw some amazing stuff! (Near the dock just past Al Fresco's)Here's a Caribbean Reef Octopus munching on whatever was living in the shell. Octopus are pretty strong. I tried to take this shell, but it was too strong!Here's a 'Spiny Brittle Star.' They move pretty fast and look creepy as they move. Kind of like a bunch of worms. They're mostly found hiding under rocks.This is China moray eel. Pretty sweet. It's pattern is really unique. Pretty happy about this shot. Here comes one more with it's mouth open:

Snorkeling at Seven Mile Beach (March 21st, 2010 - Midnight)

Did a quick one this night. It was cold and kind of boring out there. Saw a few things though. Check em out:Here's a 'Red-ringed Clinging Crab.' Notice that it's not red. These crabs come in a variety of appearances such as; yellow-brown, red, and green.Here's a couple of crabs hanging-out on some fire coral. I'm not sure about the identification here....I think that they're the same type as the above crab. The reason I'm not sure is because their carapaces are different in appearance. Perhaps they are younglings.This is a sea cucumber. It appears to be a baby conical sea cucumber which is a rare find!Here is the common, but rarely seen Dusky Squirrelfish. Enjoy this crisp photo!

Snokeling at Cayman Kai (March 16, 2010)

Cayman Kai is on the North part of the island near Rum Point. It's a public beach. It's pretty shallow there. Most of the action was seen near shore or out a by the reef (which is a good swim from shore).Here's a Flamingo Tongue gastropod. The spots you see aren't actually on the shell. Part of the creature that lives inside the shell (the mantle, which is spotted) is wrapped around the surface of the shell which results in spots.This purple and yellow fish is a juvenile Spanish HogfishThis is a spotted trunkfish. It was swimming pretty good so I'm luck to have snapped this one.This is some type of filefish. I'm not certain of the exact type. Maybe some kind of juvenile because it was pretty small.Here's two Spotfin butterflyfish (See the little black spot?). They were swimming around together. I think they like each other.This Caribbean Spiny Lobster was HUGE! I bet this sucker was about 100 years old! Awesome.Here's a cool shot that includes a giant Caribbean Spiny Lobster, a juvenile French angel, and a blue-headed wrasse. I like this one so much I made it my desktop background on my laptop.

Snorkeling at Seven Mile Beach (March 15th, 2010)

Real Quick one this day. In and out of the Water. Saw these fish:These are yellowfin goatfish!

Snorkeling at Seven Mile Beach (March 8th, 2010 - Midnight)

Went for a midnight snorkel at the spot closest to where I'm living. It was really cold. Saw some pretty cool stuff though. Some animals only come out at night, like this shrimp:This is a 'Red Night Shrimp'. There easy to spot because their eyes light up when they catch the beam from your flashlight. They get scared easily and will scoot off if you spoke them.There was lots of lobsters out a night too. These looked a little too small to eat....unless you caught a bunch of them. Anyway, these too were hanging-out under this ledge. They are 'Spotted Spiny Lobster' (Contrast with the Caribbean Spiny Lobster which are more commonly used for human consumption).Here's a balloonfish at night. Seems like he's chilln. It's cool how the camera sometime takes more-clear pictures at night. I guess the shutter only stays open for as long as the flash goes...? I should probably read up a bit a photography skills instead of 'trial & error.'Here is a pretty interesting ray. It's a 'Yellow Stingray.' I was excited to see this one because they are most often buried in the sand. I thinking that they feed at night, that's why I was able to observe one.Check out the red night shrimp hang-round this spotted spiny lobster. So many eyes! Reminds me of a looney toons cartoon where the characters are wondering about in the dark and only there eyes are animated. Yeah, more night-time adventures to come!

Snorkeling at East End (Feb 21, 2010)

After the Wreck of Cali was sufficiently explored, we headed out to the East End for some fried fish and more snorkeling. Saying 'snorkeling at the East End' is pretty vague cuz it's a huge area with lots of different beaches. Not sure exactly where the snorkel spot was. Yeah so, here comes the fish: Here's a French angelfish. I've blogged about this here fish in a previous post. The reason that this picture is cool is because the fish is in the transitional stage between juvenile and adult (fish puberty?).Here's a green moray eel. They can grow to be 6+ feet! This specimen was in the upper end of the size spectrum. I think I was getting on his nerves!This cool-looking fish is called a 'Spotted trunkfish.' It feeds on turnicates, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and seagrasses. This picture is nice because the fish is focused!This is the back side of a lionfish. They are really cool and there spines are poison (they hurt but won't kill you). They show you there backside while in the defensive position. It's interesting to see one of this here in the Cayman islands because, they're not indigenous to this area. According to an article about lionfish on Wikipedia, a hurricane in Florida release these fish from an aquarium and now there proliferation is disrupting the ecosystem of the Caribbean coral reefs.

Snatched up a lobster for dinner on the way home before the end of lobster season.