OUsnakebyte

The reef we released the urchins on was named, "Up Jumped the Devil," and it was a heavily damaged reef - probably 85-90% algal coverage. It was also our second wall dive, but we never made it to the actual wall. This is where we all decided to take down nets and scrape off as much network or turf algae as possible in the time we had. We scraped off algae, put it in the nets, and dumped it in a deep ravine (so it would sink and die off). Jen cleaning Reef cleaners - note how much algal coverage there is... While cleaning, I would periodically uncover some corals that were being overrun with this "turf" algae. So, I decided to start taking some before and after shots. Note the bleaching in many of these photos... Before: After: Before: After: Found a coral!!! I tell ya, was this ever a job for an aquarist!!! Yeah, I know... the sad thing is that probably a few days later, the algae is likely back where we started. At least I could feel I had tried to do a little something while I was down there - in lieu of harassing wildlife just trying to take pic... Day 4 night dive next... ---------- Only two pics of the night dive, as I spent most of the time taking video. I nearly got bent chasing some stupid long, blue worm all over the reef. Seriously, if I find a place to post videos, it's almost worth watching just to see if you don't get dizzy. I was everywhere! But, here are two pics that came out okay - I need to work on my night photography skills. Any tips? A large - let's just call it a mollusk... And a Spotted Spiny Lobster - just a "little" bit bigger than the one we have at the Zoo... Day 5 next...

Okay, almost done torturing you all with my pics... Another component of this class was doing some diadema collection and translocation. For those who don't know, I am referencing the massive die off of the long spined urchin, Diadema antillarum, in 1983-84. One of the professors on this trip is involved with other institutions in helping to translocate diadema from rubble zones and introduce captive bred specimens to heavily damaged reefs. So, after day three, we went out collecting urchins. The rubble zones we collected from were very shallow, so all we needed to do was free dive to collect. They are very easy to remove from a surface - just one slight tap, and they will come right off. The difficult part - avoid being stung... Gloves are useless, unless you have steel gauntlets. And, let me just say, those little suckers can really move! Anyway, yes, I was stung multiple times. It's probably a little worse than a bee sting, but you can at least pull out the bee's stinger. The urchin's spine simply breaks off in your hand, and you have to wait for the proteins to break down in your skin. A little warm water and some ammonia helps too. So, for about a month, I had little black specs in my hands... Oh well - battle scars! In total, I think we collected 11 urchins. Here's a good lookin' guy with a diadema! I think my expression is, "Get this friggin' venemous animal out of my hands!" I call this one "Got Diadema?" Our bounty that we stored in coolers with water running through them over night. The next morning, we measured the urchins for data collection: And, the release! We hung around until the urchins could make their way to a suitable crevice - making sure no triggers came in to blow them over and eat 'em... Next up, Day 4 reef cleanup and second night dive.

Mmmmm... candy.... Or should I say, "Mmmm... palytoxin...."

Yup, I have a Mag 7 on mine, and it runs great. One thing I do periodically is unscrew the elbow "spray injector" and clean it out. I often get macro algae clogging it up. For best results, I have also left the air intake completely open. Oh, I also take a syringe full of DI water and "inject" fresh water into the air intake, just in case it is gummed up with salt. Cheers, Mike

To all I have pending trades with: I am leaving work at 1pm, going home (5 minutes from work) to pack up frags, and heading to the meeting. Soooo... I will be late, but I will be there. Don't give up on me! Cheers Mike

Now THAT is just an awesome shot. Is that at Stingray City? I'm no elasmobranch expert by any means, but I *think* what you have there is a Southern Stingray. Maybe someone else can confirm...? I have one I shot on day five near a blue hole that I'll post a little later. I also have some very close up video I shot of a southern ray in some turtle grass beds that is in ~1 foot of water, but again, it is only on video, so I don't think I can post it here...? Seriously, if that picture is not blown up and perched on your wall somewhere, we need to talk... Cheers Mike

