Hol Chan

 Hol Chan, Mayan for “little channel,” covers 19km2 of coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangrove forest near San Pedro. Established during the 1990s during a time of increasing tourism and declining fishing industry, the area covers 4 zones which have differing biomes and permitted activities.

Generations of fisherman cleaning their gear while returning to port has created an unexpected gathering place of sharks and stingrays, known locally as Shark Ray Alley, where local tour guides feed the animals as tourists watch from nearby.

Hol Chan Cut is open to the sea beyond the reef, enabling marine creatures to travel between the interior and exterior of the reef. This concentrates wildlife with 160 species of fish, 40 types of coral, and 3 species of sea turtle in addition to numerous rays, lobsters, eels, and anenomes.

Mexico Rock

The Belize Barrier Reef is a 300km section of the 900km long Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second largest coral reef system in the world, which Charles Darwin described as “the most remarkable reef in the West Indies” in 1842. With only 10% of the reef properly researched, it is already a recorded home to 100 species of coral and 500 species of fish and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996.

Mexico Rocks is a shallow complex of some 100 clustered patch reefs along a limestone ridge. Popular with both snorkelers and SCUBA divers it was recommended for preservation in 1978 and officially recognized in 2015.

Belize was the first country in the world to completely ban bottom trawling in 2010 and in 2015 banned offshore drilling within 1k of the reef. Despite these measures it suffers the same risks as all reefs and an estimated 40% has already been damaged by human impact.

In addition to environmental damage, much of the reef is also suffering from invasive Lionfish. With a voracious appetite, venomous spines, and no natural predators, these fish are taking a significant toll on local species. Fortunately the people of Belize are actively taking steps to curtail their numbers with bounties for local fisherman and eager offers to take tourists spear fishing with civeche for dinner.

Tarpon Feeding

Steven took us to special places in Belize, both in San Pedro and Caye Caulker, where you can buy a bag of sardines and hand feed the local tarpon. Growing 4-8 feet long and weighing 60 to 280lbs, you have to be a little extra cautious in this process, just keep your palms flat as they really burst to the surface with force.

These fish are interesting for a number of reasons. Their modified swim bladders allow them to breathe air, surviving in oxygen-poor waters of brackish marshes but also leaving them tethered to the surface to breathe.

This flexibility around air also lets them take large gulps for short bursts of energy such as lunging for sardines, and this same jumping makes them popular game fish, although they are typically released afterwards as their flavour is not great.

We had our insta360 camera and an underwater housing along on this trip as well to share this tarpons-eye view of their feeding group under our boat.

Water Taxi from Cabo to Land's End

 Cabo San Lucas has a very pleasant touristy marina full of little boats that want to take you out and show you the sights. You can't walk more than 15 feet without someone offering to get you signed up for whale watching, deep sea fishing, or a local cruise. We opted to travel out with this gentleman for a bti of local sight-seeing.

 For about $10 USD per person they take you on a pleasant cruise through the bustling marina, past the local rock formations of Land's End, and out to Lover's Beach (more on them coming up) You can then specify how long you want to explore the area and they'll come back for you at roughly that time.

 An added bonus to this excursion is that most of the boats have a little glass-bottom panel in them and the fish around the reefs of Land's End are are striking as the water is crystal clear. This gives you a great look at some local wildlife feeding on algae and whatnot on the bottom of the boat. I was pleased to get a better look at fish while diving, but for people without that opportunity this is a pretty fantastic option.

Scuba Encounters

I had 3 dives in Mexico during our visit and had several unique and exciting animal encounters to share. The first dive at Land's End was also my first dive since 2011 but any apprehension I might have had quickly evaporated when my guide Julio dug around in the sand and produced tiny sea urchins which puffer fish would swim up and take right from your fingertips. They were very gentle but certainly had tough little teeth in there for crushing and grinding up urchin shells and spines.

It can be pretty difficult to give wildlife the space it deserves while also getting a decent photograph, but I decided to err on the side of caution with this moray eel and accept that my wide-angle lens would have to be pretty generously cropped for any photo to share. Still, this was my first wild eel and I was very excited to see one.

When we did a dive at the La Paz sea lion colony this one individual was very intrigued by bubbles and rings that our guide was blowing while lying almost on the bottom and came down to investigate and be patted. At this exact moment, Kathryn was actually snorkeling in a different spot and spent 20 minutes cuddling a juvenile sea lion, but unfortunately we only had the one underwater camera so that moment can't be shared with the rest of you :(

Snorkeling with Whale Sharks

A key factor in why we chose Cabo San Lucas for our most recent holiday destination was the opportunity to snorkel with whale sharks. This experience turned out to be both incredible and absolutely nothing like I had expected it to be.

