NOW PLAYING: THEME FROM FINDING NEMO
DAY SIX MONDAY, 11 NOVEMBER 2013 Up early to dive! We have to be out of here by noonish and headed to Wolf Island. The conditions there are sub-par, so we will do three more dives here, at 7 a.m., 10:30 and last one at 11:30. Then lunch while on the way back to Wolf for dive number four. On the first dive we saw the same whale shark as on the previous dives . . . and this time I got to see the front end too. She (a pregnant female) was huge, 40' long and 10' wide. I don't know if the photos came out yet, as there were 14 divers alongside huffing & puffing, trying to swim fast enough to keep up (not easy in full SCUBA gear), so maybe all I got is a cloud of exhaust bubbles. Saw very few hammerheads, no silkies. Second dive much like the first minus the whale shark. We had breakfast after the first dive. Third dive: a few hammerheads below us, and I shot pics of some macro life, plate corals, other corals and fish I didn't recognize. THREE GREEN TURTLES under water and two more sunning on the surface more than made up for the absent pelagic fishes. I got some great shots then and swam alongside the turtles, too (always exhilarating) We had lunch after the last dive. Salad, popcorn shrimp and/or beef tips over rice. A berry mousse for dessert. I imported pictures to look at, and am writing this on the crossing back to Wolf Island. Two more dive days. Three dives tomorrow and one last on the day before we leave. I may miss it to let gear dry and just not fly too near to diving. We'll have to see how I feel. Slate pencil urchin (Eucidaris tribuloid). There's a concern that these are taking over the Galapagos reef system; we sure saw a lot of them. Orange cup coral (Balanophyllia elegans) Plate Coral & green sea turtle Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), a/k/a the green turtle, black (sea ) turtle, or Pacific green turtle, is a large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae Interesting facts about Galapagos hammerhead sharks: Because of the placement of their eyes, they can see above and below themselves at the same time. Hammerheads swim in large schools during the day, hunting along the bottom of the ocean. They are normally shy. (Learning that hammerheads are normally shy, hunt along the bottom during the night, have small mouths helped calm my fears.) They have electroreceptor pores along their "hammer" which help them detect electromagnetic fields as well as temperature gradients. These pores help them locate prey even when it's buried in the sand. Their favorite food is stingray; they use their hammer-shaped head to pin down their prey while they eat it. They also eat squid, stingrays, octopus, fish, crustaceans, and sometimes other hammerhead sharks. Hammerheads hunt at night. Hammerhead babies are born live. The Arothron puffer is a fish of many names, including spotted puffer, guinea fowl puffer, and golden puffer. It changes appearance during different stages of its life; I observed them in each stage. While in the black phase, it is deep blue to black with white spots over the entire body. There is a mottled phase in which the body is patches of yellow and patches of the black & white speckled pattern. The third phase, called the golden puffer, is yellow. Photo courtesy Walter Torres Galapagos garden eel (Heteroconger klausewitzi) Endemic to the Galapagos Islands, Galapagos garden eels grow to 70 cm in length, are a light to dark brown in color with a line of white spots along the sides of the body and have a transparent dorsal fin. The Galapagos garden eel has a snake-like body and a blunt snout. Panamic cushion sea star (Pentaceraster cumingi) ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DIVE HERE
DAY SIX
MONDAY, 11 NOVEMBER 2013
Up early to dive! We have to be out of here by noonish and headed to Wolf Island. The conditions there are sub-par, so we will do three more dives here, at 7 a.m., 10:30 and last one at 11:30. Then lunch while on the way back to Wolf for dive number four.
On the first dive we saw the same whale shark as on the previous dives . . . and this time I got to see the front end too. She (a pregnant female) was huge, 40' long and 10' wide. I don't know if the photos came out yet, as there were 14 divers alongside huffing & puffing, trying to swim fast enough to keep up (not easy in full SCUBA gear), so maybe all I got is a cloud of exhaust bubbles.
Saw very few hammerheads, no silkies. Second dive much like the first minus the whale shark.
We had breakfast after the first dive. Third dive: a few hammerheads below us, and I shot pics of some macro life, plate corals, other corals and fish I didn't recognize. THREE GREEN TURTLES under water and two more sunning on the surface more than made up for the absent pelagic fishes. I got some great shots then and swam alongside the turtles, too (always exhilarating)
We had lunch after the last dive. Salad, popcorn shrimp and/or beef tips over rice. A berry mousse for dessert.
I imported pictures to look at, and am writing this on the crossing back to Wolf Island.
Two more dive days. Three dives tomorrow and one last on the day before we leave. I may miss it to let gear dry and just not fly too near to diving. We'll have to see how I feel.
Slate pencil urchin (Eucidaris tribuloid). There's a concern that these are taking over the Galapagos reef system; we sure saw a lot of them.
Orange cup coral (Balanophyllia elegans)
Plate Coral & green sea turtle
Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), a/k/a the green turtle, black (sea ) turtle, or Pacific green turtle, is a large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae
Interesting facts about Galapagos hammerhead sharks:
Because of the placement of their eyes, they can see above and below themselves at the same time. Hammerheads swim in large schools during the day, hunting along the bottom of the ocean. They are normally shy. (Learning that hammerheads are normally shy, hunt along the bottom during the night, have small mouths helped calm my fears.)
They have electroreceptor pores along their "hammer" which help them detect electromagnetic fields as well as temperature gradients. These pores help them locate prey even when it's buried in the sand. Their favorite food is stingray; they use their hammer-shaped head to pin down their prey while they eat it. They also eat squid, stingrays, octopus, fish, crustaceans, and sometimes other hammerhead sharks. Hammerheads hunt at night. Hammerhead babies are born live.
The Arothron puffer is a fish of many names, including spotted puffer, guinea fowl puffer, and golden puffer. It changes appearance during different stages of its life; I observed them in each stage.
While in the black phase, it is deep blue to black with white spots over the entire body. There is a mottled phase in which the body is patches of yellow and patches of the black & white speckled pattern.
The third phase, called the golden puffer, is yellow.
Photo courtesy Walter Torres
Galapagos garden eel (Heteroconger klausewitzi)
Endemic to the Galapagos Islands, Galapagos garden eels grow to 70 cm in length, are a light to dark brown in color with a line of white spots along the sides of the body and have a transparent dorsal fin. The Galapagos garden eel has a snake-like body and a blunt snout.
Panamic cushion sea star (Pentaceraster cumingi)
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DIVE HERE