Hi divers,
Thursday, November 12, 2009
New seahorse at Alice in Wonderland!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Seahorses and Lionfish
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Seahorse at All West Apartments
Hello everybody,
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Update on Lion-Fish situation
Hi everyone,
Please find below an update on the Lion-Fish sighting - and now capture - on Aruba.
Greetings from Curacao (no Lion-Fish reported yet)
Andreas
Byron Boekhoudt, Coastal Zone Management coordinator of Aruba, reports that yesterday diveshop Unique Sports on Aruba went back to the spot where a lionfish had been reported last week and was able to locate and capture it. People from the Aruba fisheries department (DLVV) were alerted and picked up the fish. Byron Boekhoudt will arrange to take samples of the fish for DNA analysis through the REEF organization, who are working with experts to analyze genetic material from Lionfish from all over the Caribbean and Western Atlantic to establish the relationships between local populations.
The captured lionfish (see pictures below) was estimated to measure about 20 cm from the tip of its mouth to the fork of its tail. It is now temporarily on display at Buccaneer restaurant, who kindly cooperated and provided their aquarium to keep it until everything is ready to euthanize it and prepare the DNA samples according to the protocol provided by REEF. Only four months ago REEF held a very timely workshop in Bonaire to prepare for the coming of the lionfish in the Dutch Caribbean islands.
Lionfish are considered a dangerous pest (invasive species) because they are not native to the Caribbean, reproduce quickly, have no natural enemies on the Caribbean reefs (except for large groupers which are practically extinct because of overfishing), and devour large amounts of small and juvenile fish dramatically reducing recruitment of new reef fish such as snappers, groupers, grunts and parrotfish. They also have sharp highly venomous spines that cause excruciating pain when stung, and in exceptional cases can even cause death in humans. Lionfish started their conquest of the Caribbean in 1992, presumably after having been released or escaped frorm an aquarium in Florida. First they spread northwards along the coast of the US. Ten years later they jumped to the Bahamas, a few years later to Cuba, and in just the past two years spread among all the northern islands of the Caribbean and Central America. A map of their progression can be found at the followoing website:
http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/lionfish_progression/lionfish_progression.html
Because lionfish spread by dispersal of larvae that can travel great distances in the sea currents, and they live down to depths of 175 m (600 ft), it is practically impossible to completely eradicate them once they are established, with new larvae continuously coming in from distant locations. The only practicable response is to control their numbers by capturing them as soon as they are spotted. They are easily caught using two hand nets, and they are good to eat.
Best,
Paul
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
So far no lion-fish on Curacao, but...
Hello everybody,
Friday, September 4, 2009
Manta Rays at All West!!!
Hi there,
Early this afternnon a group of Brazilian divers met 2 huge manta rays when diving Alice in Wonderland right in front of Ocean Encounters West dive shop.
check out the video on YouTube
A bit later, the two giants (the bigger one with a wing span of approximately 15ft, the other one only slightly smaller!) had travelled over to Playa Piscado in front of All West Apartments. One got caught briefly in the moring line of a fisherman's boat, with the result that the line got ripped off the anchor block and the fisherman's boat went sailing towards the open sea on its own. OEW manager Bryan towed it back with our dive boat.
In the meantime, the mantas kept swimming around in shallow water, clearly visible from the balconies of All West Apartments. It looked spectacular, with their wingtips cutting the surface every now and then! While I watched the rays from above, a guest family went down to snorkel with them - the giants passed right underneath them, so you could get a good estimate of their size. I am pretty sure that tonight at Sol Food we'll have a lot to discuss over a couple of beers (and pizza, and brownies), and the rays will grow even bigger in our stories
Greetings from sunny "Manta" Curacao
Andreas
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Divemaster Training at Ocean Encounters West
Hi there,
Coral Spawning 2009
Coral Spawning 2009
September 10th, 2009
Come and join Ocean Encounters West for this year’s spectacular spawning event!!
What is Coral Spawning?
Twice a year, in September and October, one week after full moon, all over the world this miraculous event happens: the coral starts spawning. In a period of a few days several types of coral, sea urchins, soft corals, worms, brittle stars and sponges release their eggs and sperm.
For information about coral spawning and to contribute to the spawning observations go to the Reef Care Curaçao web site.
When & Where
- Sept. 10th @ 6:00pm: SOL Food – Westpunt (www.curacaosunshine.com)
- Dr. Mark Vermeij from Carmabi will be giving an awesome Coral Spawning Presentation detailing what to expect and diving protocols
- Sunshine will be serving her legendary Pizza with Non-Alcoholic Drinks
- 9:00pm at Ocean Encounters West – Playa Kalki, Westpunt
o Guided Night shore dive to witness the spectacular spawning event
- After the dive social – talk about what we witnessed over a few Polars!
Price: $75 USD/pp (all incl.) – space is limited – please reserve in advance!!
Dive Shop Ph#: 5999-864-0102 Email: info@oceanencounterswest.com
www.oceanencounterswest.com
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Back to Curacao / Zurück auf Curacao
Hello everybody,
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
How about a nurse shark?
