Mastic Trail

Bring real shoes, not flip flops, for this one because the rocks on parts of the trail can be sharp.  You’ll also want water, a hat, and mosquito repellant or long sleeves/pants. It’s not terribly mosquito-y by our standards. But then again, we love swamps and rain forests. This beautiful bit of dry forest has puddles full of butterflies, iguanas, woodpeckers, warblers, and an occasional snake. This forest is hugely important for wintering warblers. It’s also a good place to see some of the island’s parrots. So birders, bring your binoculars. A camera for the frogs and butterflies and orchids would also help. This site is run by the National Trust.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.ky/info/mastic.html

Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park-This site is another good place for birdwatching and iguana encountering. It’s much more civilized than the Mastic Trail. The plants are not all native; they’re the usual mixture you might see in botanical gardens anywhere in the world. Lots of flowers for beautiful stops and pictures. There is a longer trail through native vegetation. Really, it’s a wide road.

You could get away with open footwear here but you may get rocks in those Tevas and sandals. Be sure to use sun tan lotion those toes and bring the hat and water. Because it gets incredibly hot middday in this inland site. The place doesn’t open until about 9 and closes 4:30 or so. So, it’s gonna be hot when you’re there.  Endangered blue iguanas range freely on the property. Call or check the newspaper/tourist brochures for dates/times when they offer a tour of the captive breeding facility for blue iguanas.  The Cayman Blue Iguana lives, well, only on Cayman!

http://www.botanic-park.ky/

Bring your own snacks on these treks because there’s little to nothing available on site.

A good starting place for reef information and reef conservation in the keys is Reef Relief.

http://reefrelief.org/about/history/

General Snorkeling Info on the Keys:

http://www.discoveringfloridakeys.com/florida-keys-snorkeling.php

Pennenkamp Park, the nation’s first underwater park:

http://www.pennekamp.com/

A snorkeling tour company:

http://www.easyadventures.net/charters/snorkeling.php
A Key Largo Sail/snorkel company:

http://www.morningstarcharters.com/

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/underwater/

Wow. Did I say wow? What a difference this has made for me. It’s especially helpful in choppy conditions where getting water in the top of the snorkel can easily happen.

I’d been trained to avoid purge valves. Everyone says they break. They leak. Well, I’ve used this a lot and haven’t had an issue. And, frankly, I’d just get a new snorkel if it did because the purge valve is so useful for us little lunged folk.

Yes, you can clear your snorkel with your own air by blasting it through the top. But, folks, why? With the purge valve your breath only needs to travel to the bottom to get the air out. It’s easy. You don’t have to gasp and blow out with an elephant snort to make it work. For me, it was a revolution.

So, shed those preconceptions. Visit a dive shop and check things out.

If you head out to La Jolla Cove and its natural caves you’ll find kelp beds and lots of gorgeous fish. We recommend visiting the Birch Aquarium at Scripps ahead of time so you’ll know what fish you might see.We were amazed at the colorful variety that live in the kelp beds. To reach this area we rented kayaks downtown then took off the main sandy beach and headed over to the caves. It’s a bit of a paddle for new paddlers. But it’s fun if you take your time.

Apparently, the water is generally calm. Alas, the day we snorksnorkers visited, it was anything but. It was incredibly choppy. Windy. Wild. Bouncy kayaking. Snorkeling wasn’t the greatest that day because the water was so stirred up it was hard to see. But our La Jolla friends say that’s unusual.

Just in case you happen to get a choppy day like that day, here’s a warning. It’s hard as heck to pop back into a kayak when it’s slamming up and down in the waves.

You’ll be glad you rented a wetsuit because the water can be cool here. You can take a snorkel and kayak tour with San Diego Bike and Snorkel Tours.  Seasonally, they offer whale watching and clear bottom kayak tours. (Cool!) Finish off the day with a stroll in La Jolla which has great restaurants and shopping. If you still need more wildlife, check out the sea lion beach. Ask directions or listen for their groans.

