Scuba Bonaire: The Lake, June 30

One of our yoga teachers told us that The Lake was her favorite site, so we decided to check it out. We brought along our friends from Dorothy Rose, who had their turn with the community truck that day. The lake gets its name from the big sandy area between the reefs; as you swim along the edge, it’s kind of like you’re circling a lake of sand.

Many people report seeing big critters skulking around in the sand. We were not so lucky (or observant, maybe). But we found the back reef fascinating, full of big coral structures and sponges. Often with fish hiding in them.

A couple of weird things: this giant anemone sheltering an arrow crab instead of the usual cleaner shrimp. And, on the right, see those shiny balls? That’s a bubble algae, and it’s among the largest single-celled organisms in the world.

While we’re talking small stuff, here’s a bunch of worms (left), and a cool looking plant(?) that we haven’t been able to identify yet.

The fish came to the party, of course. Left is a black durgeon, or “tuxedo fish” to Jazz, with a spanish hogfish swimming the other way below it. On the right, a school of creole wrasses. These guys either stream through in big long rivers, or swarm around chaotically so that they’re all pointing in different directions.

You usually see butterfly fish in pairs, so it was neat to see a slightly bigger school. On the right, we have no idea what that algae(?) is, but it’s super cool looking.

The back reef had a few more things to show us, most notably the magic ball of brain coral. (Madam Jazzfish, Knower of Mysterious Secrets, is carefully hovering two inches above the ground, to keep from disturbing the sand and clouding the photo.)

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