Boatless

The boats have been out of the water for the past few days. Initially, they were taken out because Tropical Storm Erika was heading our way, but after it petered out we just took them out to clean them. So we've had to make do with limited access to the water. All the same, we made the most of it. On Saturday (after a long day of work for Jessee) we took the kayak across the channel to nearby Dove Cay. It's a one person boat, so after futile attempts to put both of us in it, Jessee just swam. We sat on the small rocky outcropping on it watching two resident Ospreys for a some time and then went for a snorkel with our new underwater camera.

Eagle Ray

Notice the (now healed) injury it had on its right wing - a bite mark, possibly from a shark.

Osprey

Banded Butterflyfish

Yellowfin Mojara

Flamingo Tongue

Yesterday morning we went for a walk (in the unbearably hot sun) out to the salinas with our new bird ID book. We didn't have binoculars, so it was pretty difficult to see anything, but we tried nonetheless. We saw several types of herons and egrets, the flamingos, some Killdeer, and plovers.

In the afternoon we drove out to Highlands Bay and went for a snorkel from the shore. The water is very green and murky over there (due to the prevailing current and extensive sea grass beds), but the there are really interesting coral formations with tunnels and caves all throughout. Here are a few of the pictures from there:

Eagle Ray

Eagle Ray

Eagle Ray

A large brain coral

This morning Jessee got up really early to head for the airport. She'll be spending the day in Provo, greeting the students as they arrive (!). They're coming already! It's hard to believe.