Sea of Cortez, Bimini, Jupiter

Zen

Wide-Angle shot in portrait. Sea of Cortez. This scene over-looked a drop-off where the wall plunged steeply down to the sea floor. The starfish first caught my eye, but then I noticed how all the hard and soft corals and blue background complemented the scene. Definitely my happy place.

Lizard Triplefin

Macro -- This little guy is about 1 in long and was perched atop colorful coral where it blended in. Sea of Cortez.

Grey Angelfish

Shot in Bimini. Angelfish are one of my favorite subjects to shoot. There are so many different types, each with their own unique coloring and intricate patterns.

King Angelfish

Sea of Cortez -- The King Angelfish is very bright colored. I had never seen a King Angelfish until this trip to the Sea of Cortez. Queen Angelfish are fairly common in the Caribbean and are also very colorful, making them one of my favorite Angelfish subjects to shoot. There are examples of Queen Angelfish in a separate gallery, where you can see their coloration as well.

Cortez Angelfish

Like I said earlier, Angelfish are one of my favorite photographic subjects. There are so many varieties with a broad range of coloring. This is a Cortez Angelfish, which I had never seen before this trip.

Bluebanded Goby

Macro - Sea of Cortez. This little guy is about 1.5 inches long. The Bluebanded Gobies were abundant, but quick to swim off if you approached too closely. This little guy was perched atop coral and allowed me to move in very close to capture the image.

Goldie

Macro - Sea of Cortez. This is a Pacific High Hat. They tend to be very shy and quite small. This is a juvenile and less than 1 inch in length. They like to hide in and around ledges and crevices in the coral.

Sea of Cortez. There are a lot of different Rays in the Sea of Cortez, most of which I had never seen before. I believe that this one is commonly referred to as a round ray -- although I could be wrong. Rays mainly prefer to burrow in a sandy spot on the bottom for protection and to sleep. However, when they are on the move, they are extremely graceful swimmers -- seeming to hover and glide effortlessly, conforming their body to the contours of the surface they transcend.

Catch Me

Sea Lion -- Sea of Cortez. As described earlier, Sea Lions tend to be both curious and very playful. They are extremely fast and very acrobatic in the water, twisting, circling quickly and making sudden turns at the last minute. This one was swimming towards me and at the last second, veered off to the side during the moment this image was captured. This one seemed to want to engage in a game of chase, by coming at me and then wanting me to chase it -- not a chance that is going to happen.

Master of Camouflage

Scorpionfish -- Sea of Cortez. Scorpion fish are masters of camouflage. They are bottom dwellers, typically settling on algae or dull colored coral formations. They very hard to spot as they blend in so well to their chosen surroundings. One has to be wary of the Scorpion fish, as they have very sharp spikes covering their body, which emit venom. A puncture wound from one if these is extremely painful. You can see from this image how well the Scorpionfish blends into it's surroundings, but look closer and you will see it's eye.

Ghost Ship II

"Tug Manatee" in Bimini. 90 foot vessel at 100 foot depth.

Karen's Capture

My dive buddy, life partner, fellow adventurer and soul mate -- Karen Courchaine. Karen and I absolutely love diving together and being underwater. It is absolutely our Zen spot. She is into underwater photography also, though not nearly to the degree that I am -- which is a good thing. Karen has a keen eye for spotting things underwater and thanks to her, I've captured many images that I wouldn't have done so without her pointing things out. In this image, Karen is working the camera to capture an image of a Lionfish on the deck of a sunken barge in Bimini. I've included a separate image that I took of this same Lionfish in this gallery. Getting the image of Karen and the separate image of the Lionfish is kinda a two for.

A Shark's Tale

Sea of Cortez. Whale Sharks are the largest fish in the ocean. They typically range from 21 to over 40 feet in length (think in terms of a tour bus). They can weigh as much as 79,000 pounds and have a life-span of up to 70 years. Not to worry however, they feed on plankton and small fish, typically swimming to the surface to scoop and filter their food into their enormous mouths. The opportunity to swim with and observe these creatures is truly a magical experience. We were extremely fortunate on this trip to encounter about 10 Whale Sharks all in one small bay area. Ours were the only three boats in the area, so there were plenty of Whale Sharks to swim with and not feel like we were crowding or harassing them as they fed. In fact, as we spent more time with them in the water, it became evident that if you just got in and floated on the surface for awhile, one would eventually swim right to you -- kinda a lazy way of experiencing Whale Sharks.

Jewel I

Jewel Moray Eel -- Sea of Cortez. With it's eye catching golden poka-dots atop a darker underlying skin tone, this moray is quite flashy. The moray finds a burrow in coral and typically hides it's body inside, poking it's head out to observe it's world and capture passing prey. They also free swim and are very graceful and quick swimmers. They open and close their mouths as a way of breathing, which can look menacing and threatening as you observe them. Make no mistake however, as they can attack if threatened or agitated.

