More snorkelling

There are two reasons I'm writing this post so soon again. One is, that we're still in Rogoznica, waiting out the bad weather, with plenty of time on our hands. Strong SE wind that we had last couple of days stopped, we had a lots of rain yesterday evening and then again some this morning, and today wind blows from NW. During the day, when it was dry, we managed to row our dinghy to the shore and walked to old village of Rogoznica and had some ice cream and did some shopping. And now rain is starting again, wind also, and we're expecting some stormy winds and serious amounts of rain later this evening. We'll see tomorrow if the weather is suitable to move on.

Other reason is that today is the last day I'm able to use the old interface for Google Blogger, the platform I'm using for this blog. I briefly tried the new interface, but was disappointed as I wasn't able to figure it out immediately, and all the photos were displayed in reverse order. It means that I would need much more time to learn it, but since we don't have free internet any more and I'm trying to limit it's use, I don't know if and when I'l do it. So my next posts will probably take some time to appear.

But with this posts I'm catching up, as it contains the photos I took this past Thursday and Saturday.

On Thursday we sailed to bay Uvala Stari Trogir from Krknjaši in Drvenik and spent the afternoon and a night there. It is really pretty, a nice sandy bay with water of beautiful colour. I couldn't resist going snorkelling, I swam across the bay to the rocky shore on the photo.

The rocks along the shore were full of life. I found this Longstriped blenny or črnoboka babica (Parablennius rouxi) there, as usually peeking out of the hole.

While the rocks were quite overgrown with algae, there were plenty of fish of all kinds there. This is Mediterranean rainbow wrasse or knez (Coris julis).

This is what one usually sees of Comber or kanjec (Serranus cabrilla), he seems annoyed and angry with anyone coming close.

So it's actually quite difficult to take the photo of his body.

There were severals Flounders or morski jeziki (Arnoglossus spp.) there, although not very big.

I'm always so happy when I find this beautiful yellow sponge under some rock, I couldn't find the English name, in Slovene it's mrežasta spužva (Clathrina clathrus).

This is Cushion coral or jadranska kamena korala (Cladocora caespitosa).

And another pretty Red spotted horseshoe or apnenčasti cevkar (Protula tubularia).

Although it is white, this is Red algae, in Slovene named bledi grmiček (Amphiroa rigida).

One more Fan worm, in Slovene oranžni cevkar (Protula intestinum).

I really like tunicates and this is one of the prettiest ones - Red sea squirt or rdeči kozolnjak ali morska breskev (Halocynthia papillosa).

Orange ray sponge or spužva žilavka (Spirastrella cunctatrix) is also of a very bright colour.

I was surprised that this Rusty blenny or babica papagajka (Parablennius sanguinolentus) was posing for me so patiently, usually they are very shy and difficult to photograph.

And another of the Fan worm family - Red tube worm or pisani pokrovčkar (Serpula vermicularis).

I'm not sure if I've seen this one before - it is a Sea squirt, in Slovene named nagubani kozolnjak ali mali svet (Microcosmus spp.). It is named Mali svet or Microcosmus because it is overgrown with all kind of organisms, as a true "small world".

Finally my second octopus of the season, this one was a bit bigger. It really seems as there are less and less of them.

On my way back to the boat across the sandy bay I found some of the usual "sandy bottom" inhabitants - The golden anemone or zlato vetrnico (Condylactis aurantiaca),...

... a tube worm peščeni cevkar (Myxicola infundibulum),...

...and a Greater weever or navadni morski zmaj (Trachinus drago). This one has quite poisonous spine in its back fin and if one steps on it or grips it, the sting is very painful. Sometimes fishermen loose fingers from it, if they are not careful when they clean their fishing nets.

On Friday we sailed to Rogoznica in the middle of the day, the SE wind was picking up and we wanted to be safely tucked in a very deep winded bay by the time the worst comes. Rogoznica is one of the best protected bays for waiting out the bad weather, even if the wind is changing direction, as one can choose the anchorage so that there is not much fetch (open water between shore and the boat, where the wind could make waves) from any sides. First night was relatively calm and on Saturday it was still sunny, although pretty windy. I went snorkelling in the afternoon, to the rocky South shore of the most NE part of the bay. There is this very small chapel on the shore.

There were lots of Snakelocks anemone or voščene morske vetrnice (Anemonia viridis) under the chapel.

I was excited to have found a Sea hare, in Slovene named pikasti morski zajček (Aplysia punctata), which I never saw before.

And finally made a good photo of Green chiton or olivni hiton (Chiton olivaceus). I never really paid much notice to these guys. To the left there are probably two eggs of some other sea creature, but I couldn't figure out whose they could be.

This smiling little guy is a Combtooth blenny, in Slovene named Dalmatinska babica (Lipophrys dalmatinus). Again my first, or I failed to identify him before.

