Day 7, Friday, August 10, 2007

Last water day....and we are all sad to say goodbye to the beautiful Caribbean. We've explored, been excited and learned so much in this past week. We now know that the goatfish below is using its barbels to search the sand for tasty critters. Did you know that the blue parrotfish below is a super male? We do, by looking at that prominent bump near the front of its head. We have so much to take back to our classrooms. Dana and the other snorkelers hovered above the divers as the group explored the Tug Boat, a favorite underwater site.

The parrotfish to the left is being cleaned by a small fish and the Christmas worms below get their name from their appearance. Don't get too close or they will disappear in a flash back into their protective coral homes. Divers, Tom and Helen had a close up view of these underwater wonders.

Day 6, Thursday, August 9, 2007

The upside-down jellyfish was the "hit" of the morning snorkel to the mangroves. Several of the snorkelers met the stinging cells of the Cassiopeia on their cheeks, arms and other tender areas. The "catch of the day" is checked out by Suus, our SeaAquarium naturalist and several of the group members.

Helen and Dana are twin mermaids..not really, but they both wore mermaids on their shirts!

These are some pictures taken during our afternoon snorkels at 2 beaches (Playa Lagun and Playa Gnip) Wow!! We've learned that Playa means beach....bilingual in less than a week! The pictures of the little red crabs on the fire coral and the lobster (Yes, that's what you eat when you order lobster tails.) were taken during a night dive...Margie's first night dive!!

Day 5, Wednesday, Aug. 8

We all went to bed with visions of dolphins dancing in our heads...

and awoke to island dreams.........

You may have seen the lights of Paris, but not in this ocean!!! Isn't this a French Angelfish ? Qui, qui.

Tile in your kitchen?? Not this one, this is a tile fish.

Farewell to Klein Curacao!

Day 4 Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Boat ride to Barbara Beach, Spanish Waters to snorkel the seagrass beds. Rose finds a Heart Urchin as Pete looks on enviously.

Pete responds eloquently, "Mine, Mine, Mine!!!"

Dolphin Academy.... Dolphin Encounter/Dolphin Snorkel

What a day for a daydream, what a day for a dolphin dreaming crew.

I want to hold your fin..... I want to hold your fin....

Do you want to know a secret? Ooh, aah, ooh. Do you promise not to tell? Ooh, aah, ooh. Move a little closer.

Helen: "Get out of my way, Dana. I'm the leader, I get to pet first!"

Dana: "Great role modeling, Helen!"

A little to the left, please.

Hold me, thrill me ain't got nothin but love babe, eight days a week......

Love, love will keep us together. Think of me, Dolphin, whenever.....

Love me tender, love me true.....

The dolphin kissed me on "porpoise".

Happy Anniversary to Chris and Mike..... WHERE is Mike?

Hurry up, Sandy! Now's your chance, Mark's not looking.

...and FINALLY, Mark got kissed by another woman, Deedee.

Monday 8/6/07 - Day 3

Who's zoomin' who? Garry Dole is taking video of a spotted moray that can be seen just to the left of the camera lens. You'll need to look closely, as it blends with the large coral rock just above it.

When the eel lurches out and he bites off your snout, that's a moray...a green moray to be exact!
This one was about 5' long and moving about the reef.

"Holy cow!! Is that Batman with the black mask and suit?" wonders this honeycomb cowfish.

No it's not Batman...it's Doleman...Garry Dole, our trusty videomeister. He's been busy taking lots of underwater footage that we can use in our classrooms to take our students on a virtual tour of the reef.

The group has been as good as angels...these rock beauty angelfish are just some of the underwater angels we have seen!

Our busy schedules leave us little time for doing our nails, but if we needed a file this slender filefish might be a good source. We've learned that he's rather shy..so it's hard to schedule a manicure.

If we run out of ink while taking notes, we could always ask this squid for some of his... We learned that the ink makes an underwater "smoke-screen" to confuse predators. How many tentacles does a squid have??

This porcupine fish always makes his point with the many sharp spines that cover his body. These unique fish can inflate their bodies with water to make them difficult to swallow.

Here's a beautiful trumpetfish tooting his own horn as he swims along the reef with bright blue coloration. We've seen how they mimic the shape and motion of flexible corals on the reef to get closer to their prey.

We met one of the reef's top predators today when we came face-to-fin with a barracuda. During the afternoon snorkel several small barracuda were also sighted.

It's time to pack our trunk (trunkfish) for the day after 2 exciting snorkels/dives. We're learning so much and can now recognize many of the reef fishes...and its only the 3rd day!!

In the Water!!!!

This nocturnal soldierfish uses its large eye to find food at night or in low-light conditions. The group learned to identify soldierfish and many other reef fishes that they saw on their first snorkel out on the reef. Many of the teachers commented on the diversity of fish life on the reef.

Front row: Spotted Drum
Back row: Black Bar Soldierfish

Margie's first open water dive!

Here is a great shot of a Queen Angelfish taken by Helen Domske on the afternoon dive.

Arrived in Curacao!

Hi Everyone! What a beautiful Island this is!! We are all checked in and gotto snorkel on Saturday afternoon in the Seaquarium Encounters. Saw lots of fish and got to feed turtles,sharks and even a pesky pelican. HOPE TO HAVE PICTURES BY TONIGHT....
Garry