Jewel III

As you can see in this shot, moray eels have sharp teeth. In actually, they have two sets of teeth, the ones you can see here and another set hidden in their throat. The set of teeth that are in their throat allow them to break up food and digest it. Kinda sounds like the stuff from a horror movie! Moray's don't see well, but they have an excellent sense of smell, which they use to help them locate their prey. They prefer to hunt mostly at night. Overall, they tend to be shy and prefer to flee, rather than fight. However they will attack if threatened or someone approaches their den too closely. This one isn't getting ready to attack. The moray it breathes by opening and closing it's mouth as a way of passing water through it's gills, which is the behavior you are seeing in this image.

Goliath I

Goliath Grouper. Large aggregations of Goliath Grouper spawn off the Jupiter Fl coast each year in August and September. This is a favorite time for Karen and I to visit those dive sites and experience these giants. Goliath's can reach 8.5 feet in length and weigh up to 800 lbs. They are on the protected list and harvesting them is prohibited. Goliath Groupers are very curious, allowing divers to approach them and get very close. In fact, they are sometimes referred to as the puppy dogs of the sea. If you are blocking their way to and entrance of a den or wreck, they will tell you so by passing a large volume of water through their gills, which emits a bark like sound that is very loud under water. Karen had such an experience once, which startled her and and at the same time made me laugh underwater. I found this Goliath under a ledge in the coral, approached slowly and it allowed me to get quite close. This image was taken with a wide-angle lens and I was able to get within a foot for this photo. This particular Goliath was a young one and I'd say about 5 feet in length.

Big Guy Gary Grouper

Another Goliath Grouper off of the Jupiter FL coast. See the description of Goliath I for more info on Goliaths. This is a larger Goliath Grouper, pushing around 7 feet in length -- I wouldn't even venture to say how much it weighs. There is a mascot Goliath Grouper in Jupiter named Gary Grouper -- I don't know for sure that this is Gary, but I'm the one telling this story, so I'm going with Gary. This shot was framed in a swim through cut-out in the coral head. Actually, what you don't see here is that Karen is on the other side of this coral head, and the Grouper is posing for her straight on.

Who's There

Jawfish - Sea of Cortez. Jawfish come in all sizes and color variations. This Jawfish was a good size -- it's head was about the size of a baseball. These guys are really hard workers -- they create a burrow in the sand and then constantly work at keeping it clean. Jawfish will bring up debris in their mouths and then spit it out. We had a bit of fun with this one by putting that shell over it's hole and watching it remove it over and over again. While that may sound a bit mean, each time it did so, it had this grin on it's face and seemed to say -- see what I just did, I'm so proud of myself.

Keeping Things Tidy

Same Jawfish in Sea of Cortez as the earlier image in this gallery. This one shows the behavior of removing objects from it's den. See earlier description for more on this particular Jawfish.

Smiling Pufferfish

Pufferfish in Bimini. Same fish as in an earlier photo in this gallery, but a slightly different perspective to show the body shape. This Pufferfish is about 10 to 12 inches long -- can you imagine it increasing it's girth by about 2x. If you look closely, you can see the spines laying horizontal across it's body. These spines stick straight out when they inflate themselves.

Pacific High Hat. Macro. These guys are extremely shy and fast moving. This one is about an inch long and was spotted in the same area where I took the earlier image of this same type of fish.

Nurse Shark

Smaller Nurse Shark -- about 4.5 feet, patrolling a ledge off Jupiter FL. The shark didn't hang around long, it was swimming South along the ledge as we drifted North in the current. Sharks in general are very graceful swimmers and it is always a delight to see them on a dive.

Gray Angelfish

This is the same Gray Angelfish as earlier in this gallery, but shot in landscape orientation to show a bit more of it's habitat.

Serenity I

Sea of Cortez -- shown earlier in this gallery, but this image is shot at a different angle and in landscape orientation. I was moved by this scene and had to try and create the mood and feeling I was experiencing.

Sway I

Feather-Duster - Bimini. Social Feather-Dusters are actually worms. These worms live in groups, thus the name Social Feather-Duster. Their heads look like a feather duster that is used for sweeping dust off of furniture. Feather-Dusters come in a range of colors -- this one with a purple cast and gently swaying in the passing current. Social Feather-Duster Worms are very small. If you look at this image closely, you can see the various tubes that each worm lives in. These tubes are about the size of a drinking straw and less than 1/4 of an inch across. The worm's head sticks out of the end of its tube. When the worm feels threatened, it will pull it's head down into its tube in almost an instant. Feather-Duster Worms make their tube using calcium-based minerals -- sand, shell, etc.. They will anchor themselves to coral formations, rocks, pilings and other stable surfaces. A Feather-Duster's mouth is in the center of a circle of antennae called radioles. The radioles form a circle barely one inch across. Each antenna looks something like a feather. Notice that each antenna is folded into a V-shaped cross section. The worm uses its radioles to catch food and to breathe. Ocean currents push water through the radioles, which trap tiny plants and animals called plankton that float in the water. The radioles also work like gills, exchanging carbon dioxide for oxygen in the water, allowing the worm to breathe.