September snorkelling - part 4

There was still some fresh wind from the NW, so we didn't anchor in bay Stari Trogir as we originally planned, but in front of the beach on the West side across the bay. It was not so pretty as the SE part, but it was much more calm, despite the houses and people on the shore. Captain started a new attempt to fix the electrical cables. This time he was working in engine room and said he didn't need my help, so I went snorkelling around the small rocky island at the entrance of the bay.

The small island is very popular with tourists on SUPs and kayaks and swimmers, so I wasn't sure if it was worth the long swim to get there. But I was really pleasantly surprised.

First I met this Comber (kanjec or Serranus cabrilla), and this is the pose I usually see - him facing me with mean look, as if saying: looking at me?!?!

The island obviously gets a lot of fresh water from the West from open sea, so there was surprisingly lots of life around it. Here are some Red spotted horseshoes (apnenčasti cevkarji or Protula tubularia) in company of young Damselfish or Mediterranean chromis (črnik or Chromis chromis). When Damselfish are young, they really resemble their tropical relatives very much with their very bright neon blue pattern.

The adult ones are relatively dull in comparison, only the shape is the same as with tropical damselfish.

There were really lots of fish, like this pretty Sharpsnout seabream (pic or Diplodus puntazzo)...

...and on the outer West side of the island I found the Mediterranean parrotfish (sredozemska papagajka or Sparisoma cretense). There were two of them, but unfortunately quite far, so all the photos are quite bad. This might be only the second time that I saw them.

And under the rocks I found perhaps the prettiest of hydroids, the Feather hydroids (morska peresca or Aglaophenia).

Also from close up they look so very delicate. I was happy to have found so many different kinds in these couple of days.

The Zvonimir's goby (jelenoroga babica or Parablennius zvonimiri) sat on dark Kidney sponge (ledvičasta spužva or Chondrosia reniformis) and was almost invisible with its own dark colouring.

This Stinker sponge (snopasta hrapavka or Ircinia fasciculata) looks like a monkey face.

This is a Mediterranean rainbow wrasse or Knez (Coris julis).

On my swim back over the sandy part of the bay I saw this Wide-eyed flounders (širokogledi romb or Bothus podas)...

... and in the deeper water there was also the Starry weever (črnoglavi morski zmaj or Drachinus radiatus). I was happy to have found it, I see it very rarely. It is the most poisonous fish in Adriatic. 

Near our boat I saw Bogues (bukve or Boops boops) while they were hunting the Mediterranean sand smelts (veliki gavuni or Atherina hepsetus).

I didn't think I would see so much while snorkelling, the long swim to the small island was definitely worth it.

When I came back to the boat Captain had a huge smile on his face - he has found the root cause of the electrical problems, on the thick cable between the engine and inverter, yay! And he was able to fix it with what he had on the boat, double yay! We were both really really happy. Then we just needed to stow away all the tools and stuff that he was using while repairing. 

After a good dinner we had a calm and good night. In the morning the SE wind has already started, small waves were rolling into the bay, so after the coffee we sailed off. Outside the bay wind was stronger and we had a nice sailing on genoa alone almost all the way to bay Mirina. We decided to stay there over night, since the really bad weather was forecast to start only late next morning, and we could sail to marina very early next morning before it gets really windy and rainy.

So we had a whole afternoon and evening of pretty good weather for swimming and of course for snorkelling.

I snorkelled near the shore a bit further NW than on the week before and the scenery was again a bit different. The Two-banded sea breams (fratrca or Diplodus vulgaris) were not very new and different, but pretty.

Red Tubeworm (pisani pokrovčar or Serpula vermicularis) was strategically placed so that its colour was in stark contrast to the colours of sponges around it.

This is a blue-eyed Striped hermit crab (obročkasti samotarec or Pagurus anachoretus).

And this is a Sulphur boring sponge (rumena vrtalka or Cliona celata). Through the smaller holes, that have a mesh across them, it takes the water in, filters it for food and through the bigger open holes the water is expelled. 

