My Independence Day - July 4, 2014

July 4, 2014   

            Fireworks may be exploding all around the country tonight but the stars in the sky here are doing the same.  1,000’s to see with only a crescent moon in the sky.  I haven’t been able to see the Milky Way since I can’t remember when with so much light pollution at home.  The Big Dipper hanging low in the northern sky was shining brilliantly as were all the other stars and planets.  We went down to the docks to see if the Spotted Eagle Rays were hanging around like previous nights, but to no avail.  Seeing “shooting stars” and all the constellations was awesome though. 

            I tackled the Northwest side of the bay this time, towards the point (1/2 mile as the crow flies) but did not make it all the way to the point as the winds starting picking up and the current was slamming me all over the reef area before I even made it to the point.  It is one long swim going diagonally across the bay, over the deeper area, fighting the current, but that’s where I get to see the turtles and rays (but not today).

            This area of the bay seems to get a lot more current flow than the opposite aide of the bay (Southwest towards the point).  As with the section of fans on the southeast shore area with 100s of fans, this area on the northwest side held a similar section loaded with fans.  An average of 30-40 fans per 3m².  Overall, this side of the bay looks healthier with more corals and Flamingo tongues and less algae.  

          The coral are darker purple in color like the second picture, although some still have a lot of algae.   You can see the “black streak” the FT made as it moved along the fan, eating the coral polyps.this particular FT did not have very much of its mantle displayed and it can be seen that the shell itself is very plain, white and creamy in color.  The first pic shows a Flamingo Tongue with it's mantle almost fully displayed on a very small (as you can see from the size of the FT which is only about 2.5-3.0 cm long) purple rod coral surrounded by the heavy algae plaguing the area.

            More pics for your viewing pleasure.  Blue Branching Vase Sponge from various angles.   Enjoy.