That said, there are other ways for snorksnorkers to see and interact with aquatic wildlife here. Monterey Aquarium is a perfect way to introduce yourself to the creatures of the CA coast. It’s one of the best aquariums and research facilities in the world.

Kids ages 8-12 can learn to surface scuba dive in the aquarium’s tide pool. This gives them a great, confidence-building experience and views of animal life.  w.montereybayaquarium.org/efc/efc_programs/adventures_explorers.asp

A better way to experience Monterey’s wildlife is by going on a whale watch boat or by renting a sea kayak. We rented kayaks and had closeup views of sea otters, sea lions, and kelp forests. You should give the sea otters a respectful distance. They do, however, sometimes pop up right by your boat and there’s no helping that. Wish we’d had a waterproof camera at the time!

Our only wish is that the Monterey Kayak folks were more diligent about teaching kayak renters better marine mammal manners. The place is high volume but we don’t think that justifies skimping on really talking to folks about how much space to leave between you and the sea otters. They seem to treat that very casually and the excited kayakers, ready to roll, ignored what little was said. We saw plenty of kayakers being aggressive and getting into the way of sea otters.  Monterey Kayaks has been in business for 25 years or so, with locations here, and also at Elkhorn Slough, an excellent nature spot. So, hopefully, they’ll step up and shore up their pre-kayak-rental talks with more specifics for kayakers on how to avoid disturbing the sea otters tangled out in the kelp.  (The otters wrap themselves in kelp to anchor themselves as they snooze.)

If you want a view without even renting a kayak, just rent an oceanside room at the divine Monterey Bay Hotel Plaza & Spa. Bring your binoculars and watch the sea otters and kayaks from your balcony! We could hear them splashing outside the room. The same view is afforded from the plaza near the dolphin statue even if you are just visiting the hotel for a meal or conference.

So we snorkeled with manatees. Now, having had the experience, and it is a terrrific experience, I am not sure I have the right to say. “Okay, now that I have gone no one else should go.”  But I have come back with some ideas about how to make the experience better for people and more conservation-minded for manatees.

Most people know the manatees suffer from collisions with boats. This is a major cause of death for this rare species. Recent studies indicate that although most people say they slow down for manatee area, they do not, in fact, do so. That is an issue for boat owners. I was surprised by how fast even the manatee-watching boats went on the way to and from the site.

But other stresses on the species include being “over loved.”  Lots of people want to see the manatees. Swim with the manatees. In Crystal River and Homossassa, many businesses are built on just these activities. We went to an excellent, well-respected organization. Great staff. As waited for all our passengers to suit up, we watched the manatee informational/rules video. It covered some of the conservation threats and very briefly, how to behave around a manatee. Do not pursue them. Passively watch them. It’s okay to touch them if they approach you. If you touch them, do so with only one hand.

Unfortunately, even before we even boarded the boat, we had evidence that the manatees were not fully protected. After our video, the videographer showed footage of the previous boat’s trip to some of its passengers. We saw clear violations of the rules. A lady clearly reached out with one arm and then the other, touching the manatee at the same time. It was not a hug, but close to it. The videographer/boat captain pointed them out. “I guess she didn’t understand what I said. I think she may have been French…We could have gotten in trouble for that. There are people out there watching, from cameras and canoes, monitoring what we do. You can be fined.”

Well, that was reassuring. This operation must take these rules seriously. As we traveled down the river, we saw more safeguards.  Several small parts of the river were roped off. The manatees can stay in there, unbothered. We could see, in one cove, dozens of rounded manatee backs sticking up where they were taking advantage of this refuge. No visitors swim or kayak in there. A few homeowners have boats docked in these areas. But, of course, the area is right in front of their homes.

Our captain parked the boat in a sandy/muddy area, next to a roped off, manatee resting spot. 4 or 5 other boats were anchored nearby. Kayakers were tooling around in the water.

The manatees have to leave their spot if they wanted to swim up in the spring. That was where the trouble was. Snorkelers, kayakers, and divers were swimming into and out of the spring, as well.

