Testudo
Traveler
Joined: 02/06/08
Posts: 35
Loc: New Jersey
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Here are some links to my snorkeling picture albums from our February and April 2010 visits, along with some images for your viewing pleasure.
I experimented a bit on this last trip with the camera settings (Pentax Optio W80) thanks to some tips garnered from the resident snorkel photography guru on ScubaBoard. My focus this trip was geared more towards capturing images of different marine species vs. coral formations.
Conditions: The winds were blowing northeasterly for most of the week, which made visibility on the North Side of the island sub-optimal (all the crud that pools in the North Sound gets blown back out towards sea, but ends up trapped by the barrier reef). You will see many of the images (especially from the Sting City Dive Site) have greenish hues or castes to them; this is as a result of the higher than usual concentrations of algae.
Locations Snorkeled: Rum Point Coal Gardens, Rum Point Shore Trail, Barefoot Beach, Sting Ray City Dive Site, Queen’s Monument* and Anchor Point*. I was not able to do the Barrier Reef route at Rum Point due to poor conditions; the winds transitioned back to their more normal westerly direction, creating chop and stronger currents when I planned on going.
* (no images): Since the OEM battery with the Pentax has a low capacity I purchased a “High Capacity” no-name brand to have on hand for some longer snorkels. Let’s just say, I was lucky to get 10 pictures before it was drained. Of course, this caused me to miss two Grand Mother (i.e. Giant) Sting Rays hunting at Queen’s Monument and some really unique underwater geothermal vents at Anchor Point.
Here are links to full slideshows from my last two trips:
April 2010: Grand Cayman April 2010 Snorkel Album
February 2010: Grand Cayman February 2010 Snorkel Album
Samples:
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SMC_Irish_68
Traveler
Joined: 09/27/02
Posts: 458
Loc: Mt. Run Lake, Virginia
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Thanks for waking up this forum. It's been pretty quiet!
Great photos!
Is that a lionfish?
Did you snorkel at Cemetery Reef in West End of SMB?
Karen
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Unregistered
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Thank you, thank you I needed that
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Testudo
Traveler
Joined: 02/06/08
Posts: 35
Loc: New Jersey
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Ahh...nothing like some pictures to generate some activity!
Glad you enjoyed the pictures, I sure enjoyed taking them. That is unfortunately a Lionfish. The good news is that it and a buddy were nowhere to be found last week. I only ended up seeing one the entire trip and that was at Anchor Point.
I have snorkeled Cemetery Beach multiple times. Beautiful spot, but honestly it is not one of my favorite snorkel spots. Other than the 'Piranha' Sergeant Majors, I do not find there to be much else of interest.
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Carol_Hill
Administrator
Joined: 08/01/00
Posts: 35915
Loc: Central Florida!
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thanks for some spectacular pics!  Too bad to see a lion fish.  I presume there is a procedure in place for dealing with them by the government??? The BVI and other places have set up a system to mark them for later elimination by fish and wildlife authorities.
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Unregistered
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Sorry, I am uninformed. What is the problem with the lionfish?
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northernsailor
Traveler
Joined: 03/15/04
Posts: 2372
Loc: Timmins, Ontario, Canada
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They are not a native species to the Caribbean and some say they are trouble: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080717164319.htm
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 Trip Picts
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Testudo
Traveler
Joined: 02/06/08
Posts: 35
Loc: New Jersey
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The Cayman Islands DOE does have an aggressive Lionfish abatement and removal program in place to try and control the spread of the invasive species. It includes a training and certification process for volunteer divers and snorkelers to help aid in the efforts. I called-in the one pictured along with a another in the same location to the DOE last February. Happy to report there was no sight of either of them in April.
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Carol_Hill
Administrator
Joined: 08/01/00
Posts: 35915
Loc: Central Florida!
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Some say they are trouble??? Everything that I have read indicates that they are BIG trouble...
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northernsailor
Traveler
Joined: 03/15/04
Posts: 2372
Loc: Timmins, Ontario, Canada
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Yup, some say they won't have as much of an effect as feared and the reefs will adapt to them but I'm not one of them. Personally I don't think any non-native fish without predators can be good but have no real idea cause I ain't a marine biologist and am basically just an interested observer. I do know that nature has strange ways of adapting and the reefs may do that for the lionfish and hopefully will. One fish that does eat lionfish are grouper and we (me included cause I like grouper) are decimating their populations in the caribbean along with a lot of other big predator fish that might eat them so people may be doing just as much damage to the balance of nature there as the lionfish if not more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505200711.htm but no one seems to care about that issue so I find it makes the big uproar about the lionfish kind of hypocritical if you think about it.
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Trip Picts
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