For starters, for the biggest fish in the world, they blend into their surroundings pretty well. There is a 30-foot shark in the picture below and I bet you wouldn't even know it was there if the species name wasn't in the blog title ;)

Documentaries present these animals as placidly swimming through crystal blue waters, but in actual fact they can REALLY move when they want to. I'm a reasonably fit guy and I struggled to keep up with them for even a minute or two in each of the 4 dives we did. I originally hoped to scuba with them but now understand how fast you need to be to see them at all. Unfortunately groups of divers are just too slow to reposition and trade off to ever stand a chance of seeing anything.

On top of that, the water was so thick with nutrients and plankton (which is what draws the animals to the area) that visibility is very limited and it can be tricky to see the shark until its practically on top of you. Which is pretty daunting when its 30 feet long and you're not supposed to be within 6 feet of it and its emerged RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.

 The image below is actually a composite of 3 video frame grabs from our goPro. Even with a very wide angle lens, capturing the entire animal in a single shot is nearly impossible, so I resorted to a little digital trickery to try and give you all a feeling for the size and shape of the whole creature. To drive home how large these animals can get, the ones we saw here were juvenile males and a full size adult can be more than 40 feet in total.

Hats off to the locals of La Paz for doing their part for conservation as well. Our guide provided us with wristbands which gave us access to the park area and there was an enforcement boat verifying we should be in the area within 10 minutes of arrival. They also watched from a distance to ensure that no more than 4 people were in the water at a time and that we didn't overstay our allotted limit.

Steven's visit and the various animals that ensued

 Kathryn's brother Steven was in town over a weekend recently and while showing him the sights, we managed to fit in several animal related photos worth sharing. With only a few days in town and an existing familiarity for much of the city, we spent most of the time at Granville Island or English Bay with a little visit to the aquarium tucked in. First off is the obligatory "Everyone Loves the Cat" photo in which all guests must smile as though pleased with the animal while he is digging his claws into their arm.

 The dolphins, belugas, and otters get all the mainstream love, but my favorite things at the aquarium are always the weird little fish tucked into corners that nobody notices. Like this Warty Frogfish, which I did not even know was a thing. Modern marine biologists have yet to quantify how much this creature sounds like Gilbert Gottfried, but hopefully someone is doing their doctorate on the topic right now.

 The baby geese are all hatched and their parents are both fearless and belligerent, but it was still surprising to see this sizeable family step into the busy traffic of Granville Island and stroll across the street. I even had a trace of my faith in humanity restored as all the drivers stopped and let the entire family cross.

Capilano Salmon Hatchery

I'm a cheap date. Pack a lunch and bus me to North Vancouver's Capilano Salmon Hatchery. I'd never seen salmon migrating before and it was high time I did.  We went when the Chinook's were heading to their salmon grounds on a spectacular fall day.  Below is the dam and the fish ladder is the opening on the lower right.

These here are the tanks where the small babies are held.  They raise several types here including chinooks, coho and steelheads.  The survival rate is very good. The small fry are a different colour from the adults. I like the coho fry the best with their curiosity and stripes.

I knew due to David Attenborough and National Geographic that the trip back to the adult's original spawning grounds is long and hard.  But I never realized how hard until I saw it for myself.  The fish below is very battered. There are scales missing and the white flesh looks necrotic.  Maybe this one will make it. Hopefully she/he does not have far to go.  Geordie and I headed down stream to watch them in a more natural setting and I dunked my camera int he water and the perfect moment to get this intrepid traveler.

Siwash Rock Underwater Time Lapse

So after alot of testing, retesting, buying the right equipment, re-testing and fails Geordie and I did it!  We have an underwater time lapse!  It worked out incredibly well especially for a first time outing where we really didn't what to expect. There were so many variables that could screw it up.  Large waves, odd tides - though we checked the weather and tide tables.  Also people horsing around with it or even stealing it. Geordie hid it but it was visible from a very public path.  It is obvious in the video where we set it down.  It is facing Stanley Park's Siwash Rock on the mussel beds.  We had to be careful minimizing our ecosystem impact gingerly climbing over the little shells to set it down and then pick it up.

Here are two stills taken from the timelapse.  We caught in several places schools of small fish.  I don't know what kind.  I was really hoping to get a crab or starfish crawling over it but no luck.  This area is usually crawling with starfish but something is killing them off and this spot was completely bereft of them.

I love the rainbow and the gods rays refracting through the water.  The light highlights the mussels and kelp in a glorious way. I hope you enjoyed these photos and timelapse.  Geordie and I are brainstorming ideas where to set it down so if you have your own thought of a good underwater spot please let us know.  It just has to be accessible by foot and relatively easy to hide.

Survival of the Fishiest- the Quatse River Salmon Hatchery.

Back in hmmm July Geordie and I went to the Quatse Salmon Stewardship Centre. I really wanted to go and educate myself as I thought it was important to know about Southern and Northern Resident Orcas main food source.  As a prairie girl I didn't know a huge amount but I certainly expanded my brain and experiences with my visit.  The place was deserted when we got there which turned out to be alright because we got a private escorted tour and when I mentioned I worked on a whale watching boat they took us for the V.I.P. behind the scenes look.

