April and May Photos

Here are some of the photos I took in April and May:

April

(http://picasaweb.google.com/bmatulis/RepublicaDominicanaApril2010)

May

(http://picasaweb.google.com/bmatulis/SouthCaicosMay2010)

I've also updated the slideshow of photos in the sidebar to display Spring 2010. The old "Winter 09-10" photos can still be found here: http://www.slide.com/r/UDrmSQOrqz8DVQZ-WkgT5OribaOYBJFd.

To view the Spring 2010 slideshow larger, go here: http://www.slide.com/r/wLM_4xh67j-Xi8-c_YhTc222558arYuS.

Leaving Sosúa

I'm wrapping things up here in Sosúa. I'll be spending next week in Santo Domingo, the country's capital and largest city. I've got my bus ticket for tomorrow morning. Now I just need to pack. I said goodbye to my new friends at Tauchschule Merlin this afternoon and left them with a DVD of the photographs I took while I was here. Juergen, the owner, seemed to be pleased with the exchange (photos for diving). Even though the diving wasn't the best, I feel it was a fair trade and I'm glad to have gotten to see the area, especially Cueva El Dudú.

Here are a few more of the photos I took while here:

Smooth Trunkfish

A group of Squid

The tiniest Lionfish ever. It was as long as my finger is wide.

Yellowline Arrow Crab

Smooth Trunkfish looking for scraps.

Scorpionfish saying "I'm Deadly!"

Lionfish on a Sponge

And I'm off to the Caribbean side tomorrow:

That's 320 pesos, not dollars. That's less than $9 to all the way across the country!

Breaking Even

I took a gamble not going on the last Dominican Boat, hoping that the next one would arrive exactly when I needed it to. I found out it won't. With some help, I called our contact who crews the boat, and he said the boat was out of the water all week for "Semana Santa" (Holy Week) and he wasn't sure when it was going back in. I was pretty bummed out for a few days thinking that I was either going to have to wait several weeks to go over the Dominican Republic or pay a lot of money to fly.

Then I got an email back from a dive shop I had emailed. I took a long shot and made an unlikely offer; I would give them the rights to use all the photos I take while diving with them if they let me dive for free. And they agreed! They said as long as the boat was going out with other customers, I could go along free of charge! I wasn't expecting that at all. But I guess it's a good deal for both of us - a professional photographer would charge thousands for that much work and me going along with them costs them little. Win-win.

So I started thinking, now that I don't have to pay for diving I can fly over and my budget stays just about the same. Not only that, but I don't have to deal with the hassle of the boat, the long journey, or the seasickness. The flight is 15 minutes to Provo and 45 minutes to the DR, whereas the boat is no less than 18 hours.

This morning I went and bought tickets. I leave on Friday and stay for about 3 weeks. I'm excited to get off of isolated South Caicos for a little while.

March Photos

Here are some of the photos I took in March:

March Slideshow

And a video of a Smooth Trunkfish scavenging the seafloor for food:

Smooth Trunkfish
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htrLQ-TAS_c)

February Photos

Here are some of the photos I took in February:

February Slideshow
(http://picasaweb.google.com/bmatulis/SouthCaicosFeb2010?feat=directlink)

You'll also notice I've updated the slideshow on the blog's sidebar to display "Winter '09-10" photos. The old Fall 2009 slideshow can still be viewed here: http://www.slide.com/r/cCg5xXYDtD9TZbT2UVu_Z9wbW6CS9Hfy?previous_view=lt_embedded_url.

To view the Winter slideshow in a larger format go here: http://www.slide.com/r/EFit-V4ErT_5rVeyxQnHgsIlRS3s887p?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original.

Slideshows

Here are some photos from the last couple months:


January
(http://picasaweb.google.com/bmatulis/SouthCaicosJan2010?feat=directlink)


December
(http://picasaweb.google.com/bmatulis/SouthCaicosDec200902?feat=directlink>
Featuring a few of my favorites:

Black Jacks and Horse-eye Jacks are my favorite fish because they are docile, unafraid, and curious.

Grouper being cleaned by a Sharknose Goby.

Diver with Black Jacks

Business as Usual

The meetings have ended, and most of the guests have cleared out. Almost all of the staff have returned or arrived for the first time, and soon things will be getting back to usual. First, though, a couple friends of ours will be visiting from Paris - they arrive tomorrow afternoon. It's always a lot of fun to show people around the island, especially because they're easily impressed by the things we see (just a couple days ago, for example, we saw a school of 10 Eagle Rays (!) and I felt like I was the only one who thought it was something to make a fuss over).


School of Eagle Rays
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1spVhFVIzzQ)

Some recent photos:

My, that's a strange looking fish.

Cushion Sea Stars

Jessee and a Sea Star

It's too shallow for the boat to go to Sandy Point at low tide, so we shut off the engine and I pulled.

Giant Anemone

Yellow Jacks

Lionfish
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5uzi77hywU)

Underwater Photos

Here's a slideshow of some of the underwater photos I took during October and November:


(http://picasaweb.google.com/bmatulis/SouthCaicosOctNov2009?feat=directlink)

A couple of my favorites:

Black Jack

Cero Mackerel

Even More Photos

Here are some more pictures from the last few days. View the slideshows here or (at higher resolution) by following the associated links:


Dive at Troy's Dream
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/bmatulis/sets/72157622324584412/show/)
9 Sept 2009



Dive at The Grotto
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/bmatulis/sets/72157622329997730/show/)
10 Sept 2009



Snorkel at Admiral's Aquarium then Shark Alley
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/bmatulis/sets/72157622332547532/show/)
photos by Jessee
10 Sept 2009

I just want to highlight a couple of my favorites here. The first is of a Horse-eye Jack. They get quite large and aren't afraid of people at all. They'll come right up to you, swim through the middle of groups and circle nearby. This one was by itself and came around us when we were on our safety stop, ascending from a dive:


The other is of a Hawksbill Turtle. Normally turtles are quite timid and wary of people (likely compounded by the fact that so many are caught by researchers and fishermen), but every once in a while if you approach them very slowly, in an non-threatening manner, and limit direct eye contact (especially important), they'll let you get really close:

If you look closely, you'll notice large gouge out of this one's shell (on it's back, towards the top. It appeared to be mostly healed, but my guess is that it was hit by the prop of a motor boat.

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.