Day 3 - Back-to-back dives on Amberjack Reef, with the sharks, and one wall dive, Blacktip Wall. We splashed in Amberjack Reef with a large school of Horse-eye Jacks. But, remember how those mega-vertebrates catch your eye? Well, they caught mine too... There must have been 6, 8, or 10 caribbean reef sharks...??? I really can't remember. What I do remember was that the smallest was ~3 feet while the largest was ~8 feet long. Awesome.... They were just beautiful. And, without asking, a few made several CLOSE (I'm talking within 1 to 2 feet of us) passes... From below... With a Blue Runner Finally got a close-up of the Blue Runner. This fish likely got too close during feeding time - and got nailed. Check out the gash... A sharksucker!!! They rule! Being that we were in a marine park (=protected area, no take zone), everything gets bigger here - including the grouper! These guys were easily 5 to 6 feet long! Black grouper On the way down, I wanted to see if my large, external flash was working. It wasn't... Okay, made it to the bottom. More fish - a spotted goatfish Fire coral, encrusting a sea fan Porites w/ a duster cluster Remember how everything gets bigger in a marine protected area? Check it - a queen conch - alive!!! Not just the empty shell! Tom - aka "Shark Cookie" - our trip leader... And, sunset on the Exumas... Next up, diadema collecting...

Day 2 - two back-to-back dives on Jeep Reef, so named because of the old school jeep that is sunk there. I don't think it was a wrangler, but wouldn't ya know I didn't take a shot of the jeep... I nicknamed this reef "sponge reef" b/c of all the truly awesome sponges that were growing here. Yellow tube sponge Finally, some fish - a saddled blenny Orange, green and blue/purple sponges! One of my favorite shots I took. If it prints out nicely, this will go on my wall... Our boat, the Cat Ppalu And back to the land lovers - listening to a lecture about mangroves and fiddler crabs Mangroves - amazing ecosystems... Me in the 'groves Hand model... oh, and a hermit crab... Saving species - by torturing them... Hard to tell what I'm thinking. Maybe, "Now why am I not under water right now...?" We were lucky enough to have the owner of the company, Bruce, with us on our trip. He has been diving since long before I was even a zygote. And... he knows just about everything about fish identification. Seriously, I could say that I saw this little yellow-streaked fish with a black spot on its tail, and he would say, "Oh yes, that's a 'flibbidy-flobbidy' - in its initial phase. The adults have a....." You get the idea. So, when Bruce said that stingray over there in the shallows was a Caribbean Stingray, I thought to myself, "Huh, cool." But when he followed by saying that they are extremely rare and one has never been photographed and/or published... well, you can guess what I did. I shot the heck out of it with my camera!!! Seriously, I must have take ~20 shots and three series of video. The water is ankle-deep here, and I don't have my underwater housing with me. So, it's a good thing it stayed near the shore! The next three pictures are of the rarely-seen Caribbean Stingray. I tried to find one in the guide books - I couldn't... Day three - and the sharks - coming next...

Yup... those scorpions are almost like photographing the hard corals - they stay still! Well, there were a few people on this trip just for fun - no credit, class, studying, etc. I think they go back in January too! (planting the seed...)