The first big issue was the conflict of interest involved in our boat captain also being our videographer. She was the first in our group to move close to the manatees. She swam forward and right over one, on purpose, to video it. This shocked me, at first. I thought we were supposed to let the manatees approach us.

Of course, once she did so, the others in the group did the same. I saw snorkelers actually chasing manatees. A very nice couple, one an experienced diver, seemed to totally bypass all we had learned. They actively pursued the manatees.

Only later did they seem to realize that this wasn’t necessary. There were manatees here and there. In the hour or so that I snorkeled, about 6 of them swam under me, just on their daily rounds. I worked hard to keep still, and hold my fins up, fully floating, so they’d have room to go about their business.

The point was that after the trip, the captain seemed to make money directly off the folks buying the video DVDs. (It seemed the deal was to pay her, not the shop. Perhaps that is how they avoided paying her very little or not at all.) So…however much she cares about manatees, her incentive as a business person is to maximize our closeness with the manatees so she can get the manatees AND the snorkelers in the shots.

This is much harder to do than just giving people a good encounter with manatees, a feeling of being in their world. For video, you have to close in on the manatees, and do so in the clear water up in the springs, where you get the best video. A tall order.

I sensed that she had mixed feelings about it. Just think: she isn’t doing this for one nature documentary. She is doing this several times a day, every day, for every boat customer.  That doesn’t give her the freedom to monitor what the snorkelers are doing, or give them a little correction if they need it. It’s just too much to ask one person to do. In our opinion, the commercial for-sale video thing is just one big bad idea. People can snap a photo or video with their own camera, fine. But having the leader actively pursuing the creatures for photography set a bad example and stopped her from monitoring the overall activities of her customers. This kind of arrangement should be banned.

I don’t think we can fault this one shop for doing it. Why? Because they likely have to compete with all the other shops doing it. The only way to manage this is for all of them to stop the commercial video by the guide.

A few small changes in snorkeler/diver education could help the manatees. An introductory video to manatee rules is not enough. If I hadn’t seen it for myself, I would not have believed it. People just did not act on any of what they supposedly learned. I believe, in addition to the video, that the captain should be required to give a quick, five minute review with large flip charts, just before the snorkelers get in the water. (I have seen this kind of review for divers on diveboats.) It should be clear cut.

Do you agree not to chase after the manatees?   (Everyone would actually have to say yes. As in acknowledge the info.)

If approached by a manatee, do you agree to only use one hand to touch them?  YES.

Will you be “quiet like a manatee” and avoid splashing, extra kicking, and noise?  YES

Etcetera. Something like that. Five questions should do it.

As excited as people are, and distracted by getting all the gear and wetsuits at the shop, they need review on those rules, right on site, just before getting in.

Another big problem was the bottleneck, the area where the snorkelers, manatees, divers, and kayakers entered the spring. This was a major traffic jam. As a snorkeler, I was trying to navigate and respectfully avoid the manatees. But you can’t, as a snorkeler, keep track of what is under you, when you are being bonked by paddles and also actual kayaks, above water.  I don’t think there is any reason that kayaks or snorkelers are a big issue. It’s just that the two don’t mix. Above and below water traffic at the same time does not work. They literally need a traffic person at the entrance of the spring to hold back one type of traffic, then let the other go in.

The next issue is divers. When we entered the Spring, divers had been doing a checkout dive there and the water was murky from these inexperienced divers stirring up the sand and standing on the bottom as they accomplished their buoyancy and mask tasks. This was inexcusable!  To do this kind of checkout at such a fragile ecological spot is crazy.  It’s asking for trouble. In fact, I don’t think SCUBA divers should be allowed into the springs at all. The water is so shallow that you can see from a snorkeling viewpoint just fine. There just shouldn’t be folks consistently deeper. The manatees should have at least that world to themselves. Snorkelers should be asked not to skin dive—dive deeper from the surface— as well.

