Now With More Flamingo Tongue!

Yeah, it's been a while. Things have been a bit busy here, what with the holidays and all, so I haven't had too much time to write. Obviously. Anyway, the weather here has taken a turn for the Even More Unpredictable, so we've had a lot of programs get canceled or changed. Yesterday, for example, the usual stingray tour got changed to a 3-stop set of reef snorkels on the other side of the island to avoid the wind and huge waves. One of the stops was a real live shipwreck, which was pretty awesome. I took a lot of pictures on the work cameras, but I haven't had a chance to bring any of those home. Perhaps in the next few days I will, because some of them are really cool.


This is a picture of two Flamingo Tongue Snails (the second one is the blurry blob in the background), each about 1.5 inches in length. These animals feed on gorgonians, sea fans, and other small branched corals, and are obviously a big hit with the kids on our programs due to their clown patterns and goofy name. Having said that, we don't know how accurate the name really is, because we have no idea what a flamingo's tongue really looks like.


Going along with the theme of oddly-colored animals, this is a Queen Triggerfish I saw during the underwater photography program I led at CAOS. We usually don't have enough cameras for all of the kids in the program, so I've started bringing my own camera to work on those days so I can take pictures too. Anyway, Queen Triggers are pretty cool because they can consciously change the patterns on their bodies in response to various threats. The pattern pictured here is their neutral, all-is-right-in-the-world coloring. When they get scared or startled, they'll either lose the stripes on their face and get pretty pale overall, or they'll get darker stripes all over the rest of their body.

Another reason I haven't been posting much lately is because I've been spending my days off finishing up principal photography for the video I've been working on since September. It chronicles my voyage from Monterey to Arrecife (with work visa woes omitted), so have a look and enjoy!



Play-by-play and commentary may be found here.

A Hospitable Holiday

Well, we got the next week's work schedule today, and I'm gonna be busy for a while... I'm working 9.5 hours (at least - there's a 13 hour shift in there too) every day until the 28th, with the 23rd off. Still, I wouldn't exactly call the work pure drudgery. I've been to visit the Stingrays and the North Reef almost every day I've been here (four times so far, with another five scheduled for next week). I've also been doing programs on reef surveys, underwater photography (one of my favorites so far), sailing, night snorkeling, and I'm even playing/refereeing a game of bocce ball on Friday as part of the hotel's holiday activities.

On my days off I've been relaxing a bit (I get outside plenty on my workdays, so my breaks are pretty boring in comparison). I went snorkeling again in the reef just off Port Royale, and I'm pretty happy with how some of the pictures turned out.


I'm starting to think that cinder blocks may actually grow naturally in tropical waters. In both Moorea and Arrecife, I see them around a lot, and they never seem to have any problems finding tenants. This particular one has a balloonfish in one of the holes (top right). As the name implies, balloonfish are capable of inflating themselves when threatened, causing the spines all over their bodies to extend, making them a lot less appetizing to predators.


This is a close-up shot of the Corky Sea Finger - and at this point I'd like to remind you all that I do not come up with these names - which is a type of coral. In this picture, the polyps are extended, though they are typically retracted during the day for protection. This particular species is an octocoral, meaning that each polyp has eight tentacles. Like any other coral, they have symbiotic algae in their tissues that produce food during the day (as well as the brown color of their polyps), and they wait for night to extend the tentacles shown here to catch plankton in the water.

My Backyard

For those who had their doubts about whether I had really up and moved to the Caribbean, I present irrefutable evidence: real live photos. (Granted, one could argue that I could have just swiped the pictures from somewhere else and called them my own, but that's not how it happened. I am therefore out of the country.) Today was my first day off, so I spent it wandering the streets of Jamestown, the largest town and tourist trap in Arrecife, with my friend Thales. The town was closed up for the most part since there weren't any cruise ships in port, but we still got enough of a feel for it that neither of us will feel compelled to spend significant amounts of time there again. (Think Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey - a nice place to visit every ten years or so.)

After hitting up the grocery store on the way back to Port Royale, we decided to go for a snorkel in the reef behind PR, so here's a first look at the local wildlife:


These are Bluestriped Grunts, along with what I think is a goatfish (I'm not sure on that one, though). There are always some variations in pattern within a species based on location - a Beaugregory in Florida may look significantly different from a Beaugregory in Bermuda, making identification somewhat difficult at times.


