Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Friday, October 9, 2009

Thursday, October 8, 2009

View from room in Sagres


This place was where the Portuguese sailed to America

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Monday, October 5, 2009

Tram 12


Goes to Castle and Alfama area

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Queen Angelfish on the Superior Producer

This Queen Angelfish was near the bow of the wreck of the Superior Producer. The Superior Producer is a cargo ship that went down in 1977 just off the harbor of Willemstad.  It's keel set about 110' below sea level.  Because of it's depth, the dive time is very short on the dive only about 20 minutes.

A little Eel

This little guy was just poking his head out of a piece of coral. Not sure the species. 

Scorpionfish

A member of the Rockfish family.  Their dorsal fins are poisonous.

 

French Angelfish

This pair was very friendly and not frightened away easily.

Black and White Crinoid

This is my first spotting of this animal.  It's related to a star fish, but has 40 arms. I looked closely and it was feeding something into it's mouth with all the little arms.

Queen Angelfish

The little crown on his/her head is how you can tell.

Nurse Shark

This one was sleeping tucked under some coral.  Couldn't get a good shot of his nose.  But, this proves I saw one.

Spanish Lobster

You usually only see these on night dives, but I saw several of these during the day this week.  The antennae are the shovel shaped things at the front.  They are similar to the Slipper Lobster which we saw on the night dive.

Klein Curacao

One of the dive trips was to the small island of Klein Curacao.  It's uninhabited now, so the reefs are in great shape.  After the second dive, we swam ashore and walked to the old lighthouse, and to the other side where there was a ship wreck.

Sharptailed Eel

Another first for me.  My buddy saw it first, but by the time I got there, there was only a little tail showing.  I waited for about a minute, and it backed out of the hole, turned around and went back in tail first.

Giant Anemone

Curacao had more of these than I've seen anywhere else in the Caribbean.

Fingerprint Cyphoma and Flamingo Tongues

These are snails that bring all of their insides to the outsides covering their shells.  The Flamingo Tongues are common, but the Fingerprint Cyphoma is uncommmon.  My dive buddy (Rosemarie O'Grady) pointed it out to me.

Banded Coral Shrimp

I like these guys.  They think they are the lord and protector of their domains and will try to chase you off. 

Giant Anemones and Moray Eel

I took this photo of the anemones, but later when viewing it on my PC, I found that I had also taken a photo of the Moray. 

Sculptured Slipper Lobster

This was a great find on the Night Dive.  These are very uncommon to find.  It's related to the Spanish Lobster.

Yellowline Arrow Crab

I put my finger next to this guy and he grabbed my with two feelers, and drew it in till it was close enough that he started using his pincher.  I guess he figured he'd hit the big time.

Spotted Moray Eel

I saw lots of these this week.  But this one was the most photogenic.

View from our room



Saturday, February 28, 2009

Leaving Atlanta


Rainy here but heading to sunshine

Friday, February 13, 2009

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Monday, January 26, 2009

Unexpected Guests - rare woodpeckers

This weekend we had 2 members of the woodpecker family show up at our house.  A Yellow Bellied Sapsucker and a Pileated Woodpecker.  Both were pretty far from the house, so the photos are not the best.

Friday, January 16, 2009