Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Photo of the day 6 de febrero de 2007


Today's picture is a school of blue tang in the Blue Hole.

Yesterday and today the wind (viento) and waves (olas) have been pretty calm and snorkeling off Shacks Beach was good and I actually got out to Blue Hole. Suddenly, I was swimming with more than a hundred blue tangs. I first swam with them yesterday. I went out today, hoping - but not expecting - to find them. But there they were, like they were waiting for me.

Blue tang are gorgeous reef fish. They range from a delicate, light, almost transparent blue to a deep, almost black, blue. Young ones are a couple of inches long. The adults are the size of a dinner plate.

I tried to just swim along with them and not act like a big predator. It was fascinating, swimming with them, keeping up with them, watching them dive into the deep shadows under ledges in the reef and then reappear in the sunlight on the other side.

I'm uploading more pictures of the blue tang from yesterday and today to the Flickr site so you can check 'em out there. Just click on the Ola Lola's Flickr site link on the right.

By the way, on a much larger note, this corner of the island is known for whale watching in late January and February. I didn't see them but some of the people staying at Villa Tropical were in Lola's last night and told me they saw whales just off shore yesterday morning. Guess I'm going to have to get up early and go check it out. From what I hear though, you just have to get a little lucky and be in the right place at the right time.

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