I have zero underwater pictures. I've never owned a submersible camera.
The Bahamas have crystal clear waters and the combination of the sky and the coral brings the colors of the fish and the reef out better than anywhere else I've been. East of Key Largo, Florida is John Pennekamp Underwater State Park. The fish are the same species, but in Florida, there is more organic matter in the water, and it isn't as clear. It's nice in its own way, though.
I once had a pair of white gloves with yellow dot grippers on them. The dots were probably about 1/16th of an inch each. A school of Sergeant Major Fish came up to my hands and started pecking at the dots. I moved the gloves in front of my face, so I could see better. I had a scuba tank on then, and I think I was laughing through the breathing gear.
The biggest fish I've ever caught was a 275 pound shark. I was a teenager at the time. My father used to take me out on a commercial fishing boat for my birthday present. I liked the experience much better than a possession, and still live like that.
I had what seemed like a bonito on the line, by the way it took the bait and went straight down. Then it got wild, that's when the shark took the bonito and got hooked. By the time it got to the boat, it had tangled everyone's lines, so they helped me reel it in. Today I would have immediately released it, but back in the early 1960s it was common practice to bring all the fish in, and hang them up for all to see. It was advertising for the boats because people used to come to the docks to see what the boats brought in. I was just a kid and didn't know any better.
I've never seen turtles swim in a pack. On a dive it depends on the time of the year, and if you see one underwater, it's a very nice experience. We've also seen 3 different species coming on shore to lay their eggs.
When I was a child in Florida, I used to be able to see many more stars, and even the Milky Way. But since the introduction of central air conditioning, Florida has grown like crazy. Now, only after a hurricane do we have dark skies. Sometimes I'll go down to the Everglades National Park and camp. Plenty of stars there.
The temperature is back in the 80s in the day and 60s at night. The place where we gig one weekday afternoon per week was packed last week. They had to call in extra wait staff to handle the number of guests. What a wonderful place to live!
Did you say spoonbill? This one in the Everglades National Park on a Mangrove tree.
We actually have very few flamingos, you were lucky to see one. They were hunted to extinction in Florida by plume hunters. Since then, a few have returned, but it's very rare to see one.
The Key Deer are small because the island they live on (Key Largo) is not very big. They were landlocked there for centuries, and evolution downsized them. We have normal-sized deer on the mainland.
Here is an orchid that grows on one of our live oak trees.
They are air plants (Epiphytes), the roots hold them to the tree, they get moisture from the rain and dew, and trap organic matter in their root and leave clusters for food.
Here's another
These aren't wild, but purchased at a nursery. We have native orchids in Florida, but it's irresponsible to harvest them from the wild, and nurseries don't sell the natives. They do sell commercially grown species, and that's we buy. Fortunately we never get frost here, as that would kill the orchid plants.
Our trip to Australia was fantastic. Luckily, Mrs. Notes prefers experience to possessions too, so much of our money goes to travel. We've been to 49 US States (Hawaii is next), Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Croix & St John (US Virgin Islands), more than half the Canadian provinces, 7 Mexican states, Bahama Islands, Bermuda Islands, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, England, Scotland, Wales, Gibraltar, The Netherlands, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Czech Republic, Austria, Australia, Russia, Japan and China (From the Great Wall down to Hong Kong). Nicaragua, Japan and Russia were very short visit site stops on other adventures, we need to go back to Japan and Russia.
We've been to some of these places more than once, but never repeat the same area. There are at least 50 more places we want to visit, and unless science produces a miracle, we don't have 50 more years on this side of the sod. We travel once per year, and unfortunately, COVID has taken two travel vacations away from us.
But we're still healthy, and that's more important.
Notes ♫
The Bahamas have crystal clear waters and the combination of the sky and the coral brings the colors of the fish and the reef out better than anywhere else I've been. East of Key Largo, Florida is John Pennekamp Underwater State Park. The fish are the same species, but in Florida, there is more organic matter in the water, and it isn't as clear. It's nice in its own way, though.
I once had a pair of white gloves with yellow dot grippers on them. The dots were probably about 1/16th of an inch each. A school of Sergeant Major Fish came up to my hands and started pecking at the dots. I moved the gloves in front of my face, so I could see better. I had a scuba tank on then, and I think I was laughing through the breathing gear.
The biggest fish I've ever caught was a 275 pound shark. I was a teenager at the time. My father used to take me out on a commercial fishing boat for my birthday present. I liked the experience much better than a possession, and still live like that.
I had what seemed like a bonito on the line, by the way it took the bait and went straight down. Then it got wild, that's when the shark took the bonito and got hooked. By the time it got to the boat, it had tangled everyone's lines, so they helped me reel it in. Today I would have immediately released it, but back in the early 1960s it was common practice to bring all the fish in, and hang them up for all to see. It was advertising for the boats because people used to come to the docks to see what the boats brought in. I was just a kid and didn't know any better.
I've never seen turtles swim in a pack. On a dive it depends on the time of the year, and if you see one underwater, it's a very nice experience. We've also seen 3 different species coming on shore to lay their eggs.
When I was a child in Florida, I used to be able to see many more stars, and even the Milky Way. But since the introduction of central air conditioning, Florida has grown like crazy. Now, only after a hurricane do we have dark skies. Sometimes I'll go down to the Everglades National Park and camp. Plenty of stars there.
The temperature is back in the 80s in the day and 60s at night. The place where we gig one weekday afternoon per week was packed last week. They had to call in extra wait staff to handle the number of guests. What a wonderful place to live!
Did you say spoonbill? This one in the Everglades National Park on a Mangrove tree.
We actually have very few flamingos, you were lucky to see one. They were hunted to extinction in Florida by plume hunters. Since then, a few have returned, but it's very rare to see one.
The Key Deer are small because the island they live on (Key Largo) is not very big. They were landlocked there for centuries, and evolution downsized them. We have normal-sized deer on the mainland.
Here is an orchid that grows on one of our live oak trees.
They are air plants (Epiphytes), the roots hold them to the tree, they get moisture from the rain and dew, and trap organic matter in their root and leave clusters for food.
Here's another
These aren't wild, but purchased at a nursery. We have native orchids in Florida, but it's irresponsible to harvest them from the wild, and nurseries don't sell the natives. They do sell commercially grown species, and that's we buy. Fortunately we never get frost here, as that would kill the orchid plants.
Our trip to Australia was fantastic. Luckily, Mrs. Notes prefers experience to possessions too, so much of our money goes to travel. We've been to 49 US States (Hawaii is next), Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Croix & St John (US Virgin Islands), more than half the Canadian provinces, 7 Mexican states, Bahama Islands, Bermuda Islands, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, England, Scotland, Wales, Gibraltar, The Netherlands, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Czech Republic, Austria, Australia, Russia, Japan and China (From the Great Wall down to Hong Kong). Nicaragua, Japan and Russia were very short visit site stops on other adventures, we need to go back to Japan and Russia.
We've been to some of these places more than once, but never repeat the same area. There are at least 50 more places we want to visit, and unless science produces a miracle, we don't have 50 more years on this side of the sod. We travel once per year, and unfortunately, COVID has taken two travel vacations away from us.
But we're still healthy, and that's more important.
Notes ♫
