Sergeant Major-juvenile
Sergeant Major- juvenile
Spiny Lobster (our artificial reef)
Spiny Lobster (our atificial reef)
Spiny Lobster
Spiny Lobster and Bluehead (our artificial reef)
Peacock Flounder (our artificial reef)
Peacock Flounder
Atlantic Triton (our artificial reef)
Atlantic Triton
Atlantic Triton- only second time I saw one alive
Magnificent one foot-long Atlantic Triton
Atlantic Triton and Bluehead (our artificial reef)
French Grunt
French Grunt (our artificial reef)
Spotted Trunkfish
Sea Anemone
Black Point Sculling Crab
Arrow Crab
Yellowline Arrowcrab
“our” artificial reef with French Grunt and Schoolmaster
Whitefin Sharksucker
Grey Angelfish juvenile
Yellow Stingray
Bluestriped Grunt
Longfin Damselfish juvenile
Yellowtail Damselfish juvenile
Bluetang juvenile
Bluetang
mixed school of Bluetang and Doctorfish
Creole Wrasse ?
Barjack
barrier reef- sea side wall
Coral landscape beach side of barrier reef at km 8
First Barrier Reef- beach side
Elkhorn Coral
coral formation
brain coral- Blue Tang
coral cluster beach side of barrier reef
Elkhorn coral - seaside wall of barrier reef
reef formation - beach side of barrier reef
Gray Angelfish
Damselfish hiding place (Yellowtail Damselfish and Sergeant Major) in reef wall
Scrawled Filefish- sea side wall of barrier reef
Scrawled Filefish
coral formation in barrier reef
Squid egg case
Web Burrfish
Schoolmaster
Beaded Seacucumber (?) at night
Longspined Seaurchin
Banded Coral Shrimp
Trumpetfish
Black Grouper
Queen Angelfish juvenile
“our” artificial reef with Mahagony Snapper and Schoolmaster
Grey Angelfish
Grey Angelfish; Black Grouper in back
Baby Spiny Lobsters
Red Hind
Spotfin Butterflyfish and Schoolmaster
Soft coral
Seatrumpet hiding in Soft Coral
Seatrumpet hidden in Soft Coral
Sand Diver
“our” artificial reef
Grey Angelfish- “our” artificial reef
Spotfin Butterflyfish
Spotfin Butterflyfish and French Grunt; Squirrelfish in background
Queen Angelfish
French Grunt and Red Hind
Spiny Lobster and Banded Coral Shrimp
Baby Spiny Lobsters and Banded Shrimp (our artificial reef)
Green Moray- only tip of mouth visible
Lesser Electric Ray
Bluestripe Grunts
Bluestripe Grunt
French and Bluestripe Grunts
Christmas Tree Worm and Goby
Cleaner Shrimp
Queen Angelfish and Schoolmaster
Queen Angelfish (our artificial reef)
soft corals
Coral formation- beach side of barrier reef
West Indian Sea Egg
Fish Tail- left edge of photo: 75% of my pictures look like this (not shown). Taking fish photographs while snorkeling is very challenging. You have to hold your breath for a long time and avoid moving...
Yellowfin Damselfish
Chub
Bluetang and Doctorfish
Midnight Parrotfish
Midnight Parrotfish- seaside wall of barrier reef
reef formation- beach side of barrier reef
reef formation with Grey Angelfish- beach side of barrier reef
reef formation beach side of barrier reef
Reef formation- beach side of barrier reef
Great Barracuda
French Grunts
Cleaner Shrimps and Arrow crab
Cleaner Shrimps and Arrow Crabs
Cleaner Shrimps and Arrow Crab
coral formation close to beach
Highhat (juvenile) Tried to get a good caption of this fish repeatedly for about 30 minutes. Amazingly, "caught" a lot of other fish hiding in the same coral cave (see following pics)
Foreye Butterflyfish (juvenile) and Highhat (juvenile)
Rock Beauty (juvenile) and Highhat (juvenile)
Highhat (juvenile) and Queen Angelfish (juvenile)
Flamefish and Highhat (juvenile)
Highhat (juvenile)
Longfin Damselfish juvenile (foreground, left), Highhat juvenile (middle, left side), juvenile Queen Angelfish (top, left side), Bicolor Damselfish (top, right corner)
“our” artificial reef after Dean
soft coral- survived during Dean
our artificial reef- after Dean
After Dean- Queen Conch- the first living exemplar I have seen in 2 years!
