14 Sept 2024
Good morning, Roatan!
I slept ok-ish, better than last night, but still not great. I did realize that the sun doesn’t wake up until 0530 or so, so if it’s still dark, I haven’t missed my alarm!
Dive #5 – Four Sponges
Peterson shrimp:
Yellowhead jawfish:
There were DOZENS of these guys at this site! I was hoping to find one with eggs in its mouth, but no luck.
A new-to-me critter, the Bearded toadfish:
Isn’t he ugly!? I love him! Apparently, they make a croaking noise that gets louder the closer you get and if it’s a big enough fish, you can feel the vibrations in your chest (this guy was silent).
Young Barred hamlet (he hasn’t quite developed his bars yet):
Spotted drum:
Threespot damselfish:
Squirrelfish:
Chub, another jovial-looking fish:
Lettuce sea slug / Elysia crispata:
This guy was oranger than most I’ve seen.
The reef here went quite shallow- while the boat was moored at maybe 30′, the back was less than 10′ off the reef.
Dive #6 – Baby Stan
One of the bigger Honeycomb cowfish I’ve seen- he was about the size of a football:
Tiny pipefish!
Unfortunately, we were going through a swim-through and there were divers behind me so I couldn’t stop to get a better picture 🙁
Mantis shrimp, out of his hole:
Lizardfish:
Little Graysby eating ???
No idea what he’s chewing on!
Another toadfish!
Our guide lured this one out of its lair with some dead fish he pulled out of a gatorade bottle. Again, I don’t approve, but seeing the whole body on this guy was pretty cool.
Black durgon:
It’s a bit hard to see, but there’s a little remora on this diver’s tank:
He was kind of terrorizing anyone with exposed skin (apparently he was scratchy/tickly).
I think this is a very pale version of a Redtail parrotfish:
Another Lettuce sea slug / Elysia crispata:
Red hind being cleaned:
displeased at being disrupted:
A trumpetfish lurking in the coral:
Barred hamlet with more developed bars:
Little remora hanging out under the boat:
I’m getting better and not taking 100+ pictures per dive (I average around 50) so the battery on my camera/strobes last longer and, since they were still over 50% after 2 dives, I figured I’d just leave them for the 3rd and not do a battery change. However, my battery is low, so after lunch I headed back to my room for a mid-afternoon nap. We’ve had some pretty high tides here and it looks like they started eroding the walkway up to my room:
Dive #7 – Mermaid Reef
The lunker groupers have returned!
Flamingo tongue:
and a Flamingo tongue from the underside:
Spanish hogfish:
French angelfish:
Mutton snapper:
Sergeant major:
Black durgon:
An adorable little burrfish:
Look how cool his eye is!
Damselfish:
Yellowtail snapper:
Black hamlet:
Ocean surgeonfish:
Caribbean Reef squid!!!
There was a large school of them:
at least 2 dozen and the eventually let me join their ranks
Every now and then, one would turn white- not sure why:
Farewell, friends!
I’m finally starting to settle into a routine: after dive #3, head back to my room to recharge camera batteries and start editing pictures until sunset:
then grab an early dinner (that glass building is the restaurant):
and call it an early night.
Goodnight, Roatan!