The last big issue, perhaps the biggest problem for the manatees, was the three local kids who came kicking and screaming into the spring and actively chased the manatee. Clearly, they had no instruction in what to do because they were not on a tour. The tour leaders said this was a common problem. In this case, none of the tour leaders even bothered to correct the kids’ behavior. I called out the kids and told them not to hassle the manatees.

Even if the kids had been given some guidance, they lacked two major things: flotation and fins. I had to sympathize. The water was freezing cold and they were splashing to keep warm and to keep afloat and to swim. This, in turn, creates a lot of waves. There was really no way they could just float and quietly watch the animals, even if they had wanted to. Their little feet had to kick to keep afloat.

No one should be allowed in the springs without some manatee education, plus a wetsuit, a snorkel vest, or some other kind of flotation. And they must have fins, so they can kick gently on top of the water. In fairness to local residents, perhaps some spare sets of these should be available for checking out near the entrances to the major springs.

Even with all these safeguards, the manatees would still need rest. Zoo animals have “off time” when they are taken off display to rest. Perhaps afternoon manatee trips should be cancelled or limited to certain hours. We were on an afternoon trip. The manatees were trying to snooze. I saw some come up from their naps, and actively try to find a quiet spot, away from snorkelers, to sleep.

Having boats there in large numbers also causes a real build up of boat fumes, right above water where we are all snorkeling and the manatees are breathing. They are mammals, like us, after all. Perhaps there needs to be some limit in the number of boats, or perhaps they should anchor farther away from the manatee resting area.

How can all this be done? It will cost money. Yes, it will cost money to have extra educational materials and someone to monitor the major spring entrances. But there are people making good money off these animals in that community. I can imagine the local pressure on conservation officials and concerned citizens to go along with the status quo is tremendous. But if the whole operation isn’t cleaned up more, I think the entire practice of snorkeling with manatees could be banned, perhaps should be banned.

I can only compare this with the careful control of wildlife encounters in the Galapagos Islands. The guides and rangers at that park have it down to a science. They tow a hard line, but even then, ecotourism does have somewhat of an impact.   The manatees are wondrous, humongous creatures. I am sure that encountering has inspired people and made them more bonded with nature and interested in conservation. That said, I don’t see the snorkeling with manatees working long term without some serious changes for the good of manatees and observers.

Captain Mike’s, in Homossassa, which has a big web and business presence, had heated, private boats. But those were booked for the day. Oh well.  We resigned ourselves to birdwatching instead of manatee snorkeling, if necessary.

But we found an outfitter that had morning and thank heavens, afternoon departures. The guides at Crystal River Resort, the nice lodge where we were staying, had at 7:30 am departure when it was still 28 degrees. Leave that to the extremely hardy.

Manatees swim up into the waters of Crystal River to reach relatively warm water. The used to only come in the winter. But smaller numbers now stay year round. We had come in February, the peak of their density in the waterways.

We’d been told that the manatees were most active in the morning. But we’d also heard that when the weather was this cold, manatee watching should be fine all day long. (I had to wonder what difference morning temperature would make to a creature in water of fairly constant 72 degrees.  But what did I know? I wasn’t onsite with the creatures. These people were. )

We arranged to go on a 1pm tour. At 12:15 we were there, wetsuits and snorkel gear in hand. Our suits were 3 mil thickness. This operator only had 3 mil wetsuits. We remembered that another operator, at the Plantation Inn, had 5 mil wetsuits. We expressed concern. The guide divulged that she often wore two wetsuits for warmth. Well, that sounded good. We each rented a second long wetsuit to go under our own, shorter ones.

Okay, so you’re thinking we are cold wimps. Yes sirree, Bob! We’ve been in it, and we do not enjoy it. 72 degree water, in case you’ve never been in it, is far different from 72 degree air.  Water wicks away heat. In the Galapagos, we snorkeled in 74 degree water, and it was frigid. Even with a shorty wetsuit, you shiver tremendously after 30 or so minutes in the water. Plus, snorkeling is generally not a very active sport. This is particularly true if you are being respectful of wildlife and trying to observe it. The goal is to use your legs to propel yourself and gentle kick. You really don’t use your arms.

