By donna kramer (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #5) on Monday, March 21, 2011 - 3:51 pm: |
My first trip report, although our 4th trip to Bonaire in 4 years. Hope it is of some interest. Three weeks again this year. Spouse and I have stayed at Happy Holiday Homes each time; it suits us just fine ! He has to stay in touch via email , which is in-room at HHH. This is how we manage to ‘escape’ for three weeks at a time.
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By Rolf Kurzhals (BonaireTalker - Post #20) on Monday, March 21, 2011 - 7:31 pm: |
Your "eel" may be a harlequin pipefish (Micrognathus ensenadae). Found 2 of them last trip.They almost look hexagonal.
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By Renee (BonaireTalker - Post #82) on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 6:46 pm: |
Donna, Nice trip report. I liked that you spend so much time looking for the small things. It always amazes me when I slow down and just hover. The fish seem to surround me when I do that. We dove Ole Blue a couple days ago and it was nice. Such an easy dive with lots of shallow area that is healthy. I am noticing that there seem to be a larger quantify of fish when we do the mid day and afternoon dives, versus the morning dives.
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By ABCdivers (BonaireTalker - Post #66) on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 7:15 pm: |
I agree with Rolf, your "eel" could be a harlequin pipefish. Below are a couple of links to pictures of pipefish.
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By donna kramer (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Wednesday, March 23, 2011 - 12:44 pm: |
Thanks for the comments. At first we considered whether the creature could be a pipefish. We were within 3 feet of the creature, maybe as close as 2.5 feet, watched it for a minute or so, and neither of us saw any type of elongation on the front. The pipefish in the photos has a snout. Also, the Ol Blue creature did not taper at the tail end. It appeared to be the same thickness, about the thickness of a pencil, from front end to back end. We could not have told which end was the head, and which was the tail, except by its movement. Despite being within 3 feet, We could not distinguish any features on the front end, or tell what the eyes looked like. So the eyes must have been very small.
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By robint (BonaireTalker - Post #47) on Thursday, March 24, 2011 - 2:41 pm: |
did it look something like this?
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By brenda (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1285) on Thursday, March 24, 2011 - 3:59 pm: |
there is a saddle or saddle back snake eel. Habitat NE Atlantic, and Indo Pacific.
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By Michael Carvalho (BonaireTalker - Post #39) on Thursday, March 24, 2011 - 5:49 pm: |
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BQDNX4FwGsQ/TUEBQRmflyI/AAAAAAAAM7c/X1zf8xcpRio/s400/saddled%2Bsnake%2Beel%2B1.jpg
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By donna kramer (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #7) on Friday, March 25, 2011 - 2:23 pm: |
I hoped posting the description of the Ol Blue creature would generate some comments. Of the links provided above, the photo of the saddleback snake eel is the closest to what we remember. I found another link to a photo of the saddleback, http://meditationindianapolis.blogspot.com/2011/01/saddle-snake-eel.html, posted on a blog by a diver in Hawaii. If the snake eel in this link photo were 5" to 6" long, it would be a better match than the other two my husband thought it could be (the Banded Snake Eel or the Banded Sea Krait) Pipefish seem consistently to have a long snout, and the Ol Blue creature did not have a snout. Its head tapered only marginally, not distinct from its body. By the way, the mosquito racquet is rechargeable, no batteries required. One warning: it's fragile (the spin on cheaply made) Don't drop it or hit anything substantial with it ! Our next door neighbor was swatting flies with it, and swears that burnt his up ! LOL. But he bought another racquet anyway, and happily limited his kill to smaller insects .
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