Cute little baby coho.  They are really curious when young but lose this as they get older and larger.  They follow your finger and in the wild if you dip into the streams where they are hiding they will come up and nibble and peck at your fingers and toes.  I got to even feed them! 

Outside there are big tanks that pump in natural water from the nearby Quatse River so the little baby fish can be exposed to the diseases, parasites and unfortunately pollution that is out there.  One tank had a fungus that had gotten in from the river and was experiencing a higher rate of die off but its all part of getting their immune systems strong. Survival of the fishiest. I love the photo below. I had the idea of sticking our GoPro in one of the tanks and the staff let us do it. Thoroughly recommend a visit if you are in the Telegraph Cove/ Port McNeil/ Port Hardy area.

Aquarium Macro and Mobile Octopus

Geordie got his macro lens and has been taking pictures of all things small and wee.  Like the below Grunt Sculpin which is one of his favorites at the aquarium.  They aren't much bigger than a postage note but with the right camera you can get right in and get detail that you may have missed.

The below being from another world is a Hooded Nudibranch. Steven, Geordie and I had to look this one in our big marine life book as we had no idea what it could be.  It looks like a huge mouthed horror but actually the biggest ones are as half as long as your hand.  Nudibranchs come in so much variety they are one of my favorite squishy things in the ocean.

Speaking of squishy things the Giant Pacific Octopus at the Vancouver Aquarium has grown so large that he can no longer fit in his various hidey holes.  While we used to play 'spot the octopus' its now splashed all over his tank.  They can grow to 9 metres across.  I have unofficially named this one one Splortch. 

Galapagos Highlight Reel

 Our trip to Ecuador highlight reels will comprise of two videos. The second will feature the Amazon Rain forest. The first is completed and posted here (and on Vimeo) and is all about the Galapagos Islands. It shows some of the unique and rare flora and fauna that is native to the archipelago. Most of the species and landscapes shown have already been featured in other posts. So if there is something that catches your eye check there for more information.

Music: The Porcupine Tree "The Colour of Air"

A Fistfull of Fish

Geordie and I snorkled nearly every day while in the Galapagos. The cold and nutrient rich Humboldt current arriving at the equator encourages plankton development which supports a large variety of tropical and subtropical fish. The visibility was incredibly good most of the time. Since having eye surgery both of us have a better appreciation for what is under the ocean's surface. Especially now that we can see it.
Mexican Hogfish were very common. They have a funny bump on their forhead. We saw these every time we were out. They range to an orangy colour as well. They get pretty big. Two feet long or so.

 Triggerfish came in singles, small groups and very large schools like the one below. It was fun trailing the groups to see where they went. They are quite friendly and allow a pretty close approach. They are somewhat less than a foot long and their yellow tails are very striking.

 Leather Bass were hard to spot most of the time as they liked to be under rocks and in shadowy areas. This one was obliging enough to be against some pinkish rocks which made him stand out. There dappled colouring is very attractive. Each fish has a different pattern.

Kathryn Taylor: Master Angler

Unsupervised activities at La Selva lodge were few since nearly everything in the surrounding area was poisonous and you could easily get lost in the jungle alone, but one easily available activity between hikes was fishing in the lagoon. The setups are as simple and barebones as you could ask for, just a hook on a bit of line wrapped around a stick. You can actually see Kathryn's line in the photo below if you look carefully in the bottom left corner.

 Despite numerous tugs on my line and an ever-diminishing bit of bait I hadn't had any luck when Kathryn squeaked and proudly pulled this little catfish out of the water. For the purposes of internet fish legends, it was at least THIIIIIIS big. We were both shocked when it began mewing plaintively... you typically think of fish as quiet while they flop around, but this little fellow was particularly vocal about its capture.

 Although the lodge staff were quite happy to clean and cook it for her, between its small size and eerie cries for freedom, Kathryn was inclined to let her fish go back to make more generations of fish after a few quick photos.

There were also piranhas in the water there and while we saw one or two that other people caught, we didn't have any luck with our lines beyond this excellent encounter.

Aquarium Exhibits

Normally I wouldn't have two posts on the aquarium back to back, but we went there on Saturday and got some nice new pictures, so it seems like a sensible time to use them. Aside from its set displays of jellyfish and the like, the aquarium always has a rotating selection of animal shows and different displays from day to day. They also opened up a new display on the arctic which we hadn't seen before. But I'll start it off with a dolphin picture that should show why I love our new camera with a fast shutter.
Since 2009 was the Year of the Frog, there has been a huge amphibians display in the lower level all year which I always enjoy poking around when we visit. I've been able to get a surprisingly good number of pictures out of the exhibit... the low light being offset by the typically slow moving animals on display. Below is an axolotl which is a strange Mexican salamander.. apparently they taste like chicken.
And as proof of the ever changing displays, here's Kathryn holding a Vietnamese Stick Insect. We've passed through the tropical section a dozen times or more and never seen insect handlings before. Kathryn was very brave and had fun getting to meet this beastie up close.