This is the female Red triplefin (Tripterygion tripterinotus or rdeči sprehajalček), very different in colours to the shiny red and black males, but very delicate and almost transparent. And also much more difficult to spot as the colourful males.

I very rarely see the Red Tubeworm (Pisani pokrovčar or Serpula vermicularis) in such muted colours.

The European flat oyster (ostriga or Ostrea edulis) was alive and there is a muscle inside it.

This year I didn't see very many Warty crabs (kosmeji or Eriphia verrucosa) around.

Above the Snakelocks anemone (voščena morska vetrnica or Anemona vidris) there are tiny Mysid shrimps (mizidni rakci or Leptomysis spp.).

And this was the big surprise of the day - an unknown fish with small shiny dots. I found it funny how it swam with the Painted comber (pirka or pisanica or Serranus scriba) as if they were best mates.

I took many photos, as I had no idea what this might be. Searching my books at home I came to a conclusion that it must have been a young Common dentex (zobatec or Dentex dentex). And it was a first sighting for me, even after all this snorkelling!

This is again something well known, a Slime tube worm (peščeni cevkar or Myxicola infundibulum), but it looks even more delicate than usually, so I couldn't resist a photo.

We had a calm night but we were up already at 6 in the morning. We sailed off right away and had a coffee on the way. We were able to motor-sail to the entrance to Šibenik canal, then we were motoring.

On the green marker further in the canal there was obligatory seagull, but we didn't see any turtles nor dolphins.

At 9.30 we were already moored in marina, and just in right time, it started to rain half an hour later. Around the noon we also got very strong wind, that made a lot of noise when it was blowing around the masts and the stays of boats in marina. It was just the right day for boat cleaning.

Next day I drove home and Captain stayed on the boat.

September snorkelling - part 3

On the west side of the bay there was an old tunnel for submarines or army vessels. It is abandoned now, maybe occasionally used by local fishermen. But every day several boats came into the bay just to take a look at it and then they drove away.

I swam into it a bit, but there was nothing interesting to see or photograph, the walls were concrete and in the water the floor looked like pile of bare scattered broken rocks, as if it was made deeper with dynamite not very long ago. But a bit away from the big entrance was this funny building, built a little bit above the water and it looked as it had no concrete floor just some steel bars above water, so I concluded it must have been a toilette. Unfortunately there must have been a droplet of sea on my lens, so the lower part of the photo is blured.

While I was admiring the toilette I heard a well known chirping and a Common kingfisher (vodomec or Alcedo atthis) flew above my head to the tree in the photo. I tried to make a photo and if you look very closely, there is a small bird just above the lowest left branch near the trunk, but you'll have to take my word for it that it is a kingfisher. This is the best my camera can do at such a distance. We've seen the kingfisher already the evening before, it rested for quite a while on the rock on the shore near our boat, but while we both had a really good look at it with binoculars, it was too far to photograph.

Near our boat I saw a strange fish that I never saw before. It took me lots of reading and googling but now I'm pretty sure it is a young Goldblotch grouper (zlatopegasta kirnja or Epinephelus costae). It is supposedly quite rare in Adriatic, so this must have been my lucky day.

And this is how our keel looked, all surrounded by Annular seabreams (špari or Diplodus annularis). It is very common that there would be some fish around our keel when we are anchored, but I don't remember ever seeing so many.

After a big late breakfast and some reading - by the way, the Book of eels (Evangelij po jeguljah) written by Patrik Svensson is really very interesting - I was ready for round two.

This time I went snorkelling to the SE side of the bay again, where the afternoon light was better. I saw some Blood-red tubeworms (oranžne cevkarje or Protula intestinum) again.

This Painted comber (pirka or pisanica or Serranus scriba) was displaying its shiny belly. I still don't know if this was ment to scare me off or it has some other meaning - maybe it is mating behaviour.

This time I found even prettier and more vibrantly coloured Orange puffball sponge (morska pomaranča or Tethya citrina). Yay!

This is a Pointed-snout wrasse (dolgoustka or Symphodus rostratus), and if you look at its face, it is evident that it has a very appropriate name.

