Longspine Squirrelfish and friends

Hum, I wanted the squirrelfish first, still learning! Blogging, you put first things last! And I have no idea how the photos came out side-by-side in the post below. Owell!

OK, when a Squirrelfish is hanging out above the reef, they become very pale. This fish is REALLY at attention! See his fins so stiffly erect! The camera didn't catch his eye, a nighttime active fish, with large dark eyes.

He's over a "Do Not Touch Me" Sponge. This sponge is very defensive. If you bump into it, you knock loose stinging cells that can really hurt! Even someone diving along in front of you, well, if they hit the sponge with a fin kick, and you're following closely, you could swim through the cloud of stingers. And be stung. So? Just stay up off the reef.

The sponge is actually very pretty, a velvety looking surface, and a warm brown color. Just don't touch it.
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The blurry photo is one I plan to use for a painting. This is just a tiny part of the original photo, hence the poor focus. Maybe I'll put in some more fish, and a Great Star coral on the right side, we'll see, once I have brush in hand. That's a barrel sponge in the background, and a Stoplight Parrotfish.

Ok, off with me. There's been rain, so the yard is knee deep, should I mow, or paint??

Thanks for stopping by!

Bug

LOBSTER!!!!  folks get so excited over these ugly beasts.  I don't eat them, too strong a flavor to me.  This photo is from a year ago.

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I sometimes take a hotdog along on a dive to feed them, although lobsters are so scarce they aren't to be seen on every dive.  They love hotdogs, and Kentucky Fried Chicken, too.  haha

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One wonderful coral, and two sponges in this blue cast image.  The rest is overgrowing algae.  This photo I took at about sixty five feet deep, 20m, along the Salt River drop off; on a storebought tourist boat dive.  All the people in the group I was with swam right by this bug, and were too far ahead of me for me to get their attention.  I'm a slow poke.  See more that way.  My dive buddy?  It's called, "Same Ocean, Same Day" buddy diving.

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My little SeaLife camera died, so I am forced to order a part for my expensive Canon.  Then  I'll get excited about painting for you once I can dive with a camera again.  Seeing that Jackknife fish, and not being able to capture an image was...  deflating or something.  Right now, I'm looking out a window at a stupid yard that needs mowing.  Such a waste of time and carbon!!

Same dive, another bug that only I saw.  They wave their long antennae at you.  I can't imagine them saying more than, "Huh?  Duh?"  Or sometimes, "Eeeek!!"

Another sandy dive---

A quick sketch from memory of a little four inch, ten cm, Jackknife Fish. It-he-she was swimming around just a short way from the safety of a lone coral head that is out in an open sandy area, out of sight of any other coral. He-it-she was nosing in the sand, looking for some tidbit to eat.

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Hmm, looking at the sketch now, a painting would have the coral higher to push it more into the background. The fish looks a lot larger than she-he-it is.

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The dive yesterday was odd. I join all sorts of online sites, just recently one about dive buddies. All of them seem to be in Nevada or Missouri or someplace! But, last week I got an email from a man here on St Croix, saying, "I just love to dive!" We agreed to meet at Cane Bay Beach for a dive.

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I should have known, well, I sort of did ... he was wearing gloves. He just wanted to hunt for lobster. At the end of the dive, he got out of the water before me and waited on the boat ramp. I was poking along looking for what beach goers lose in three feet of water, watches, jewelry, money... When I took off my fins, and started walking toward the ramp, the man turned without saying anything, and started walking to the nearby dive shop where he'd rented his tank.

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I went to my car, and took off my gear and stowed it, not needing to go to the dive shop. I waited about three minutes to see if the guy would reappear, but then figured he was gone, so I came home. Should I apologize for ruining his dive??

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My dive was really good, tho'! I don't usually go half that far in one dive. A big, lone Horse Eye Jack swam by, there were Southern Rays all over the place, must have seen five or six. And now I know where to find a Jackknife fish, and will go back for photos as soon as I sort out a camera. Actually, there were two on that little coral head. I know the area so well that I can go right to it. Oboy!

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Thanks for stopping by!

Coral Polyps

Great Star. Hungry. I love these little guys so much. The world and life that we know would be vastly different if everyone loved them.