So, suited up in our double wetsuits, approximating stuffed sausages images of Jacques Cousteau, we watched the manatee informational/rules video. It covered some of the conservation threats and very briefly, how to behave around a manatee. Do not pursue them. Passively watch them. It’s okay to touch them if they approach you. If you touch them, do so with only one hand.

We boarded the boat and began our adventure. We boarded the boat and began our adventure. There were 11 of us. Two children, maybe ages 6 and 9, with their own diminutive wetsuits. They seemed seasoned as snorkelers.

We chugged down the canal. We slipped into the water. It was cold. Very cold. But the manatee encounters were wonderful. The water was stirred up—lots of flecks of dirts. Some manatees stayed in their safe areas, beyond ropes and buoys where we could not go. But you could swim along the edge and see the manatees inside. Frankly, this would have been enough.

But there was more. We moved up into a spring with beautiful dark trees hanging overhead. Some kind of needlefish swam just below the water’s surface. There were several species of fish that reminded me of what we see in tropical waters. And, beneath, were manatees.

You’d look and look for them. Then suddenly, you’d look down and there they were, swimming right below you, a few feet away. We heard a baby call to its mothers. One swam under me and I reached out and felt its algae-covered back as it passed. We saw fish schools swarm on these algae-lawn covered manatees, presumably dining on the greens.

We stayed in the water for more than an hour. Not too smart. When we got out, my legs barely worked and my speech was slurred. I was that cold. If you stop shivering and get confused, you’re too cold folks. Most of the smarter folks were already on the boat, where they served hot chocolate and something sweet to eat. That was the best hot chocolate in the world.

http://www.backscatter.com/learn/article/article.php?ID=57

Photos of the aquarium here:

Why wear fins? Used properly, fins can help you travel farther, float better, and more safely return to the boat/shore with less effort.

Not having to kick to keep your legs up, and being able to easily shift direction can help you in observing wildlife. You can float quietly, barely moving, as turtles, squid, and fish swim around you. This helps you see more and it’s less intrusive to wildlife, as well.

Despite these advantages, some folks refuse to wear fins. We snork snorkers might even be related to a few of these crusty, obstinate fin-refusers. “They hurt my heels!” they say. “Too much hassle to carry to the water and put on,” others say. “Hmmph! Useless extra technology and cost.”

Well, we hmmph back. Because the right fins can expand your snorkeling world. It’s time for those of you hurt by the wrong fins to get some fin therapy and try the better options out there.

Some of us use dive fins, those honking long fins. But for the avid snorkelers, these are overkill. They are hard to maneuver in the shallow, tight areas we often snorkel. Too much fin is more likely to damage a reef if the snorkeler needs to pull up and tread water to fix a mask or look for a snorkeling companion. And let’s face it, they are a pain to pack for a trip.  That’s room we could fill with fish guides and other fun items.

The rubber fins available for free or rent at snorkeling locations are fine. Yes, some of them can do a job on your heels. It’s important to get the right fit. Or, wear water shoes—booties—if you can fit them inside. Or socks. Or anything to keep the heel rubbing to a minimum.

Better still are fins designed especially for swimming and snorkeling. This snorksnorker has a pair of spectacular fins. (Older model Aqualung Sport but they have similar new ones, see www.aqualungsport.com) They are shorter than dive fins, yet made of sturdy plastic. The adjustable length heel strap has a soft, spongy heel cup that is comfy. You can wear them best without booties but sometimes we wear booties to walk out in the surf, so we just adjust the heel strap and put the fins on over the booties. It’s a tad awkward, but worth it.

One thing, though. Remember: take the stiff plastic curved piece out of the fins before you leave shore.