“our” artificial reef- after Dean-still many fish
“our” artifiacal reef- 10 days after Dean
at the barrier reef- Our beach (Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas) is visible in the far
trumpet fish (coral heads beach side of reef)
barrier reef, seaside of reef- bar jack and creole wrasse
Seaside of reef - Creole Wrasse and Butterfly fish
Creole Wrasse- Seaside of reef
seaside wall of barrier reef
Bar Jack- seaside of barrier reef
seaside of barrier reef
stop light parrot fish (juvenile)
coral head with juvenile Rock Beauty (Angel Fish)
French Angelfish
Grey Angelfish swarm- encountered about 50-80 as one big group. Have never seen such a spectacular aggregation of adult angelfish before. Unfortunatly, the water was quite turbid- and it was impossible to capture the entire swarm in a picture.
Grey Angelfish swarm. Usually angelfish swim in pairs or as singles. Not sure if this aggregation was a spawning event.
muray eel
yellow stingray- very common dweller of sandy bottom close to the beach and of he turtle grass flats
club sea urchin
Spanish Grunt- this is actually a fairly large individual (20 inches or 50 cm). I found it at a depth of about 20 feet. Without scuba equipment it was challenging to get down close to it and impossible to get a good picture.
Swarm of Sennets, a small Baracuda species. Size of these fish was about 1/2 - 1 feet
Swarm of Jacks in shallow water right in front of Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas. Some of these fish were more than 2 feet long!
Jacks. There were several hundreds of them.
Lionfish (upper left corner). This invasive species has finally arrived also in our reefs. The black-yellow striped damselfish is called Sergeant Major.
lionfish
Sea Urchin
Bar Jacks- a small jack species, often seen in Costa Maya reefs.
Stop Light Parrotfish
Damselfish
Grey Angel Fish (Angel Gris)
Southern Stingray
Green Murrey Eel (head of a medium- large specimen peaking out of a hole in "our" artificial reef).
Green Murrey Eel (head of a medium- large specimen peaking out of a hole in "our" artificial reef)
Spiny Lobster Kindergarten
Caribbean Cushion Starfish
our artificial reef
Highhat (Schoolmaster Snapper in foreground)
Highhat
Porcupine Fish
Porcupine Fish, Lion Fish hidden in same cave
Large, 10 feet-high Elkhorn Coral on sea side of reef
Creole Wrasse
Sea side of reef
nurse shark, sea side of reef
nurse shark
Banded Clinging Crab in association with Sea Anemone.
Banded Clinging Crab- Associates with Sea Anemones. All of the 6-7 Sea Anemones in "our" artificial reef seem to house one of these crabs.
"King Crab"- or, correctly, Channel Clinging Crab. Squirrel fish hide in the same cave. This was a large individual which I discovered in "our" artificial reef. The carapace had almost the size of a dinner plate! First time I have seen this species.
"King Crab" (Channel Clinging Crab) surrounded by squirrel fish.
"King Crab" (Channel Clinging Crab). When I retreated a bid, she came out of the cave. Look at her formidable pincers.
"King Crab" (Channel Clinging Crab)
Justas sons, Jason and Bram (here Jason), went with me on a reef survey trip.
Justas sons, Jason and Bram (here Bram), went with me on a reef survey trip.
Sargassum Swimming Crab
Beach side of reef; coral outcropping with several sea urchins. Sea urchins have become quite rare in our reefs.
Octupus, peeking out of his cave. Note, how he covered himself with sand and debries.
A life sea urchin (a spine less species that inhabits sandy patches and a sea urchin skeleton. Both about 4 inches in diameter
Great Barracuda, beach side of reef
parrot fish
Southern Stingray. Sea side of reef. This was a huge specimen, the largest I have ever seen. Head to tail it was about 6 feet long. The body was perhaps 3 feet in diameter. I encountered this ray in a depth of about 15 feet and it was quite challenging to get down to the sea bottom and then to hold the breath long enough in order to take a few pictures.
School of Blue Tang
Queen Trigger Fish. Unfortunatly, after already severely reducing population sizes of many commonly fished species (Snappers, Groupers), locals have begun to catch with spear guns also this beautiful fish. It has become very rare recent years.
Spotted Eagle Ray. This large and beautiful ray species in an elegant "flying" motion cruises sand flats and turtle grass patches between beach and reef. This was the first time I was able to capture one with the camera.
Banded Arrow Crab and Flame Fish
Swarm of Sardines- They are a staple food for many predatory fish and sea birds. Populations in the area between reef and beach have unfortunately plummeted due to the unsustainable habit of some fisherman to catch entire swarms with nets during spawning season.
Trumpet-fish hiding in soft corals
Trumpet-fish