Day 1 started reeeeeaaaaalllll early with a 7am splash time. We squeezed in three dives and one night dive. Well, the second dive on day 1 (Three Peaks) was brutal. During our safety stop, I had a bit of phlegm get caught in my throat. No, I was not able to expel it soon enough, and yes, it initiated a gag reflex. And when it rains, it pours. Before I knew it, I was yacking (up-chucking, heaving, hurling, blowing chunks, throwing up... vomiting) my lunch onto the reef. Let me just tell you that the turkey sandwich tasted a lot better going down. I just hope the fishes had a good meal. Or, does that constitute polluting the reef...? Well, this hurling incident happened during our safety stop. You see... in the midst of my episode and all the turkey bits exiting my regulator, I kinda lost track of my gauges. Before I knew it, there I was floating on the surface. Being a good buddy, Jen was quick to follow. The first thing I heard was, "Michael! We missed our safety stop!" We only managed about 2-3 minutes on our safety stop. Uh huh... the bends... Upon climbing aboard, we conferred with many people on the boat, and they all agreed that we would be fine. And we were. We were only 25 feet on our first dive, had spent about 56 minutes on this dive, and at our deepest, we were 59 feet. But, we spent the majority of the dive at ~45 feet. I'll tell you what though... the next time I start yacking into my regulator, I'm gonna keep an eye on those gauges...! So, after a late afternoon dive on Parrotfish Reef, we hopped in for our first night dive - again on Parrotfish Reef. I didn't take my camera on this first night dive, so the only pics I have are from Ken Hintz, a GMU professor who was with us on this trip. I did take my dive light and feed the corals - that was cool. Watching those bloodworms swarm to your light, only to be zapped by the hungry tentacles of the coral. They just EXPLODE when those nematocysts discharge! Then, we came across what was probably the most beautiful creature I saw during the entire trip - a Caribbean Octopus, Octopus briareus. Again, these are Ken's pics. Classic ballooning behavior. While following, I saw this octopus take its arm and move it up under its mantle to its mouth. I just wonder if he/she caught something and ate it while we were observing. Unfortunately, I did not get a good enough look to see if it had a hectocotylus or not. It was just awesome to see it "jet-hop" around the reef, in and out of coral heads. They are truly as quick as they are graceful. After us pursuing for some time, it settled down. The words of our dive master still rang in my head. "If you come across an octopus and can get close enough, slowly put your arm out. If you are lucky enough, it will climb up your arm and 'play' with you." And that's just what it did... There is not a picture of it on my arm, but in this next pic - That's My Hand!!! (I had turned my dive light off) It "reached out and touched me." Very weary at first, it touched my hand with the tip of its arm and then quickly retracted. I did nothing but hold as still as possible. Then, it came back to my hand with one arm, then two, three - four! With four of its eight arms, it climbed completely up my right forearm. I did get a little nervous because I know what is under its mantle, and I did not want it to sample any of my fingers with its beak. Then, it gave me several strong tugs, gripping my forearm with its suction discs - yes, they are VERY strong. I was trying to breathe as slowly as possible, not wanting to spook it with my bubbles, but I think I spent about half my tank in those few minutes. Then, it jetted away, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. The rest of the trip was all downhill from there... Anyway, Ken calls this his "Michelangelo Sistine Chapel" pic... :wink: Day 2 coming up...

Day 1 continued... Ya know... whenever diving, I can't help it. I am drawn to the invertebrates of the community. I don't care what it is - shrimp, lobster, crab, ANYTHING cnidarian will easily grab my attention. Don't get me wrong, all those little pretty fish swimming around are fantastic, and some exhibit some really cool behaviors. Doesn't really matter though... I'm drawn to the coral. HOWEVER, there are a few things that will draw me away from the calcifying beauties that create our reefs. And here is one... This guy is just bad - as in awesome. And he (she, it...???) was just huge! I would give it anywhere from 15 to 20 inches. Obviously, I took tons of pics. Here are the best: Scorpionfish 1 Scorpionfish 2 Of course, not only will the scorpions draw me away from anything cnidarian, but anything megavertebrate will too! (I mean.. who isn't...?) We saw several Caribbean Reef Sharks on the second day, but here on day 1, we only saw a few. Caribbean Reef Sharks Back to the inverts - a tiger tail cucumber And, to finish up day 1, Jen trying to hide behind a few more gorgonians... We did manage to catch a Hawksbill turtle on the second dive (Three Peaks), but wouldn't ya know it... the old camera ran out of juice... bummer. Oh well, next time! Day 1 night dive coming next...

Howdy all - Well, after missing Seacore in Puerto Rico this year, I was determined not to let this summer pass by without any bottom time. So, Jen found a class (more like pestered a few of her professors to have a class) in August for a week in the Exumas of The Bahamas. We were on a week-long live aboard, anywhere from 2 to 4 dives a day, with other times spent snorkeling in some turtle grass beds and/or hiking on some of the islands and through the mangroves. Well, needless to say, it was an awesome time, and more importantly, I learned tons. As part of the course, we had to learn and identify ~130 species of reef fishes - common name only and family name. Let me just tell you right now - anything "silvery" and those @#$% parrotfish are my nemesis. Because of course, you have to know initial, intermediate and terminal phases of each. Oh... and don't even get me started on blennies and gobies! There were also other interesting parts of the course. As you'll see from the forthcoming pics, we did some diadema (urchin) collection and translocation and some "reef cleanup." Jen and I also conducted our own mini research project. I won't bore you with all the details, but basically the methods were to take our camera and take different snapshots of the reef, trying to estimate general health of the reef. We also counted hard coral vs algal cover using a transect line. Anyway, we managed to squeeze in a bit of fun during our dives as well. Day 1 - Hawksbill Reef, Three Peaks, Parrotfish Reef, and a night dive on Parrotfish Reef. Nassau Grouper A nice maze brain A "curly q" anemone w/ 4 pederson shrimp Jen hiding behind a sea plume A very nice Mussa sp. These little yellow head jawfish were everywhere. I even have some cool video of these guys... A potted gorgonian? I just thought this was cool - looks like the gorgonians are "planted" in the sponge... And finally, me with an awesome condy anemone... More to follow soon...