Couldn't resist some more of Red tube worms (pisani pokrovčkar or Serpula vermicularis) in company of Boring sponge (spužva vrtalka or Cliona spp).

I've seen the Fireworms (ognjeni črv or Hermodice carunculata) on both days in Smrka, but still they are not very abundant. They look very much like their Caribbean relatives.

Usually they are half hidden under some rock, I rarely get to see them whole.

And here are some more Red seasquirts (rdeči kozolnjaki ali morska breskev or Halocynthia papillosa), this time in red and gold colours, and I understand now where the Slovene name sea peach comes from.

And this one earned it's appearance in this post because of its pretty little moustache around its openings.

The Cardinal fish (morski kraljiček or Apogon imberbis) looks very much like its Caribbean relatives. It looks as if these two are kissing, how cute!

I found another Black scorpionfish (škarpoč or Scorpaena porcus), this one was tucked under a rock so a bit of his snout is missing from the photo.

In the evening we cooked the quids we bought from the fisherman in Veli Drvenik for dinner - I made a black risotto form the tentacles and the inner parts and the ink and Tomaz grilled the rest of them. It was soooo delicious! Fresh grilled Adriatic squids have lovely sweet flavour and the risotto was surely one of the best we've ever had.

In the evening more boats came into the bay, luckily they were not too noisy. But we knew the peaceful time is over, the charter boats were on the loose again. 

Early the next morning, even before the coffee, we sailed off. The weather was already turning, it was not so sunny any more. We sailed to island Čiovo and anchored between S shore of Čiovo and small island of Sveta Fumija in early afternoon. We were lucky, there were no party boats around and it was quite calm and quiet. 

Captain decided we've bee lazying and having fun for too long and it is time for projects. This time he tackled the electrical cables, that were causing us a headache for some time now. The cables are of course tucked away in least accessible places so Captain had to crawl in and out of all the lockers and I helped with pulling or pushing the cables. We checked quite a lot of them but couldn't find any faults. So this project will have to continue.

In the afternoon the NW wind got stronger and chillier and in the evening we got a stunning sunset. 

It also got a bit rolly, as you can see in photo, but as long as Heron was turned into the wind, it was not uncomfortable. 

The other side of the anchorage got pink and the water turquoise. 

Luckily in the night wind died and waves as well and we slept very well. In the morning it was all calm and pretty, with clear turquoise water...

...and pretty views.

But the weather was turning, there was strong SE wind and some stormy weather forecast for next couple of days and after the morning coffee we sailed back towards NW. 

September snorkelling - part 2

We sailed off at about noon, right after my snorkelling, and sailed along island Šolta towards South, and then along SW side of Brač to bay Smrka. It is a very pretty and long and deep bay and we med-moored by the rocky shore further on the left side of the house. 

On the SW side we could see island Hvar in the distance. When we came a big motor yacht was med-moored some 100 m away from us, and they were a bit noisy with water skiing, but luckily it didn't last long and they drove away in the late afternoon.

But as soon as our boat was moored and before the sun was too low, I went snorkelling on the SE side of the bay, where there was still plenty of light. Red seasquirt (rdeči kozolnjak ali morska breskev or Halocynthia papillosa) was glowing at me from under the first rock where I looked. I know I have photographed it a thousand times already, but I can't resist such a display of bright red. And behind it on the left was another one.

And this was the next thing that made me happy - a Sea lemon (morska pomaranča or Tethya citrina). I don't know why I get so excited over a sponge.

After a long time I saw a Black-headed blenny (črnoglava babica or Lipophrys nigriceps) again. These creatures are really very small, maximum up to 4 cm, and can easily be overlooked despite the bright colours.

This was a nice surprise, a decent size European seabass (brancin or Dicentrarchus labrax), surely some 40 cm long. I don't get to see them very often.

This Rusty blenny (babica papagajka or Parablennius sanguinolentus) was not as shy as they usually are.

And this is a Twin fan worm (dvoperjaničar or Bispira volutacornis).