Speaking of not being able to identify a fish... I haven't been able to find out what this one is, which is a real pity since I managed to make such good friends with it. These fish are apparently quite curious about divers, as this one demonstrated by following me around for a few minutes, getting as close as a few inches from my face, arms, legs, or whatever else was handy. It didn't seem like a territorial behavior, as it didn't seem to be actively trying to drive me away, but I still didn't want it quite so close for a few reasons: 1. I didn't know what it was, 2. It has a pretty serious-looking mouth (not quite parrotfish level, but it still has to hurt a bit), and 3. That fish is huge. It was about 2 feet from tip to tail, and pretty fast when it needed to be. I'll find out what it is and then we can cuddle. Or not.


This was Unnerving Mystery Fish's partner-in-crime. It too seemed intent on following me around, but not quite as closely as UMF. This one is a Mutton Snapper, and was even larger than UMF, at about 2.5 feet long and 8-10 inches wide.


Anything look odd about that rock? The waters around Arrecife are very clean (I still haven't seen any floating trash at all!), but there are always exceptions to the rule.


There is a juvenile Spotlight Parrotfish in this picture. It's a bit easier to find with the color correction, but they were definitely harder to see in person. There were a few of these fish hanging around, and they would virtually disappear when they clung to the bottom and stopped moving.

Today also marked my camera's maiden voyage into the underwater world, and I'm pretty happy with how the pictures turned out. Looks like we'll be enjoying large, fuzz-free pictures from here on!

Training Days

I'm mostly done with employee training at this point. A lot of it is very similar to the ORL training I had at UCLA, but there's definitely quite a bit of new stuff as well. They've been taking pretty good care of us over the past few days too - having lunches in the nice restaurants (definitely some VERY good food), escorting us around both sides of the hotel (front of house and backstage - both are still rather mazelike to most of us, so I still consider it a service), and giving us all free cell phones (we pay for service, but it's still nice).

Yesterday I got my first look at the CAOS House, which is really rather spectacular. In keeping with the environmentalism theme, the facilities are all very eco-friendly, made from recycled materials or materials that are easily recyclable when we're done with them. Everyone there is very friendly (of course), and the programs look really exciting. Granted, I still haven't seen any of it in action, as I've only visited when there haven't been any kids present, but I would assume that it's still up to par. I go on my first excursion this Friday, on a sailing trip to see a few stingrays and reefs, so I'll keep you posted.

I Made It!

Greetings from the Caribbean! Allow me to welcome you to the grand reopening of my increasingly infamous little site! Actually, it's not that grand at the moment because I don't really have any pictures of the island to share because right after I arrived, a storm blew in and it's been rainy and windy ever since.

Anyway, I've been on the island for a little over a full day at this point, and I must say... I'm liking what I see so far. It's very similar to Moorea in a lot of ways, in that it's small, tropical, safe, and has friendly people all over the place, but there are some major differences too. Most noticeable are the roads: being a somewhat British isle, everyone drives on the left. The cars, however, are a mix between American left-hand drive and UK right-hand drive. I still brace for impact when I'm riding in the car (two of my supervisors for work have been carting me around for the past two days) and the driver doesn't merge over to the right side. As a result, I don't think I'll be driving for a bit - I'll be sticking to walking, biking, and freeloading rides.

I'm currently living in Port Royale, an old hotel/condominium that was heavily damaged by a hurricane two years ago. Since then it's been under renovation and has been acting as housing for employees of the Winchester-Swann ever since. (By the way, if you're laughing at or are puzzled by the names, check the new FAQ up at the top of the page. It'll explain a few things.) About 80-85% of the place is WS employees, and the rest are actual vacationers. Since it's a functioning hotel, we have three pools (one of which has a swim-up bar, which I find hilarious), beach chairs sprouting up all over the place, and private beach access. We also have our own reef just offshore. I haven't been out there yet, with the storms and all, but I hear it's pretty nice. My own room has a kitchenette, two double beds, a bathroom, and a balcony overlooking a rather picturesque parking lot. For (relatively) cheap room and board, however, it's not so bad.

SUCCESS!!!

I am proud to announce the recent acquisition of my work visa! I leave this Saturday and will arrive on the island on Sunday, so I'll be spending the next few days packing up and getting a move on... More details to come.

'Tis the Season!

"Excuse me, miss, do you have these shirts in a Youth Medium? I'm getting them for my grandsons for Christmas."

"No, I'm sorry. We only have them in Youth Small and Large."

"Oh... Well that's okay. I don't really like those boys that much anyway." She leans in toward me, glancing around conspiratorially before continuing in a whisper, "They're into NASCAR."