I
returned to Mexico on October 16, Independence Day from Spain. The streets
were decorated and so were the light poles in town. Mexico loves being
festive and colorful. |
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It was great
being back with my friends and my cats and of course, Freckles my dog. Here
is Lisa with Maxwell, Freckles' best friend. On the right is a typical play
moment, Maxwell, Freckles and the old man, Spanky, racing through my house. |
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The
coral is starting to come back. So much of the coral by the shore was
destroyed by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. It grows at about 1" per year. Below
is some coral growing on the dead coral. To the right is some Elkhorn
coral. I was really surprised to see this. It is by Playa Corona. It is
definitely new, but doing very well. There were elkhorn coral formations
the size of Volkswagens before Wilma, so it is really encouraging to see
this much recovery.
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Coral is a very delicate animal. It needs shallow warm sunlit waters to grow. The color of coral is from algae which coats it. If the algae leaves the coral bleaches white and dies. There is a lot of bleached coral along the shores, but color is returning every year after Wilma. It is encouraging to see. At first it was really heart breaking to see the coral, but it is much better now. Some parts of the reef fared better than others. The deeper reefs and the northern reef did pretty well. |
| Okay, a little quiz. There are 3 sea creatures in the photo to the right. Can you identify them? The answer is at the end of this page. |  |
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In
the lower right of the photo to the left there is a tiny baby French Angelfish.
Can you see the little splash of blue -- that is one of the fins. So cute.
Below is the adult version up close. |
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Ever present Great Barracuda. I really have gotten used to seeing these guys. The big ones still give me pause, but little ones don't bother me. If they seem curious about me I believe they are thinking, there is a bigger fish, maybe there will be leftovers when it has eaten. |
In the upper
left of the photo below is a Saddled Bleny, they like to hide in the coral
and pop in and out. Unusual to catch them out in the open like this. |
Below is
a File fish, it is about 3 inches long. |
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To
the left is a variety of Trunkfish. My research couldn't conclusivly identify
it, but I think it is a Spotted Trunkfish. Okay and below is the answer
to the quiz. |