Marine Life

In just a few short days, we’ve had amazing fortune in observing marine life. Humpbacks and other Atlantic whales migrate to the Caribbean in winter. While Zoe was driving on the sail to St. Barts, she and Tom saw a humpback whale jump about 60 feet off our starboard. It was one of those “Whoa, how amazing!!” quickly followed by “Oh sh*#!! What if it keeps coming this way” moments. While JT and I were also right there, we unfortunately missed the breech, but glimpsed the whale as it surfaced again a scant quarter mile off our stern.

 Some statics say that over 80 percent of the reefs in the Caribbean have died. To preserve their tourist lifeline, some islands have created marine parks. For a modest fee, these parks provide moorings, while prohibiting anchoring, spearfishing and jetskis. These simple changes have purportedly significantly restored fish stocks in the parks. Also, as seagrass returns to the ocean floor, grazing sea turtle sightings are increasingly common. We’ve spent a couple days in 2 different parks on St. Barts and have really enjoyed them. While snorkeling, we’ve been treated to a huge variety of colorful reef fish, and some amazing gems. On one outing, we spotted an octopus as it repositioned itself under a rock, a spiny lobster, and a large trunk fish. We’ve also had a couple of close encounters with sea turtles. The coral, while pretty, seem sparse compared with my memory of Cayman Islands 20 years ago.  The only catch is that one cannot keep anything found in a marine park, so Zoe has been disappointed by having to return perfect shells to the ocean. Our counsel that there are plenty of shells in the Caribbean seems like idle promises.

Even the regular anchorages seem to offer abundant marine life. In Gustavia at St. Barts, JT noticed a spotted ray and later was watching a juvenile angelfish eat, until it was gulped whole by a larger fish. Talk about the cycle of life.  On several occasions, we’ve spotted sea turtles popping their heads up. At dusk in Marigot, I noticed a ray leaping over a foot out of the water, like some huge hovering bat.  With such an awesome start, we are keeping our fingers crossed about what the next couple months hold.