I repeat. Take out the piece inside the fins. This helps the rubber part of the fin keep shape when you are not in them. But they are a pain if you accidentally…um…wear them while snorkeling and wonder why those fins are so tight!  (Or end up snorkeling around having to carry those doggone things.)

Snorkeling 101 by Aqualung Sport

http://www.aqualungsport.com/us/content/view/66/67/

While snorkeling in Galapagos, we SnorkSnorkers saw a beautiful white-tipped reef shark. We snorkeled past penguins sitting on rocks, just a few feet away. We pretended to be penguins, diving down into huge shoals of millions of small silver fish. We saw large sea stars that had looked like they had chocolate chips all over them. We snorkeled over aquatic iguanas that were grazing on seaweed on underwater rocks.

Some of our group encountered Manta Rays. We had some great interactions with sea lions. A frolicsome female sea lion nipped my flipper. Then repeatedly played chicken with me: swimming quickly toward my face, then skimming alongside my body without touching me. No telling why it only did this to me and not the other 12 snorkelers in the group.  In warmer months, encounters with sea turtles are likely.

A more detailed list will have to await another  SnorkSnork trip to Galapagos someday. Alas, this snorkeling report is from a trip over a decade ago.

A good travel company?  There are several but ours—Galapagos Travel—was incredible in terms of natural history detail and high quality guides. Their in country service, the folks who handle the airports and all the details of travel are amazing.

But if you’re looking for living coral, go elsewhere. Our informal survey—snorkeling for two weeks, twice a day, in every snorkeling place from shore we could manage—shows that those shallow reefs have been hit hard by hurricane and bleaching events, such as the one in 1998 and even the recent one in 2005.

98% of the coral we saw was dead. We had to search long and hard for a living brain coral, and even harder to find the living elkhorn coral.

Yes, it’s sad. But you don’t stop loving a person or habitat because of illness. We saw Cayman’s reefs in their heyday. We’ve been going there on and off for twenty years. So we still had incredible wildlife experiences: seeing eagle rays, watching parrotfish get cleaned, and seeing lobsters walk.

Plus, strolling the Cayman beach in the morning, and seeing the sunset is spectacular. The island has a whole buffet of attractions for vacationers. But coral that snorkelers can easily see? Not much.

Divers, with their greater range, doubtless, have access to more coral and better reefs.  Cayman is famous for its diving and the status of those deeper water areas is something I cannot fully estimate.

Indeed, some of the great coral we saw was at depth…40-60 feet below us as we snorkeled near the mini-walls in the North of Grand Cayman at Cobalt Reef. More on that in another post. Below are some things we saw on a few snorkels just off 7 mile.

Monday August 9th

Eyed Flounder

Stoplight Parrotfish, also  initial phase

Fairy basslet

sergeant major

damselfish

silversides

tarpon

blue tang

smooth trunkfish

black durgon

queen triggerfish

parrotfish

Monday Eve Dusk

French Angelish juvenile

anemone

reef squirrelfish

butterflyfish…banded.

spotted moray

blue tang juvenile.

TUESDAY AUGUST 10th

blue tang juvenile

bluehead  (wrasse)

spotted butterfly fish

banded butterflyfish

blue chromis

redband parrotfish

sand tilefish

squirrelfish

Here are a few reports from places we snorkeled in August 2008:

Cracked Conch

Walk through outdoor bar and climb down the dock. Folks are friendly and you can eat there afterwards, even in wet suit with snorkel mask marks on your face. This site is in front of the Cracked Conch restaurant, not far from the turtle farm. There is a full dive shop here and divers leave from this shore site as well.

It is surprisingly simple to get into the water on this rocky shoreline. It was fairly calm the day we were there so we did not feel like the waves would crash us into the dark coral walls. But it is good to put on your booties/fins or just float when you get in, in case you meet slippery rock. (Watch out for sea urchins. But be sure to checkout the pinkish, trilobite-like creatures called ornate chitons.)

