A change of seasons

Monday was another beautiful day in Marie Galante, weather was great, water warm and I enjoyed snorkeling. 

The trimaran was our "first" neighbor in the anchorage.

There were many pretty Sea Cucumbers in the bay.

This is an Inflated Sea Biscuit. It is a close relative of the Sea Urchins, only with shorter and softer spines. Normally they camouflage themselves with sand, shells and sea grass, like this one ...

... but luckily there was one without disguise, so I could identify it ...

... and shoot some photos of it.

Between the sea grass there were patches of sand and coral rubble. I surprised this moray eel with my camera. Shells around the hole were probably left there by an octopus.

I was surprised how many Lionfish there were, many more than I remember from last year. They are native to Indian ocean and were supposedly introduced to Florida waters by aquarists, and from there they spread all over the Caribbean. They are fierce predators, capable of finishing off a huge amounts of little fish, but they don't have any enemies here. Despite of their beauty they are a big threat to fish population.

There are plenty of Arrow Crabs here, but only when looking at this photo on computer I saw that I caught this one at lunch time, as it was finishing off a small fish.

I couldn't resist another Giant Anemone with an Spotted Cleaning Shrimp.

Moray eel with Feather Duster Worm - or "Portrait of a lady with a rose"

This is not an Anemone with mustache - there is a young lobster hiding underneath it

This is the first time I saw a whole body of Giant Anemone, not just the tentacles.

On Monday afternoon we returned to Pointe a Pitre marina. We prepared Heron for our absence and tried to eat up everything that was in our fridge. On Wednesday evening we flew home. It started with air conditioning not working in the airport and continued with long and uncomfortable flight. After changing planes and airports in Paris we finally landed in Slovenija on Thursday afternoon. Everything was white with snow and it was 3 deg Celsius, real winter. We were greeted warmly by our families and friends and we are having a great time. If only the spring would hurry up and come while we are still here ....