Day 57 - Bonaire

Just as it ended the trip itself, this sunset now concludes the Bonaire portion of our program. Tomorrow's post will resume the less exotic imagery of Southern California.

Day 56 - Bonaire

One of Bonaire's few exports is sea salt. Ocean water is pumped into large evaporation ponds; brine shrimp and algae turn the water pink.

Once the water is completely evaporated, the salt crystals are scooped up and loaded into trucks, where it's sifted into huge pyramids, before it's loaded into the cargo holds of ships moored at the Salt Pier just offshore.

Day 55 - Bonaire

There are a lot of things on Bonaire that don't live underwater . . .

Day 54 - Bonaire

The West side of Bonaire is relatively calm; the East side, not so much

Day 53 - Bonaire

I spotted this tree while traipsing through some dry mud flats after flamingos. Funny how you see something that instantly looks like it should be black-and-white.

Day 52 - Bonaire

Not only did Erin find this seahorse at Oil Slick all by herself, she went back a few days later and found it again. Remind me not to play hide-n-seek with her . . .

Day 51 - Bonaire

This is a Slipper Lobster; the large plates just left of its eyes are actually its enlarged antennae. Weird to see on a night dive . . .

Day 50 - Bonaire

A juvenile French Angelfish looks nothing like the adults.

Day 49 - Bonaire

We sat and watched this Spotted Eagle Ray feed for over half an hour. He's just like Mr. Ray, without the students.

Day 48 - Bonaire

This is a Pedersen's Cleaning Shrimp - they clean bits of food and parasites out of the mouths of other fish.

People I Dig

Laura and Joe are fantastic divers . . .


. . . as is Mallik . . .






















. . . and so are Erin and Chris. Plus, they're getting married in April. Awwww.

Day 46 - Bonaire

The Fairy Basslet is another fast-moving little fish that doesn't want its picture taken. I guess with colors like that (and those are its natural colors) it's hard to blend into the reef.

Day 45 - Bonaire

This Queen Angelfish did not want its picture taken. I have no idea if it's a male or female, but with a name like that, the other fish must sure pick on the males when they're little.

Day 44 - Bonaire

These orange cup corals only "bloom" at night when they're feeding.

Day 43 - Bonaire

Bonaire has tropical birds, like flamingos and parrots, sea birds like pelicans and frigate birds, and land birds like this Yellow Oriole.

Day 42 - Bonaire

Every day in Bonaire had a spectacular sunset. Granted, there were days that I was underwater at sunset, but I'm sure they were all lovely.

Day 41 - Bonaire

These are Flamingo Tongue Snails, which feed on the soft corals.

Day 40 - Bonaire

I'm back from Bonaire, where I spent the majority of my time underwater. I'll post pics over the next week or so, catching up on my photo-a-day quota. Here's a juvenile Longfin Damselfish - they're quick little things, and hard to photograph, but very pretty.