Month: July 2016

Nick found and said I could share with you this cute little friend that he found about a week ago.  He has made it a really nice habitat to observe it for a while at home before he releases it back into the wild. He has a nice stick in there and even added fresh rainwater.  The frog is only about 3/4 inches long and likes to cling to the glass side of the habitat.  At first Nick thought it might be an albino of some sort but given the black eyes is now hypothesizing that it is a gray tree frog.  What species do you think it is?  Do you think it is at its full adult size?

… your light shines straight to me. When glass or ___?___ bend your line your colors I can see 🎼.  Hopefully some of you remember this song I shared with you when we were learning about refraction.  It was a song I sang to wake up my boys when they were little. The way the sun would shine through their window they would get a little rainbow on the wall.

Catching fish wasn’t the best, but fishing for fish at sea for days provided many magical moments enjoying the natural world.  We saw pods of hundreds of the Common Dolphin species and even a pod of about 7, rarer, Bottlenose Dolphin.  Check out the video!!  It’s about 1 1/2 minutes long but worth the watch for the jumper close to the end.

As for catching fish, we certainly didn’t ” Catch ’em all” but we did lure from the deep and then release a few Bonita and Calico Bass.  Only one fisherman, Mark, in our group of 3 boats prowling the sea ,came back to port with the big prize, an 80lb Yellow Fin Tuna.

Hard earned fresh sushi was enjoyed last night by all.

On this day, July 20th, in 1969 humans first set foot on the Moon. NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong piloted the Apollo 11 Lunar Module to the surface and announced to Mission Control, “Houston, the Eagle has landed.”  at 3:17pm CT (Central Time).  After several hours of rest and preparation at 9:56pm CT Neil Armstong stepped onto the lunar surface. His famous first words were broadcast around the world… “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”  He was joined by Buzz Aldrin minutes later.  The “unsung hero”, Michael Collins, remained in orbit piloting the Command Module around the moon to safely capture Neil and Buzz when the Eagle’s accent stage launched for the return to Earth. 

The title of today’s post comes from the words on the plaque of the descent stage of the Lunar Module that is still on the moon undisturbed today.  

The last Apollo mission to land on the moon was Apollo 17. It landed on December 19,1972.  No humans have left Earth’s orbit since. Remarkably, only 12 humans have walked on our moon.  All men. All Americans. 

I wonder when humans will once again leave the “little blue marble’s” orbit.  Will you be the one to go on the next great space adventure? Red planet here we come!
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html

Two of Cookie and Brownie’s babies have found a home right next door in LC4.  So exciting that we will be able to watch them grow and develop!  Mrs. Mclean, LC4’s awesome science teacher, is adopting our first born amelanistic corn, Rainbow, and a very healthy okeetee patterned baby yet to be named.

Rumor is that they are considering the name Curie for the okeetee to honor the famous scientist, Marie Curie. Ms. Curie was awarded a Nobel prize in physics in 1903 and again in 1911 for her discovery of two radioactive elements (radium and polonium) and her work with radioactive elements to treat cancerous tumors.  She was the first woman ever to receive the Nobel Prize.  Let’s hope this name sticks!

Today’s featured photo is of the Trumpetfish.  I stumbled upon this attractive critter at a depth of about 45 feet at a location known as Blue Peter Reef on the Grand Cayman North Wall.   The cool thing about Trumpetfish is that they are often found hovering vertically in the water like this one.  They camouflage themselves with the vertical soft coral fingers keeping very still.  This is how they surprise their prey, unsuspecting small reef fish like the wrasses. This guy obviously thinks I can’t see him either which is why I was able to get so close with my GoPro.  Good link to info on the trumpetfish below.

https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/discover/species-profiles/aulostomus-maculatus/

 

The yellow tube sponges featured above are about as close as I got to seeing “Sponge Bob” while scuba diving.  Yellow Tube Sponge Link

As much as sponges look like plants, they are really animals.   They are filter feeders that consume microscopic plankton.  They come in many different shapes, sizes and colors.
Here is a link to some great information on sponges.  I love photographing sponges… they don’t run away 🙂

Sponges: Primitive Animals

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While strikingly beautiful, Lionfish, with their venomous fins, are a harmful invasive species in the Caribbean Sea. Cayman island reefs have become infested with these animals. Non-native Lionfish are fierce predators that can wipe out large numbers of indigenous reef fish very quickly.  They reproduce frequently and in large numbers.  The Lionfish population explosion is dangerously throwing Caribbean coral reef ecosystems out of balance.  Thus, it is the legal practice of dive operators to kill these animals when they are discovered.  On four dives this month we found and killed 12 Lionfish.  After spearing the animals they are either removed and returned to land where local restaurants prepare them for meals or are fed to the large snapper fish on the reef in an attempt to train them to become predators of the Lionfish.  So far, Snapper will gratefully eat the Lionfish but unfortunately do not yet hunt them on their own.  They have learned to follow divers however. Step 1?  You will notice several large snapper trailing us on our dives.

Here are two informative links…

Lionfish Invasion

Lionfish Hunting

June 15, 2016 was the first time I have ever come upon a Loggerhead sea turtle in the wild. Named for their very large, and thick log-shaped heads, Loggerheads are bigger than the Hawksbill species and are primarily carnivores.   Yum Yum Jellyfish 🙂  Can you see the barnacles on its shell?  This one must be pretty old.  I wonder how long they live?

Here is a link to info. on the Loggerhead sea turtle.

Loggerhead Information

It is always the hope when diving along the edge of a wall (an underwater cliff) where you drop from the “shallow” 100 ft deep protection of the coral reefed underwater mountain top to the darkness of the sea floor (6,000 feet plus) that you will see something BIG.  Like a hammerhead shark (I haven’t seen one… yet) or a manta or eagle ray.  Well along the North Wall of Cayman at a dive site called Hammerhead Hill we were treated to a pair of Eagle Rays swimming by over the deep abyss.  I wish I had a closer view in this VIDEO for you but we respectfully kept our distance.

Here is a link to more information about these graceful “birds” of the sea.

Spotted Eagle Ray Info