This is about the sea hare mare found riding around on a Sea cucumber.

Very cool, Seb - and good spotting! How did you ever see that lil' fella?

It's like finding a baby frog fish. Good eyes Seb!

Whoops, my failure to capitalize Mare may have led you astray, SHE found the little darlin'and dragged me over to it. I was bonding with a pike blenny at the time.

Interesting! What is it and what is it's purpose? I guess I should look it up in the book.

Boy I usually just pass over sea cucumbers..Guess we learn something new everyday! Thanks for pointing it out. Looks like Bonaire really is the macro capital of the Caribbean.

Amazing pick-up. I would never have seen that. Always looking for nudibranchs and the like but all I ever find is lettuce sea slugs. Thanks for sharing that, Seb and Mare.

-David

That is really unique Seb. I would have never found it. Good job guys.

Awww, he's so cute, Seb! Great eyes, Mare!! Eagle eyes, eh?! It pays to "hover"....love to do that and discover new fun things. Carole

Fascinating! Amazing that Mare saw it.

Below are a couple of links I found interesting.

http://www.janetsreef.com/sea_hare.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_hare

Wow, Seb & Mare. Wow wow wow. I've NEVER spotted one of those, and i've looked. Very cool!

Excellent find Mare and great photos! I'm majorly impressed...okay I'm always impressed with your finds and photos...:-)

Nice find Mare, we have not seen one in Bonaire before.

Wow! Awesome! Super Duper! I never knew those little guys existed, let alone see them on Bonaire! Can't wait to show my son the pics as he is the eagle eyes in this family! Very interesting little creature.
Thanks for sharing.

Seb, thanks for posting those pictures. That is amazing that Mare was able to spot that. Very cool!

Mare & Seb,

Great Find. You got it go'n on!!! I love the pictures!!

My fav spots on Bonaire for sea hares, slugs and nudibranchs are Andrea 1 and the area in front of Bas' house. These are the two places where I have observed Spotted Sea Hares and nudibranchs in greater numbers.

Do you remember the depth of the sea cucumber?

Yana, that is a great tip! I love nudibranchs and never see the variety I should on Bonaire. I'll try Andrea 1 next time. Maybe I could borrow Mare's eyes, too...

I looked up Sea Hares in the book. It said they eat algae. A few people on the board as I noticed the red algae this year in Bonaire. I'm wondering if more sea hares will be seen in Bonaire. Divers traveling to Bonaire in the near future please take note and report back on the findings. Thanks.

Here's one traveling Mare found last December.


And unrolled

He's to sexy for his shirt... too sexy for his shirt... You know the rest of it. Great Pic guys!!

wow, cool! How in the world did Mare find that critter, I would have looked at it rolled up and thought it was trash!

The "red algae" that is seen at a lot of sites newar downtown is foreign, and not good for the reef. It is taking over the healthy algae on the reef. The BMP has been doing nutrient studies trying to find out just what it is, and what is causing it. I have no idea, just thinking out loud here, but maybe could be toxic to marine life. There is a toxic algae here on the California coast that is toxic to the sea lions and harbor seals. The garibalidi eat it and it does not do anything to them, but when the sea lions or harbor seals eat the garibalidi, it is toxic and kills them. I'm anxious to find out what the results of the nutrient studies are.

Wow! Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

"The "red algae" that is seen at a lot of sites newar downtown is foreign, and not good for the reef."


hmmm... ship water ballast tanks perhaps ?

this could be another zebra mussel mess...

Wow, those are amazing pictures! I'll be on the look-out for them in two weeks (woo hoo).

grrrreat! pix. seb. you'll have to excuse me i work for kelloggs. just got home from my 1st time in bonaire. 'twas the little critters that caught my attention. dove with a couple of nice folks that seemed more interested in finding the big creatures. i, however dove slower & really took time to look in the nooks & crannies. after a few trips to cozumel & drift diving, it sure is fun to "relax" & observe the reef. with that said, sure was fun swimming with charlie the tarpon from buddies south to eden. he's a big boy?

Seb & Mare - neat & interesting little creature!
Thanks for the great pic's

Thanks for all the kind remarks. No question we are critter nerds, I suppose. Ron, I loved Tony the Tiger when I was a kid, my favorite T-shirt was a Tony Shirt.
If you all look to the right of Mare's finger in the ball" pic, there is some white things. The bal;l had a bit of protoplasm(?) hanging out from himself, it took me forever to figure out what she was pointing at, of course it was a night dive off eden beach to sunset and back. I was amazed at how sandy the guy she found last time was.

Did you use a flash?? The pictures are awesome!

Seb, I still eat Frosted Flakes at least once a month for the memories. I know they are bad for you, but I still love to read the back of the box when I'm munchin. LOL They're Greaaaaaat!

Kim, I used only the internal flash on the camera.
I gave 'em up altogether Jim.

Excellent report Seb, wonderful photos too!!

OOPSIE! I never answered Cynde as to how I found the critters.
I found the little blob at Eden Beach. We had just done a dusk dive and, on our way back, we were drifting with the current. I kept on seeing the sand dwelling tube anemones reaching out their tentacles and trying to grab something. All I could see in the water was this little blob with a mucus strand. Being a curious one, I decided to find out what this little blob was. I picked up a piece of coral rubble to catch the mucus and then the critter revealed itself to be a sea hare.
I could get grandiose and say that I saved the helpless blob from the hungry tentacles etc. etc. but all I did was catch it in the current and set it down in the coral rubble.
Cute little critter.
I found the other sea hare on a sea cucumber. Lots of critters hitch rides on the backs of sea cucumbers and there is even a species of parasitic pearlfish that enters and exits the sea cucumber's butt and feeds on its internal tissues (511, too much information!).
Anyway, I was looking for some shrimp and came across the sand-covered sea hare.

Mare, the critter nerd