A Nice Day On The Reef, Part II

[Jim Kelly-Evans]

[SUP]The coral reefs of St. Barths are far from dead or dying. Today I went diving at the Ile Coco. You can see the Ile Coco from Saline beach. Depths were around 60 feet. Barths is rich with sea life including turtles and a wide assortment of fish, hard, and soft corals. My diving today gave me the opportunity to observe first hand and photograph a highly dangerous invasive species from the far east, the Lionfish. [/SUP][SUP]According to wiki: "Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, a feature that is uncommon among marine fish in the East Coast coral reefs. The potency of their venom makes them excellent predators and poisonous to fishermen and divers." I photographed two specimens today, a red and white banded fish at Ile Coco, and a black and white banded specimen at a newly established dive site called "Barracuda Palace," near Le Pain de Sucre. It's hard to believe, but these poisonous predators may have been released into the wild by humans unhappy with them as aquarium pets! Enjoy the photos from today!


Ile Coco


Mature French Angelfish


Diver with large barrel sponge


red and white banded Lionfish


resting sea turtle


Longspine Squirrelfish fish and corals (Barracuda Palace)


Barracuda at Barracuda Palace


Black and white banded Lionfish at Barracuda Palace
[/SUP]

 

[cassidain]

Very nice !

 

[MIke R]

great shots..Ile Coco was always my favorite dive of them all there

 

[amyb]

Another wonderful dive-and thank you for sharing the photos.

 

[ChasBidd]

Yes. The pretty Lionfish…. The Lionfish is an invasive species. It has virturally no predators. It eats voratiously. It kills good reef fish. It can harm humans. It is NOT good. Efforts are made to remove it but multiplies so fast that erradication is nearly impossible.

 

[JoshA]

I've seen quite a few lionfish in recent years all over the Caribbean. There is a movement to make them a food item so they will be fished. Requires careful preparation though.

 

[nbs]

Wow! Love the photos and the information! Thanks.