Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Lobster Fishing
I love lobster. Fortunately while we were in Guanaja, most of our meals were fresh caught seafood. Lobster is a major fishery in Honduras. There are a couple of ways to catch lobster.
One is by trap boat. These boats stay out to sea for 8 to 9 months at a time setting and pulling lobster traps like those seen below.
Working on a trap boat is hard, lonely work. However, consider the other way.
The boats with lots of little dorys on top are commercial lobster dive boats. These boats and their crew of lobster divers and tenders work on average 15 day shifts. The divers dive for 14 of the 15 days, 6 to 8 hours a day, catching lobster by hand! They have no gauges (depth or pressure) and no training. The job pays well but takes a horrible toll. As they say "there are no old lobster divers". Many of the young ones are crippled from the bends (excessive, potentially fatal, buildup of nitrogen in the body) . Our divemaster and boat driver were both ex lobster divers. Neither one liked to talk about it. The boat driver Tony would only tell us that he quit after he was attacked by a shark while spearfishing on his day off, trying to catch fish for his family. The scars on his body told the rest of the story.Below are a couple of links that describe the plight of Honduran and Nicaraguan lobster divers. You will never look at those lobster tails quite the same way.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/segments/working/lobsterdiving.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1001_021001_lobsterdivers.html
Guanaja, Bay Islands, Honduras, Feb/March 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Villa at Dunbar Rock
Ever wanted your own private island? Rumour is that its for sale if you have an extra $1.7 million (USD) lying around.Villa at Dunbar Rock, Guanaja, Bay Islands, Honduras, Feb/March 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Remora
I think most of us are familiar with the group of fish called remoras or sharksuckers. Anyone who has watched Jacques Cousteau has seen these fish that have a suction cup attached to their head. Typically they attach themselves to larger marine animals such as sharks, whales, turtles and such. In addition to a free ride, these fish scavenge anything edible left behind by their host.
If you don't know about remoras click on this link.
Tracey and I were shocked to see this lonely looking remora swim up to us during a dive. At first it was very exciting - we had rarely seen remoras unless occasionally attached to some other fish - until it dawned on me what it wanted... a free ride and a host!Luckily it considered its options and decided to turn away and look for something better. Turns out something better was our dive partner Paul. For some reason it took one look at him and fell in love.
Paul knew something was wrong. Tracey and I were pointing and laughing and taking lots of pictures.
He felt something near him but no matter how much he swatted the unknown pest away it seemed to come back - sometimes in unfortunate locations!
Finally the dive ended and we could let him in on the joke.Guanaja, Bay Islands, Honduras, Feb/March 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Safety Stop
Tracey hanging out during our safety (decompression) stop.Guanaja, Bay Islands, Honduras, Feb/March 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Streets of Bonnaca Town
Walking the streets of Bonnaca TownGuanaja, Islas de la Bahía, Honduras
March, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Bonnaca Town Dock
Bonnaca Town Dock, Guanaja, Honduras, March 2009The town dock is the centre of activity for Bonnaca. The pink structure at the end of the dock is the boat version of a bus stop/taxi stand where everyone waited for a ride, including dozens of children on their way home from school. Mr. Gibson (orange, white & blue boat) is a lobster trap boat which had just returned to Guanaja at the end of lobster season after 8 months at sea. Sea Pride (white & blue boat) is the freight boat which was being loaded with scrap to be taken to Roatan for recycling.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Bonnaca Town
Bonnnaca Town as seen from Coral Bay Dive ResortGuanaja, Honduras, March, 2009
When Guanaja was first settled, the bugs were so bad on the main island that settlers opted instead for a small cay just offshore. Over the years the town has grown to "four acres of houses on three acres of land" as described by Bill, our host at Coral Bay. Approximately 60% of Guanaja's 12000 or so people live on Bonnaca. This crazy (in a good way), crowded place is the island's centre of activity with schools, churches, hardware, groceries, bars, hotels, banks, gas stations (for boats-there are no cars), and lobster processing plant. Did I mention all the people that live there too? Over the next couple of days I will give you a closer look.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Yucatan Woodpecker (Melanerpes pygmaeus), Guanaja, Honduras
Yucatan Woodpecker (Melanerpes pygmaeus), Guanaja, HondurasMarch, 2009
Guanaja is the only location that this species can be found in Honduras. A Honduran stamp even features this bird due to its rarity.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Atlantic Spadefish
Atlantic Spadefish, Guanaja, Bay Islands, Honduras, Feb./March 2009
When we first spotted this Atlantic Spadefish it was acting strangely. Fluttering weakly on its side in a shallow depression in the sand not far from reef, it appeared injured. As we approached though it turned upright and swam away. Turns out we had interrupted the fish's session at a cleaning station.
A cleaning station is a location on or near coral reefs where small shrimp and fish such as tiny wrasses and gobies offer their services to remove parasites from larger fish. When the fish approaches a cleaning station they will pose in an 'unnatural' way to show the cleaner fish that they want to be cleaned and pose no threat, this can be pointing in a strange direction, flaring the gills and opening the mouth wide. The cleaner fish will then eat the parasites directly from the skin of the cleaned fish. It will even swim into the mouth and gills of the fish to be cleaned.
On another dive we interrupted a large barracuda at a cleaning station. When it swam away, two gray angelfish took its spot. By the time the barracuda returned it had to wait at the end of the line for another turn. Kinda made me feel a little bad.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Brown Pelicans at Graham's Cay
Two very cooperative Brown Pelicans at Graham Cay, one of the many tiny cays that surround GuanajaTuesday, March 10, 2009
Weee're Baaack - from Guanaja
Hawksbill Turtle, Guanaja, Islas de la Bahía, HondurasTracey and I are back from our annual winter diving vacation. Thus the lack of posts lately. We went to Guanaja, Bay Islands, Honduras. Amazing, off the beaten track, kind of place. Only a 30 mile or so very wet/wavy boat ride from Oak Ridge, Roatan (another of the Honduran Bay Islands). Beautiful scenery, pristine diving and wonderful people. Enjoy the posts over the next several days.
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