Spotted Eagle Ray pair
off Fourth Cut reef

Cruising the edge where the Fourth Cut reef wall drops dramatically into deeper water, this pair of eagle rays soared right by us. We dove this reef out of the Hopkins area very late in the day and, toward the end of the dive, saw a great variety of wildlife, including two pairs of eagle rays.

The action seems to really pick up toward dusk, as the day creatures are finishing their shift and the night animals are arriving. Even with the waning afternoon light, a 30th of a second exposure at f/5.6 was just enough to catch this pair.

Atlantic Spadefish at the
Elbow at Turneffe Atoll

Overall, The Elbow was disappointing, or at least relative to the literature. A nice wall but much of the dive was spent at the back reef.

We did see: cubera snapper, black grouper, dog snapper, 25 or so permit, many marching creole wrasse and this graceful shoal of 30 or so Atlantic spade fish.

We also found an uncommon dark mantis shrimp but I couldn't manage a picture up in the crevice where it took refuge.

Honeycomb Cowfish
at Front Porch Reef

This honeycomb cowfish's body markings help it blend into the reef background at Front Porch, near Turneffe atoll. Since it's body shape doesn't allow it to be too swift in the water, that camouglage is important.
And, although I failed to make the picture where you can clearly see the front of this unusual fish, it is named for the two sharp and hard spines above each eye. This guy is in the boxfish group and distiguished from its cousins, the trunkfishes, by those horns.

Barracuda at North Wall reef, Silk Cayes

I found this very large barracuda in unusually deep water, around 100 feet. At first, it did not appear skittish, allowing me to approach very closely for a photograph with the 15mm lens. But, after one bright flash in its eyes, it was gone in a, well, flash.

This reef was an amazing wall beginning at sixty feet. I got a quick glimpse of a passing large shark down the wall. I could not see the head but from the long caudal fin and back of body, I'm pretty sure it was a hammerhead.