Monthly Archives: March 2016

Bahamas, Belize, Mexico, wide angle

Do you ever grow tired of seeing turtles underwater? nah

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I am not sure what it is about turtles that always fascinates me when I am diving. Sometimes it strikes me that turtles remind me of grumpy old men swimming under water. I guess I can relate to that. Other times I am amazed at just how quickly they can swim and leave me in the dust, even when I am wearing fins.

Some dives are just magical

Over the years, I have seen hawksbill turtles, green sea turtles, Ridley’s turtles and even a leather back turtle.  I was amazed when we were sailing to see an enormous leather back turtle surface directly in front of our catamaran.  I had no idea that a turtle that probably weighed half a ton could immediately dive down with seemingly very little effort and at a speed that took it out of the center of our catamaran.

 

I especially like to see sunlight reflected off the shells of green sea turtles because their shells reflect so many colors. So here is to the turtle, I tip my hat so to speak.

Grenadines, Uncategorized, wide angle

The biggest hermit crab I’ve ever seen?

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The Grenadines are known for having nearly countless small underwater creatures to see under the sea. Arrow crabs, banded shrimp and other small creatures are plentiful to see if you are scuba diving.

A banded shrimp hanging upside down waiting for fish to be cleaned
A banded shrimp hanging upside down waiting for fish to be cleaned

We had seen a number of small hermit crabs during our trip to the Grenadines. There were quite a few to be seen, but for the most part they were in shells that were not much bigger than a silver dollar. Most species of hermit crab have long, spirally curved abdomens, which are soft, unlike the hard, calcified abdomens seen in related crustaceans. The vulnerable abdomen is protected from predators by a salvaged empty seashell carried by the hermit crab. The shell is ususally large enough so the crabs entire body can retract inside the shell. Hermit crabs often use the shells of sea snails (although the shells of bivalves and scaphopods and even hollow pieces of wood and stone are used by some species). The tip of the hermit crab’s abdomen is adapted to clasp strongly onto the columella of the snail shell. Most hermit crabs are nocturnal.

So I was not expecting to swim around a part of the reef only to come face to face with a hermit crab whose home shell was as big as my head.

The biggest hermit crab I've ever seen
The biggest hermit crab I’ve ever seen

Even assuming the crab did not fill the shell entirely, he was enormous, and obviously quite strong because he did not seem to have any problem trying to carry about such a large shell.

Cayman Islands, Grenadines, Roatan, wide angle

So why dive?

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Goliath Grouper silhouette
Goliath Grouper silhouette

For about as long as I can remember I have always liked being in the water. If there was a puddle near where I lived as a kid, I was in it looking to see what might be living in the puddle. I was the swim team kid who was always in the water. I earned some of my early pay checks being a life guard at a local pool. Later I would manage a pool while I was in college.

When I first started diving it was something I hoped I could do with my family.  It took a while and a fair amount of convincing, but to a large extent diving has become an adventure we can do together.  Diving seemed like a great way to turn off the phone, fax, text, and email stream of communications that had invaded my life. Unfortunately, what I have found is that it only delays the delivery for a while, but even that is a help.  To an extent, diving has been a great way to tune out the communication noise that otherwise buries me during the day.

But, diving also allows me to explore parts of the world that I otherwise would not see. Whether it is 12 feet down looking at southern rays at Sting Ray city off the coast of Grand Cayman, or hundred feet down looking at bull sharks off the coast of Playa del Carmen, or some depth in between looking at a hermit crab or other creatures, there is almost always something to see and learn about.

The shell of this fellow was easily a foot across
Channel clinging crab

So for me, what keeps me coming back is not just the opportunity to have some peace and quiet, but also to feed my curiosity about what exists in the other 70% of the world.

A spotted moray eel in the Grenadines
Grenadines, Uncategorized, wide angle

Have you ever seen an electric ray?

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This fellow reminded me of sleeping on a hammock
This fellow reminded me of sleeping on a hammock

I have been diving for quite some time and have done hundreds of dives in blue water.  And yet, it was only recently that I came across an electric ray.  Not an electric eel, but an electric ray.  According to my fish book they are uncommon to rare in the northern part of Caribbean such as in the Bahamas and Florida.  They are more common in the southern Caribbean.  They tend to be unconcerned and won’t move when approached by divers, but if touched can produce a mild electric shock of between 14 and 37 volts.

From doing a little research it appears there are over 60 species of rays world wide, but far fewer are electric. The electric ray I found was what is known as a lesser electric ray.  I looked, but the could not find a “greater electric ray”;  who says naming protocols are logical?

The better known electric ray is the Torpedo fish. The really odd part is that the ancient Greeks used electric rays to numb the pain of childbirth and operations. In his dialogue Meno, Plato has the character Meno accuse Socrates of “stunning” people with his puzzling questions, in a manner similar to the way the torpedo fish stuns with electricity. Scribonius Largus, a Roman physician, recorded the use of torpedo fish for treatment of headaches and gout in his Compositiones Medicae of 46 AD.

I think I’m glad I can quite happily stop by the local pharmacy and find my choice of aspirin or other pain relievers.  Which brings me to my next rumination?  Is there such a thing as finding too many interesting creatures under the sea?  That is, is there a point where there is too much of a good thing?  I think it is kind of like asking can you take too many vacations?  Not  a chance….