Loading ...So while my spirit was with Jeff at MACNA, looking at the latest gadgets that we can find, my body was in Mexico.. taking in the 40′C sun. While I know that I had missed a great showing by MACNA’s organizing body ORCA and MASNA, I can tell you that my Mexico family trip was surprisingly uplifting and inspiring.
The idea of the trip was to focus on having fun for the first time with the new fam, as our daughter is just 8 months old, but I found with my limited time in the water that things are looking superb for this region of the ocean. I was quite surprised how much things have grown since hurricane Katrina. In 2007 I visited Mexico’s dive haven.. Cozumel, and have seen the damage that the hurricane has caused the Caribbean. But it has been almost three years since the devastation, and things are looking up.
While snorkeling just off the coast of our resort, I have spotted at least a few colonies of three-four year old Acropora cervicornis as well as massive 5′x5′ colonies of Acropora palmata. Those were amazing indicators of recovering life underwater. Soon thereafter I had spotted mats of Palythoas, specifically the caribbaeorum species. It was quite a sight, with mats that were at least 10′x10′ in size.
Amongst the many Madracis and Colpophyllia corals, I found an astounding number of fish as well. From mated paired french angels, to cephalopods, I have seen them all. In fact, I got a pretty good ink spraying from a local octopus. Off topic, has anyone tasted octopus ink in a paella? Super yummy.
One of the consequences of hot weather and stagnant water (but in relative terms, as water is never really stagnant) is bleaching of several coral species. Case in point the many Millepora (Fire Coral) species that were found completely white. It was quite odd, as no other coral was affected like the Milleporas. It must have resulted from some recent events, as recent as this summer perhaps. Having seen that, I can easily conclude that the reef in this region is becoming more resilient to these types of sudden changes. Again, a great thing for this region.
On a side note, that could relate to many reefers in the world, this region of the ocean had a plethora of algae. And I mean all types; Valonia (Valonia aegagropila, and Valonia macrophysa), Caulerpa (bubble, fan, etc), different types of turf, and drum roll please…. Bryopsis. Tons and tons of Bryopsis. Seeing that made me believe that there must be a predator in this region, besides the very few lettuce nudibranchs (Elysia crispata), that I can find. The only thing that came close were these tiny conches (Strombus alatus) that resembled the fighting conches from Indonesia. They were always found near or embedded within the Bryopsis. If there is a next time, I will take a better look to determine whether these little guys are a key solution for the nightmarish problem. Obviously the solution is in these waters, we just have to find them.
My last long snorkel of the trip ended with me getting a great laugh at the squid getting chased by the needlenose fish. So where are all of those pics? Well my camera that has the underwater housing wasn’t brought into Mexico due to its inability to show itself to me. So we went without it. It will not ever happen again. To keep you all happy, I will ow you some pics from three years ago in Cozumel:
Until next time reefnecks!
Trained by the thirteenth ring master of the Sian Xiuang Coral Temple. Currently is apprenticing the art of Acropora shaping in the ancient tradition of Ninja Fragging. Known as the SPS hero!