In the evening a smaller sailboat sailed into the bay and took one of the private buoys in front of the house in the right part of the bay, quite a distance away, and that was it. I was totally happy, so very few neighbours and so little noise in such a beautiful bay, it felt like Adriatic some 20 years ago. And I got to snorkel twice that day. True happiness! 

After a delicious dinner we had a good and calm night, but it proved very wise that we moored the boat so that the bow (the front) was pointing to the entrance of the bay, in the night some small waves were rolling into the bay that could get annoying if they were hitting the boat from the side.

Next morning, right after the coffee, I went snorkelling again, this time to the NW side of the bay, that was already lighted by the sun. I saw some very big and fat Salemas (salpe or Sarpa salpa).

And here is another highlight - a Black scorpionfish (škarpoč or Scorpaena porcus).

And this was another surprise - Greater amberjack (gof or Seriola dumerili), this time an adult that was hunting small fish. What was really strange was that it displayed the vertical stripes on its body when hunting, and "turned them off" when it came closer to check me up. Already the day before I saw a small group of juveniles and tried to make some photos, but none of them was good.

This interesting thing is a Variable loggerhead sponge (spremenljiva hrapavka or Ircinia variabilis), don't know where the name comes from and if it has anything to do with loggerhead turtles.

This Violet sea urchin (belobodičasti morski ježek or Sphaerechinus granularis) may be siting on a red seasquirt. Or can it be eating it? I read that they mainly eat algae, but also crinoids, sponges, mussels, sea cucumbers...

This is a Pigtooth coral (kamnito nakovalce or Balanophyllia europaea), in the night the polyps come out with which it catches food.

And here is the school of juvenile Greater amberjacks (gofi or Seriola dumerili) again, probably the same one as the day before, and this time I had more luck with photos.

This is a pretty Encrusting orange sponge (spužva žilavka or Spirastrella cunctatrix) with very prominent veins.

I found another hydroid, I don't know which kind it is, these just have short stems and the polyps form a circle right at the end and look just like a small daisy (marjetica). Only when I manage to make such close-ups of them, I can see all the details and recognise small differences.

Here is another goby, this time the Zvonimir's goby (jelenoroga babica or Parablennius zvonimiri), with lots of "facial hair" or cirri, as they are officially called.

These two are of the same family, first one is the Red-spotted horseshoe (apnenčasti cevkar or Protula tubularia), white with orange spots...

...and this one is orange with white and red spots, the Blod-red tubeworm (oranžni cevkar or Protula intestinum).

I've seen many Spiny starfish (bradavičasta morska zvezda or Marthasterias glacialis) around.

And these might be the Tree hydroids (morski grmički or Eudendrium spp.). Only at home on my computer I managed to see that it was different from all that I've seen so far and that it is already the fifth kind of hydroids that I photographed in only few days. As if there is a different kind of hydroids in each bay.

This is the smaller version of  Red triplefin, I couldn't find the English name (pritlikavi sprehajalček or Tripterygion melanurus), and this one also has some poetic names: pjevčić patuljčić (HR) and peperoncino minore (I). It is also very small and not easy to photograph, but there were really plenty of them. This one has a small crown behind the head and a much sharper nose and different pattern on the head than the Black-headed blenny above.

This Sea squirt, in Slovene named nagubani kozolnjak ali mali svet (Microcosmus spp.), is not so colourful as its relative above, and because of this much more difficult to spot. I find that Slovene name, the wrinkled sea squirt, is a very appropriate one.

This is a very pretty Purple sea urchin (Vijoličasti morski ježek or Paracentrotus lividus).

Here is another red thing - the Red encrusting bryozoan (mahovnjak rdeči skorjevec or Schizobrachiella sanguinea). It is again a relative of corals and the grey fluff that it is coated with are the tiny polyps.

And this is another highlight of this day, a Mediterranean moray (Lisasta murena or Muraena helena), I really see it quite rarely. But the Damselfish or Mediterranean chromis (črnik or Chromis chromis) tried to steel the focus.

This is a Comber or kanjec (Serranus cabrilla), a fierce predator with very confident behaviour. It can give you some very angry looks.