Jen and I took a class through GMU back in August in The Bahamas. During our last dive, we came across this little devil: The owner of the boat was with us (he has been diving since waaaay before I was a glimmer in my parents' eyes...), and he ended up spearing this guy shortly after this photo was taken.

Okay, trying to add the pdf attachment. Cheers Mike Edit - doesn't seem to be working. I clicked on "Browse" found my attachment, then clicked "Add This Attachment." Nuthin'. Might not be working b/c the file is ~411K and the file attachments say space left is 60K...????

I saw the reader's digest version of this article in the latest Coral magazine, so I looked up the paper, which I copied below (unfortunately w/out the figures). I did the best I could to format it for easy reading. Anyone know how to post a pdf file? Thoughts? Cheers Mike Coral Reefs (2005) 24: 564-573 DOI 10.1007/s00338-005-0027-z REPORT Craig S. Shuman

Coming to the meeting? I have TONS! Cheers Mike

Good call. I skipped right over that one - didn't even see it...

FWIW - I don't believe that is a magnifica. It looks to me like M. doreensis, but maybe traveller7 can confirm for me...? There was a thread on "LTAs" last week I believe. Here is the link: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=9947 Anemones will often close up and reopen similar to what yours is doing. Your lighting seems sufficient, but I would try to bring your temp down slowly, just a few degrees. A clip-on fan blowing on the water's surface will do wonders for this. That it is still taking food is a wonderful sign, but I do not feed them if they are closed up and/or "deflated." I would also recommend you constructing a sand tube, as I have done with mine (see thread) if you do not have a very deep sand bed. It did wonders for both my M. doreensis and S. haddoni. Good luck and keep us posted. Cheers Mike

Sent you a PM Lee. Cheers Mike

Scott, sending you a PM... Cheers Mike

You got PM. Cheers Mike

I usually sell frags for $5 up to $25 or $30, depending on coral and the size of the frags I cut. I just didn't bother listing prices b/c there is so much variance. Call me lazy, I guess... Oh... all acros certified red bug free! Cheers Mike

New in box skimmer from Bermuda Aquatics, BPS-5C. http://www.bermudaaquatics.com/bpshobby.htm I bought it and never got around to using it. Asking $200 - what i paid for it. I won't be bringing it unless someone says they want it. Cheers Mike

I will once again have the following for sale/trade: A. yongeii aka Bali Slimer A. formosa - many availale A. tricolor Purple Cap - many available Orange Cap - many available M. hispida - many, many available A. loisettae - many, many, many available I *think* I can get maybe one or two of these zoanthid frags out. I know I owe someone one that failed on them from last meeting... I also have Blue millis available and green sinularia, but I don't have a pic of them. EDIT: I also have a bunch of green M. digitada that I also don't have pics of. I need to get the camera out... I am looking for A. echinata, A. tenuis, A. humilis, A. samoensis, montis I don't have and/or nice zoas I don't have. Really want a bottlebrush acro (A. echinata) - or rics. Don't need any softies... Cheers Mike

I had luck constructing a tube out of three inch diameter pvc. I cute the pvc about 8 inches or so in length and siliconed a piece of plastic to one end, leaving the other end open. I'm sure a pvc cap will work nicely here too. I then filled the tube with sand and placed the anemone on the open end. Within an hour or so, the anemone's foot was buried in the tube. I then placed the tube on its side where I wanted the anemone displayed and covered the pvc in my rockwork. This worked for my M. doreensis as well as for my S. haddoni. Neither has moved a bit in the several years I have had them in their tubes. Hope this helps. Cheers Mike