Bahamas

Off the southeast coast of South Cat Cay, Bahamas. We have rarely seen the Atlantic Ocean so perfectly calm. For days the water undulated like silk without even a cat’s paw to mar the surface. The area of Cat Cay (Bimini) are the Bahamian islands closest to the coast of Florida, but this little spot was as peaceful as one could hope for.

Reef shark (Carcharhinus perezii). Click on photo to enlarge.

In the Bahamas we see sharks on nearly every scuba dive.  Most of the time you can bet that sharks see us even when we don’t see them.  Often we will see a shark in the distance, which never approaches. But in San Salvador, Conception Island and Crooked Island, the Reef Sharks tend to pass repeatedly, sometimes within about 12 feet of us, then veer away, and come back to do it again.

 We do not know if they are just patrolling their regular territory, or if they are hoping that we are a big predator who might injure some fish they can grab. In fact, that is how most shark bites occur: a diver has speared a fish and the sharks sense the wounded animal and goes for it.  Reef Sharks are in the family of Requiem Sharks and are considered dangerous.

So even though we see them frequently, we remain wary and keep an eye on any sharks that approach. Easier said than done! They and we are moving in three dimensions so we have to be looking up, and looking down, as well as side-to-side! And then when you have two or three sharks to keep track of, well….it can get exciting!

When we see a shark, what we normally do is stay close to each other, low to the corals or back to the wall and watch until we discern the pattern to their cruising. Then as long as they are behaving normally we go on with our dive, still keeping one eye on them. What you should never do is frantically swim away from an approaching shark. Instead, you should face the shark head on and portray confidence to give the shark the idea that if it approaches you it will get hurt! If you feel like you want to get out of there, stick together and return to the boat calmly. With the Reef Sharks we have never felt like we needed to cut short our dive.

Reef shark at Crooked Island, Bahamas (Click on photo to enlarge)

On some of these dives Don got some nice photos with the Canon 5D Mark III, and Denise shot some great video with the GoPro Hero4. This video clip (below) includes a shark eating a little fish!  Enjoy!

Play video by hitting arrow

SAN SALVADOR: May 2015.  Captain Bruce Niro has been guiding divers and fishermen on San Salvador for over 21 years and he knows those amazing wall dives the way you know your backyard flower garden. For over two years Bruce has been taming a fish, a female Nassau Grouper he calls Sponge Bob.  With a lot of patience and gentleness, and frequent treats of speared Lionfish, Sponge Bob has developed a very dog-like behavior: she comes when Bruce taps his spear, she allows Bruce to touch her head and face, she passes through a hoop held up for her, and she follows Bruce for the entire dive. Other groupers on that reef are becoming tame also from Sponge Bob’s example.

Nassau Groupers live about 25 years. The Nassau Grouper was placed on the World Conservation Union’s redlist of threatened species in 1996, and it was determined to be endangered because its population has declined by 60% in the past 30 years. Over a third of spawning aggregations have been estimated to have disappeared, and the grouper is considered to be commercially extinct in some areas. The current population is estimated to be more than 10,000 mature individuals, but is thought to be decreasing. Their suitable habitat is declining; they need quality coral reef habitats to survive. Their population outlook is not optimistic. The Bahamas has a ban on fishing for Nassau Grouper during their spawning season, but the rest of the year they are often on the menu. Protected Bahamas National Land & Sea Parks are a step to help this species recover.

On this dive Bruce feeds Sponge Bob a Lionfish that Bruce had just speared.  You might ask, besides feeding Sponge Bob, why spear a Lionfish? Lionfish are an invasive species from the Indo-Pacific, believed to have escaped from aquariums or hitchhiked in the bilges of international freighters. Beautiful but deadly, they have multiple venomous spines disguised by ornate frond-like waving fins, and they are voracious hunters who are decimating the population of native reef fishes. Both in the Bahamas and in the U.S. we are encouraged to kill as many Lionfish as possible.  “The Lionfish Cookbook” is a good encouragement to eat them too! We hope you enjoy this little video.

There is a beautiful little spot in the Exumas in a channel between Pasture Cay, O’Brien’s Cay and Little Hall Pond Cay where a small plane (allegedly carrying drugs) crashed and still sits.

Denise checking out the plane. (Click on photo to enlarge)

Its a shallow dive with the plane sitting in only about 25 feet of water and the nearby reef dropping to about 40 or 50 feet.  Here are some photos of the reef nearby the plane.

Common Sea Fan sitting atop of bed of coral encrusted with Sea Rods, Yellow Tube Sponge, Sea Whips and others. (Click on photo to enlarge).

Lobster peering out from beneath a mound of Pillar Coral. (Click on photo to enlarge)

Trumpet fish blending in with Row Pore Rope Sponges, Gorgonians, Sea Fans and others. (Click on photo to enlarge)

During our travels through this underwater garden we spotted a resting Sting Ray.

Sting Ray hiding beneath a coating of sand! (Click on photo to enlarge)

These creatures are not very threatening, as long as you keep clear of its long tail!  It has a spine atop which it can thrust straight up and thrash about to keep you away or attack.  They use this spine to fend off sharks and other predators.  Steve Irwin, ‘The Crocodile Hunter’ was killed in 2006 by a Sting Ray.  Denise wakes up the sleeping guy and then heads him off at the pass! These are beautiful creatures, check out this video and enjoy!!

“There is a small cay in the Exumas in the Bahamas called Rocky Dundas located in the inlet between Compass Cay and Cambridge Cay (also known as Little Bells Cay) where there is a cave.  The cave can be accessed from the north side of Rocky Dundas.  Don went in first on scuba to check it out and found it was easy to snorkel into, so Denise jumped in on snorkel and entered.  This is a slide show. Click on the arrow to Enjoy!”