January: Photo composition showing the underside of fish is a frequent theme of my photography. This Southern Stingray, shot off o Belize, is an example of this composition.
February: This Great Egret was feeding in the salt flats of Dog Beach in San Diego. Not part of the Mesoamerican Reef, but an image worthy of sharing. Sharron selected this to be her birthday month photo.
Spy hopping is a common behavior of Gray Whales and often seen during mating and birthing season in San Ignacio Lagoon. The Lagoon is about halfway down the Baja Peninsula, on the Pacific Coast. You can see more whale photography at https://neal213b.myportfolio.com/whales-of-san-ignacio-lagoon.
I adopted the Robert Capa (1913-1954) statement “If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough” as a guiding philosophy for my photography. This image of a Nassau Grouper off Ambergris Caye, Belize, employs being very close to capture the fish’s personality.
This Pipefish is about 6-7 cm in length. It was feeding in the sand on Esmerelda Reef, off Ambergris Caye, Belize.
Schools of small Squid are quite common throughout the world’s oceans. Nonetheless, it is always exciting to see them and to get close enough to really capture the intelligence in their eyes. This encounter was on Lighthouse Reef well east of Belize City, Belize.
The delicate structures of the Featherduster Worm are essential to its successful feeding. The Worms are highly sensitive to ambient light and pressure, changes causing it to instantly retract into its tube. This one was shot on Lighthouse Reef, Belize.
This cluster of Bispira was found on the south shore of Roatan, Honduras. Bispira is a genus of marine Bristleworm. It is found in many colors, though most I have seen are white.
Bluebell Tunicates are only found around Utila, Honduras. These tiny invertebrate animals are stationary, feeding and reproducing in the location where they first attached to the substrate as they matured.
My experience with Seahorse on the Mesoamerican Reef was that the largest, such as this one, were primarily in the south and examples become smaller toward the north. Recent conditions increased the range of the large seahorse. This one, and several like it, were found in Belize and Cozumel.
The hooked tail of Arrow Blenny and their swimming 1-2 meters above the reef fascinates me. This is reflected in their repeat appearance in the Calendar. This one was spotted on a dive site named “Aquarium” which is part of the Lighthouse Reef atoll.
This Barrel Sponge is clearly the table upon which we must celebrate the holiday season, in Roatan.
There are always a few images I want in the calendar but do not quite make the cut. This sunset was taken at the Pelican Sunset restaurant on Caye Caulker, Belize. The restaurant is one of our favorites on the island.
The second is a Barrel Sponge from Roatan. It was shot with a Nikon 12-24 mm lens on a Nikon D500.