Cane Bay Fish

Atlantic Needle Fish

Wednesday was not happening for the blog. i've been collecting a lot of underwater pics from Cane Bay and around the island and decided to publish some of them. This morning was one of those sparkly days that just makes you fall in love all over again. i swear the fish know us.

Atlantic Needle Fish

i have been trying for months to get photos of Atlantic Needle Fish and finally got two acceptable photos. Not the best but not the worst either. These guys usually swim in schools along the top of the water and don't let you get very close. i suppose if i had more elaborate equipment the quality would be better but i really don't like being encumbered with a lot of stuff, especially while swimming. These are representative of what we see when a school is in.

When trying to take photos i'm bobbing,

Really unusually blue Blue Tang

the fish are moving,

Juvenile Red Band Parrot Fish

the ocean is jostling and it is a miracle

Yellow Goatfish

that some of them are clear. This guy has these whiskers that he uses to forage for food. He is another fish that has been making me a victim for months.  He lurks around sandy areas, probably hears my camera and puts on a sensational display of the use of his whiskers. But does he leave them out long enough for me to shoot...nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Yellow Goatfish

In fact this morning he appeared to be mocking me after i'd chased him for forever. Someday i will have a delightful capture of his whiskers. The Butterfly Fish are also pretty elusive. There are three kinds

Banded Butterfly Fish

the Banded,

Foureye Butterfly Fish

the Foureye,

Foureye Butterfly Fish

and the Spotfin. Usually these little guys swim in lovers pairs. i actually hear myself thinking that they should stop trying to sensor my brazen attempts to publish their hypnotic beauty and hold still.

Spotfin Butterfly Fish

But they are proven evaders...defying my fearless pursuit.  Not only do you hardly ever see them but when you do they delight in sensational avoidance behavior. Someday i will have a better pic.

Black Durgons

The other guys that are also hard to photograph are the Black Durgons or Triggerfish. When you get really close to them, which is hard to do, they have this really fine wondrous yellow coloring that pops out. It is barely visible on the fish at the top of the photo because they hardly ever expose it.

Sea Cucumber

Sea Cucumbers aren't fish but they are pretty stunning and worthy of display. They spend most of their time on the bottom but Art brought this one up so we could get a closer look.  Like cats they are guaranteed to land just right even after twisting and turning on the way back down after release.

Whitespotted Filefish

Whitespotted Filefish

Sometimes the Whitespotted Filefish provocatively flashes its spots and sinful colors. You wouldn't think it possible that this could be the same fish but it is.

Spotted Trunkfish

The Spotted Trunkfish always looks so tantalizing how many out there would try to remain inconspicuous enough to watch it go about its routine? i'm still startled by the new things i keep seeing.

Peacock Flounder

All these fish that camouflage themselves exude mystery.

Stoplight Parrot Fish

Even after all these years i doubt the word boring would ever be used to describe a day swimming here on St. Croix.

Christmas Tree

PS i purposefully left out the eye-popping turtles that inhabit our waters...maybe someday they will get their own blog.

Blue Tang

See ya next week...double click the pics for a better view.