July 2, 2014

Catching up for lost time and internet issues.

            After having a chance to explore the northern half of the bay I have found a few less sponges and a lot more algae compared to last year, both along the shore and near the point.  There are millions of anchovies and other small fishes throughout the bay.  Much more than I remember last year.  According to Mike, the proprietor of Turtle Bay Eco Resort, (on a deserted island – not really a “resort”) has informed me that due to a change in the winds this year, coming from the east (backside of the island) instead of the west it has affected the bay by not clearing it out as much which may be the reason for the higher algae content.  He also said that due to the change in winds, also being stronger than usual, it has kept the fisherman off the water.  They have not been catching bait fish (the anchovies and other small fish) so the population of these fish may be up because of this.  I would have thought this would have helped keep the algae content down, but it does not appear so.

            After looking over the south side of the bay, the fans on this side seem less healthy although they are prevalent, in the 100’s in one stretch, mostly small to medium size fans in this location.  Most are lighter purple or yellow, many with a high algae content on them.  The north side comparatively had less fans overall, but most were much healthier, of a deeper purple color, not so light, and not as much algae and other growths on them as I show in these photos.  As I found the flamingo tongues along the way I placed flags next to the coral they were on, or the bottom if that is where they were, to follow up in the following days the movement of these animals.  I am also trying to determine if they show a “preference” for certain fans, such as deeper purple, lighter purple, algae ridden, other corals, etc.

Darla