Our highlights: 11 Caribbean Reef Squid met us right in that little cove. We watched them change colors to pale and speckled, like the sandy floor. They turned brown and gold speckled to float around. Later, we watched them telegraph meaning with blue and pink sparkles. At one point, 9 of the squid floated, pale pink, together. This was when we saw them later. Two of the smaller squid had gotten separated from the school and were still in the cove. But 9 were out in the water.

Strangely, there were definitely two “lead” squid…nine of the squid were the same size…smaller. Then there was a much larger squid, and a second moderate size one that hung together with the big one, slightly apart from the rest of the school.

We watched them for about 20 minutes, as long as we wanted. Seven staggered themselves in a line, around the contour of a coral outcrop, and with dark bodies matching it.  Meanwhile two others hovered over the seafloor below us…with a color to match. Then they joined all together in a lavendar hue.

Another highlight: saw lots of cleaning behavior.  And…we saw a barracuda lunge in and grab a large chub right in front of us…maybe 12 feet away, at eye level. We had a clear view.

Wonderful scrawled filefish, just off the dock.

Large schools of parrotfish. Also saw a houndfish, and beautiful angefish.

Saw Goatfish digging in soft sand with barbels. It put its whole face into the sand! This was in the inlet right in front of the Cracked Conch.

Overall, a really fun snorkel. The waves can be choppy up here in the north but you don’t need to go far from the cove to see a large number of species. Always worth a dip.

Lighthouse Point? Not sure the name, but this is the Divetech Shorediving area on the way to the turtle farm. Water extremely clear. Not as many fish near shore as at the Cracked Conch. But schools of parrotfish. Some parrotfish being cleaned by gobies.

One big barracuda. A huge porcupinefish under a ledge, slightly inflated and seemingly much browner than usual. A Smooth Trunkfish. We see these a lot in these degraded close to shore habitats. Swam out to the “mini-wall” at the red buoys set by Divetech. Snorkeled a couple hundred yards to reach it. At that point, the ocean floor is about at 40 feet deep, and then drops to 60 feet deep.

Visibility, of course, is decreased. But even from above you can see large schools of parrotfish, jacks, and some barrel sponges.  There we swam above divers and saw one taking photos of a sea turtle. It was an adult green turtle. Wow! We watched it fly underwater below us, at depths of about 50 feet.

Off Boggy Sands Turned near Esso. Parked at Heritage Square…relatively large lot. Then walked to where houses begin, down to shore, and back along wall to swim out through yucky water…algae and some garbage to get out to crumbled reef.

Playing moon jelly pinball.  We were the balls…bouncing around, trying to avoid moon jellies. We swam several hundred yards offshore…really farther than most would. There were a few nice coral heads…a living elkhorn coral or so. Fish diversity was fairly good. The highlight was Ocean Triggerfish. They are pale blue, 1.5 feet or so, and so placid, so gentle in their swim, flapping fins side to side like some kind of mola mola.

Also saw a humongous Queen Triggerfish…almost as big as the Ocean Triggerfish. Saw a lot of Slippery Dicks. Very colorful kind of fish, in case you are wondering. Look it up in a fish book, and probably not in Google!

Others in our group swam out farther directly in line with the first red tiled roof house on Boggy Sand. They said they found incredible coral heads, quite far out. Some of the best snorkeling they’d seen on Cayman.

We drifted toward 6 or so jellyfish-ish creatures made of strands. At that point, we got the heck out of dodge. Perhaps the recent articles about sea wasps stings (very rare) had “fired” our imagination. Moon jellies..fine. But miscellaneous, unidentified tentacles? Uh, no.

We climbed out and returned to Boggy Sands Road by what seemed to be a public access route, or at least a chain link passageway between a few houses near the seawall.

First off is Whalewatcher: A global guide ot watching whales, dolphins, and porpoises in the wild by Trevor Day, Firefly Books, 2006. Recommended. Good tips for distinguishing among various types of whales and dolphins. It also has 2-4 page profiles on various whale and dolphin species, with their natural history and a small map of where to watch them. We could have used a little more of that travel information, but, frankly, some info is on the web and would likely change before the book came out. Either way, this book is a fresh, up-to-date book, probably the best for a whale watcher or deep water snorkeler who is out to see whales or might see some whales and dolphins on the boat ride.

Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises by Mark Carwadine. Fog City Press, 1998. This book has come out again and again, in slightly different formats and with many presses.

For the whalewatching traveler, this book actually has the most info

rmation of any on the market. It has a humongous resource section, plus spreads on various regions of the world and where you can see whales there. Also, it has terrific introductions to overall biological features and short life histories of many species. The layouts, factoids, and charts are engaging. Recommended.

Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises (A Smithsonian Handbook) by Mark Carwadine (1995) is a Dorling Kindersley Book with all the gorgeous graphics you expect from them. It’s by the same author as the book above, so there’s plenty of natural history information, too. It has whale watching tips, as well. It is a handbook, so it’s more portable and has a sturdy cover.  Recommended.

Princeton Field Guide: Whales, Dolphins, and Marine Mammals of the World by Hadoram Shirihai and Brett Jarrett (Princeton University Press, 2006). This compact guide has a lot of photos and drawings, a clean design like a DK book. It profiles lots of whales and dolphin species plus polar bears, seals, sea lions, and walrus. The best thing about the book is the abundance of information about sea mammal behaviors. The book also has lots of diagrams that compare body features of similar species, helping to tell these creatures apart. Recommended.

A few other books to consider in the oldies but goodies section. You might consider:

Humpback Whales by Phil Clapham (Voyageur Press, 1996) is a terrific life history by a renowned researcher.  Hawaii’s Humpback Whales by Gregory D. Kaufman & Paul H. Forestell (Island Heritage, 1986) is a very old guide in style and localized. But it’s packed full of info for the Hawaii whale watcher.

If you’ve got mask face (deep lines where the mask attaches) chances are, you have it on too tight. This actually makes it more likely to gap and lose seal. Too tight, and the mask shape distorts and causes those gaps. Counterintuitive, but it’s true.

Loosen it up so it gently sits on your face. Check the seal by sniffing in air through your nose and see if the mask feels tight on your face. The water will help press the mask against your face. .

Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to the Biology, Behavior, and Conservation.

James R. Spotila, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004.

If you love sea turtles, you’ll love this book. And if you are going snorkeling in an area that has a lot of sea turtles, you’ll want this sea turtle book in the condo or back at home. This is especially true if you have kids and they have lots of questions. Or if, like us, you are several decades old and still have endless questions.

The book is a big, coffee-table sized book. So it’s not an easy pack for a trip. But if you were going on a sea turtle conservation trip, it might be worth trying to fit in. If not, have it ordered and ready for when you come home, still dreaming of the sea and full of questions.

Here’s why this is a great book. James R. Spotila, who wrote it, actually knows something. Nothing against science writers here. I am one. But Spotila is a lifelong sea turtle researcher and it shows in the depth of knowledge he presents. He is a leatherback expert but he covers all the species.

You can purchase them as a set. Reef Fish, Reef Creatures, and Reef corals. We only have the first two. We opted against the corals, mostly because, as snorkelers, we see relatively few types of corals, compared to what divers see. But you may want the whole set. For snorkelers on tight budgets, we’d recommend buying the Reef Fish Behavior volume by the same authors instead of the coral one.

These are THE guides and well worth the money. Smaller or more international guides just won’t do. Even on a relatively rubbly, nearshore area in Grand Cayman, we see a huge diversity of fish, as many as 20 species. Plus the creature guide comes in handy for octopus, crabs, jellyfish, and the like. These books are what make the evenings, after snorkeling, great fun. You need good books so you can argue about what you saw! Insist and support your assertions with these photographic books. Incidentally, the cost of the books is related to the heavy duty, sturdy paper and  color pages. It’s necessary for I.D. and it doesn’t come cheap. We are glad these publishers supply an important need.