Hi divers,
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Humpback Whales @ All West Apartments!
Hi divers,
Can you believe this? 1 week after I took KLM flight 785 to Europe they see a female humpback whale in our bay having a baby ans I am not there.
Unfortunately the most detailed photo I received is this (the black thing in the centre of the picture is the mother whale descending):
But one more time I have to say: Everything's possible at All West Curacao!!!!
Greetings from Hamburg, Germany
Andreas
BTW: They also saw a big Manta ray at Watamula these days...
Hallo zusammen,
ist es zu glauben? 1 Woche nachdem ich den KLM Flug 785 nach Europa bestiegen habe, taucht eine Buckelwalkuh vor All West auf und bring ihr Kalb zur Welt!
Leider habe ich kein detaillierteres Foto bekommen als das weiter oben in diesem Eintrag (der schwarze Klumpen in der Bildmitte ist die Wal-Mama beim Abtauchen); nichtsdestotrotz kommen wir einmal mehr zu der Schlussfolgerung - nichts ist unmöglich @ All West Curacao!
Fröhliche Flossenschläge aus Hamburg
Andreas
P. S.: So ganz nebenbei haben unsere Taucher dieser Tage bei Watamula auch noch einen riesigen Manta (rochen, nicht -Manni) gesehen...
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Hammerhead @ All West Apartments
Hi Divers,
Friday, February 27, 2009
"Hitchcock's Birds" @ Playa Kalki
Hi Divers,
Not only Curacao's underwater creatures are very exciting; also on shore there is a lot to see.
Lately, the couple of Brown Pelicans we used to admire fishing in front of our dive shop or posing on our dock have been breeding - now there is 6 to 7 pelicans around that are very nice to watch, elegant flyers all of them.
When they are all together sitting on the dock in the morning hours it seems to me a bit like a scene out of Hitchcock's famous movie "Birds", though ;-)
Best regards from Curacao
Andreas
Hallo Taucher,
nicht nur die Unterwasser-Lebewesen rund um Curacao sind aufregend zu beobachten.
Kürzlich hat das Pelikan-Paar, das wir schon länger beim Fischfang oder beim Posieren auf unserem Bootsanleger (ihrem "Laufsteg") bewundern durften, gebrütet. Jetzt zeigen 6 oder 7 Pelikane regelmäßig vor unserer Tauchbasis ihre eleganten Flugkünste.
Wenn sie allerdings morgens alle zusammen auf dem Pier sitzen, erinnert mich das doch ein wenig an Szenen aus Hitchcocks Klassiker "Die Vögel" ;-)
Ein fröhlicher Flossenschlag aus Curacao
Andreas
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Hammerhead @ Playa Shon Mosa
Hi all,
This sounds incredible, but it's true - have a look at the video stream below; thank you very much to Marek for allowing us to put it here:
All West Apartments guests Marek Teterycz and his girlfriend Catherine met a big hammerhead shark today shore diving in front of Playa Shon Mosa at a depth of 50ft!
One more time we get a proof that everything is possible diving around Curacao :-)
Best regards
Andreas
Hallo zusammen,
es scheint unglaublich, ist aber war:
Unsere Gäste Marek und Catherine aus den USA haben heute vor Playa Shon Mosa in 16m Tiefe einen großen Hammerhai getroffen. Zum Beweis schaut Euch einfach das kurze Video oben an!!! Vielen Dank an Marek, dass wir dieses Video hier zeigen dürfen.
Einmal mehr bleibt also festzuhalten: Nichts ist unmöglich, in den blauen Wassern rund um Curacao!
Ein fröhlicher Flossenschlag
Andreas
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Dolphins @ Watamula!!!
Hello everybody,
Yesterday I had one of the most exciting ocean encounters (west) ever:
Doing my safety stop towards the end of a drift dive at Watamula a group of 20 - 30 dolphins came swimming by!
Other than on the dolphin dive organized by our colleagues in town together with the Ciracao Dolphin Academy, I had never seen these facinating mammals while SCUBA-Diving - and now there were so many of them; it was simply thrilling!
Unfortunately nobody had a camera in the water, so I cannot post any pictures of this marvelous scene. Maybe next time I even get a bit more lucky...
Kind regards from Curacao
Andreas
Hallo zusammen,
gestern hatte ich eine meiner schönsten Unterwasserbegegnungen überhaupt:
Als ich zum Ende eines Strömungstauchgangs in Watamula beim Sicherheitsstop war, kam eine Gruppe von 20-30 Delfinen dicht vorbeigeschwommen! Außer auf dem von unseren Kollegen in der Stadt und der Dolphin Academy organisierten Dolphin Dive hatte ich vorher nie die Gelegenheit mit diesen faszinierenden Meeressäugern zu tauchen; und dann waren es gleich so viele - einfach umwerfend!
Leider hatte niemand eine Kamera dabei, so dass ich hier keine Fotos veröffentlichen kann. Vielleicht habe ich ja beim nächsten Mal noch mehr Glück...
Ein fröhlicher Flossenschlag aus Curacao
Andreas