Day 9 Bonaire 10-31-10

Hurricane Tomas continues to affect the tides, surf and waves with the increased wind on Bonaire. It passed by last night to the north but continues to hang around Aruba. So snorkeling and diving were at a standstill for the whole island until about 10am. There was a lull in the surf and winds, so we took a quick trip to our favorite reef outside the condo.

The trip was not great for me in the beginning. My mask would not seal tight, so I kept getting water in the nose pocket and my right mask lens kept fogging up. After repeatedly blowing the excess water out of my mask, it seemed to sit right on my face. As I stuck my head in the water to test it, something big caught my eye.

It was deeper-probably 20ft off the slope of our reef. but it moved funny. I quickly realized that the movement was a wing flap of some kind of stingray.

It was 25 feet ahead of my position but moving very slowly. I took off after it. I hoped Jerry was pointed my way and would follow, but I didn't want to risk losing it by trying to get his attention. I finned the fastest I've ever finned and as I closed in on it, I witnessed not 1 but 3 White Spotted Eagle Stingrays. They are usually only seen singly, occassionally paired and rarely schooled.

I was quickly within camera range of them. They move very slowly and methodically. At one point, I was directly above them. After I clicked a few pix off, I bobbed up to  see if Jerry had followed me. He was 10 feet behind but didn't see them unfortunately.

He said that he bobbed up to check my location just in time to see me take off after them. He said I was moving fast and headed in the direction of the condo. He thought "I guess we're done snorkeling for the day." Like I would ever just take off for home and not tell him, especially as fast as I was going...

So we continued snorkeling a little more, and I spotted a parrotfish different from the regular Stoplight variety usually swimming about. But he was bigger than the others. So I took a picture of him just as a HUGE Rainbow Parrotfish came right past me within 5 feet. Huge like 4 feet long and 2-3 feet tall. He headed to the top of the reef where we saw the school of them the other day. He was alone this time except for his little juvy buddy I first saw.

So even though it was a short day, due to the winds picking up again and knockin' us around in the waves, it was an eventful day. Hoping that the weather cooperates tomorrow so we can get back out there.