Saturday, May 1, 2010

New header for the sea witch

Hello everyone.  Was in the mood to switch out my header again so I went back to the Cancun photos to see what I could find to share with you.  This shot was taken at the same lovely reef, Machonies - Cancun Mexico. 
 
Visibility was good and the sun was shining through the waters so lots of color was there to see.  We had a little bit of surge or subsurface motion, the wave like motion of rocking back and forth under the water.  You can see the surge movement by the lean of the soft branch corals to one direction.  The brilliant cobalt blue fish you see are called Blue Chromis.  Usually no more then 6 inches or 15cms in length, they are a shimmering blue with a black dorsal shading, forked tail and dark eyes.  Usually shy, they will often dash to the cover of reef when it feels threatened and has been observed to dim its bright blue coloration to a duller gray. 

(google photo of closeup)
Chromis will travel in multispecies schools, especially when feeding, but are territorial when feeding on algae and will defend an area against other algae-feeding species.  I have seen these little blue fish go after larger ones at a rocket speed, it is amusing to watch.  My  own observation with Chromis is they like to huddle next to large coral patches and hiding themselves deep into the soft, flowing corals when they perceive danger. 

This school of Chromis hovered around this soft coral patch with no fear of me taking the photo. Usually they will hide when "large swimming creatures" enter their space, but when there is surge in the water, I do not swim towards them, I allow the surge to carrgy me to their location which gives the illusion of another water creature along for the same surging ride.  That is how I got this shot. 

Wishing everyone a "surge free" but colorful weekend.  Sea Witch

10 comments:

Seawashed said...

Pretty blue fishes...ox

jordiegirl said...

Love your new photo, it's great.

Tootie said...

I love the blue fish. The most beautiful fish I have ever seen, were near Cancun.

Debby said...

Gorgeous!!!! The blue fish is awesome.
debby

Doris Sturm said...

Very beautiful pictures and informative post. I have always admired the vibrant colors of the underwater life, like the corals and salt water fish. I find it very intruiging, yet I'm afraid to go under, but love looking at the photos.
Have a great weekend :-)

Rebecca said...

Hello
Loved the lesson on Chromis, my daughter has some in her aquarium. Or at lest a kind of... I love to snorkle but always get sick from the water. I try not to lick my lips or gulp but still after an hour will have to quit. Any suggestions?
Have a wonderful week.
Blessings
Rebecca

Queen Bee's Musings said...

Your pictures are beautiful. I have never been to Cancun before...
but this august my sister is planning our sister retreat there.
Suggestions?

Michelle May-The Raspberry Rabbits said...

How cool are they! Swimming with a surge of fish even cooler!
Love this header.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your lovely comment...

FILIGREE MOON said...

Absolutely fabulous! Amazing that this beauty is actually real! ~ Angela