22 Feb, Wed

Wed, 22 Feb was going to leave the office around noon .... then noon-thirty ... and finally at 1:30 ... got ready and headed to go snorkel. my plan was to go just a little past the beach, and not all the way to where i went the other day at Coral View. i've been there several times, and always get to the same point when i get cold or it's time to quit. ....so today, i decided to approach the reef from the other side and work towards where i usually end up. i caught up with Jungle Jim on the road and walked with him most of the way .... time goes so much faster when you are visiting. he stopped in to The Driftwood to visit some friends and i continued. i ended up going further than i thought i would, ....and found a nice log under a tree to stash my stuff under. i had a pretty good hour+ of snorkeling ... i spent a lot of time in the shallows ... i like it there ... usually there isn't too much wave action, you are up close and personal with the fishes and coral, and ... the water is warmer :) ....actually the water here is nice and warm anyway ... but in the shallows, it's like bath water ... one of the drawbacks is that it is usually sandy and if there are any waves, visibility isn't very good as you can see in the background of these Tube Sponges ... but, if you just hover over some coral, you see all kinds of tiny little fishes ... like this small Sargeant Major ... and this yellow Beaugregory Juvenile with the pretty blue stripes on it's head ... that likes to run and hide in some little hole in the coral ... and this tiny Juvenile French Angelfish ... i don't think i've ever seen one of these before ... this is the Adult Queen Angelfish ... the Adults are called Terminal ... but i don't like that word.... it sounds too negative ... a cute little Blue Tang ... Juvenile because you can still see a little yellow on the tail ... this is a Spot Fin Butterfly Fish ... all the Butterfly fishes mate for life, and you almost always seem them in pairs ... getting them to pose together for a picture, however, is not easy ! i was watching this Banded Butterfly Fish, trying to get a photo when i saw this small LionFish out of the corner of my eye. they are usually up close to the coral, ... but this guy was floating right out in the open ... bold as he could be ! and very dark in color, compared to others i've seen he is quite small, ... and was trying to make himself look bigger by spreading his poisonous 'feathers' out as far as they would stretch notice the feather-like detail on his antennae ... incredibly intricate ! too bad they are invasive to our seas ... they sure are beautiful ! ..... one thing about them is that since they have no enemies, they aren't afraid; which means they just hang out and you can photograph them until you're tired. .... unlike the Parrot Fish i've been seeing lately, that don't want to be photographed at all ... i seem to only see them going away from me ... with their 'wings' flapping ... these are called Feather Dusters, ... they are actually worms, and function kind of like the Christmas Tree Worm ... when they are disturbed, the quickly retreat to the safety of their 'homes' ... when they are out like this, they sway gracefully with the current of the water .. this is a Smooth Trunkfish has black around it's mouth, and named for the triangular shape of his body ... like an old fashioned trunk ... ... it is distinguished from the Spotted Trunkfish, which has white around it's mouth ... i thought it also looked like an iron, .. you can kind of see in this picture that the bottom is much wider than the top it was all good ... i got out of the water ... got my clothes out of my duffel and packed my snorkel stuff back in there and headed for home. i had planned on getting something to eat and drink on the way home. when i got to the beach, i wondered what time it was. so i stopped and dug through my duffel to find my little nylon zippered bag that had my watch in it ..... hummmmm ...... i thought i put my watch in that bag ... i'm sure i did ... and oh .... all my money is gone too :( .... so, while i was snorkeling, someone went through my duffel, found my little bag, took out the watch and the money, .... left my room key ... zipped it back up, and put it back just the way it was ... they obviously were quite comfortable being there and not concerned with getting caught ... i guess it was a considerate thief ... they didn't take my Chaco sandals, my DriLite Towel, nor my UV50 rash guard shirt ... each worth more individually than the 500L ($25) cash that they took. .... i bought the watch at Big Lots for $6, and they'll never figure out how it works without the instructions ..... so i stopped back into The Driftwood, and Jungle Jim was still there. he bought me a rum and coke ... actually 2 rum and cokes ... and the owner, Bruce, fixed us all a "Monkey Ball" ... a special drink that he makes with his own home made Kahula. went home and got cleaned up and walked down to the Cinema to meet John and Paco, and Tulum, the dog. we had agreed to see Descendent with George Clooney .... it was a very sssllllooow movie, but ok.