I love the English names for this luminous algae - Oyster thief or Sinuous ballweed, in Slovene it is zmečkana blazinica (Colpomenia sinuosa).

This was definitely a slug day - I found five (yes, 5) of these small colourful creatures. And I even found an English name - it is Hope's Elysia or pisanček (Thuridilla hopei). This was the second one,...

...this the third one, that was in the best place to photograph,...

...and this last one is in the company of two blennies (babic), which are also no more than couple of cm big, just so you get the feeling of it's size. By the way, the slug is the tiny thing in the lower middle part of photo.

While this maybe isn't the most spectacular thing in the sea, I find it interesting none the less - it's Cyanobacterium, in Slovene named mikrokoleus (Microcoleus vaginatus)

Just before returning to the boat I witnessed a small drama - a really huge Tompot blenny or velika babica (Parablennius gattorugine) was trying to hide from me in a crack in the rock, but it quickly swam out again...

...because there was already a Warty crab or kosmaj (Eriphia verrucosa) hiding there and obviously didn't want company (you can see its claw also on the photo above).

Snorkelling

I will not make a habit of posting here every second day, but I have so many nice photos of snorkelling I just couldn't resist posting them. And since we're stuck here in Rogoznica for couple of days while Jugo (SE wind) is blowing strongly, I have enough time for it. Normally I'm not very patient person, but sitting here for couple of days looks quite ok with me. After all, we sailed over 3000 miles in less than three months, since we left Lanzarote. So now a bit of idle time is in order.
Next few photos were taken in Luka Soline in Pakleni otoci near island of Hvar. It is not just great area for snorkelling, but we also had a wonderful meal in restaurant Dionis, which remains our favourite restaurant in Adria. The restaurant is some 20 minutes to the left and up the hill, this is how our anchorage looked like,...

...and this is what I found under water along the rocks. I like the English name, Mermaids cups, better than Slovene one, apneni dežniček (Acetabularia acetabulum).

This year there was a little bit of panic about the Fireworm or ognjeni črv (Hermodice carunculata), and finally I saw not just one, but two in this bay. I can't really see how this can be a big problem, those two were the only ones I've seen in many hours of snorkelling, not like in Caribbean, where you see one almost on every rock. And if one obeys the rule of not touching things under water, all should be fine. But it's pretty, isn't it?

This is one of the most colourful fish in Adria, the Ornate wrasse or pavji knez (Thalassoma pavo).

I was thrilled to have found my first Octopus or hobotnica (octopus vulgaris), although it was merely a baby.

Blennies and Gobies are so pretty, I can't stop taking photos of them - this is Zvonimir's goby or jelenoroga babica (Parablennius zvonimiri).

There were lots of Mullets or ciplji (Liza spp.).

This Blenny I don't see often, and I couldn't find the English name. In Slovene it's velikooka babica (Lipophrys trigloides).

This is a Solitary coral named Pigtooth coral or kamnito nakovalce (Balanophyllia europaea).

And another Slug pisanček (Thuridilla hopei). I'm really happy to find them, as they are so small.

I've often seen these two together - the Striped red mullet or progasti bradač (Mullus surmuletus) with Flounder or morski jezik (Arnoglossus spp.). Looks like flounder is waiting for mullet to dig anything edible out of the sand.

Black sea urchin or črni morski ježek (Arbacia lixula) is very common and maybe boring, unless its needles are stuck in your foot. But I think this photo shows it in good light.

Forkweed or ploščata razcepljenka (Dictyota dichotoma) has this luminescent shine about it.

This is Purple sea urchin or vijoličasti morski ježek (Paracentrotus lividus).

One of the prettiest Hermit crabs or rak samotarec, this time in blue.

It could be called "Lady with a flower" - a Blenny or babica with two of the Fan worms or črvov cevkarjev.

Another Red-black tripplefin or rdeči sprehajalček (Tripterygion tripteronotus).

This is the biggest Goby in Adria - a Giant goby or skalni glavač (Gobius cobitis).

We made two stops in bay Uvala Nečujam on island of Šolta. At the South end of the bay there are remains of an old Roman wall, now they are 60cm under water. Of course I had to see it. The water was not very clear, and it's overgrown with algae, but there were many fish there.

On the surface the Roman wall is marked by string of buoys.

But snorkelling is much better in neighbouring bay, Uvala Kasjun, where the water is much clearer and there's less boats, less tourists and less houses on the shore. There I saw a school of Mediterranean sand smelt or veliki gavuni (Atherina hepsetus).

And some Trumpet anemones or marmornate morske vetrnice (Aiptasia mutabilis).

Finally I also found a Black-headed blenny or črnoglava babica (Lipophrys nigriceps).

There were several Warty crabs or kosmaji (Eriphia verrucosa) there. This one was already looking like he's working with weights in the gym every day,...

...but this one was even bigger.

There were several Beadlet anemones or rdeče morske vetrnice (Actinia equina) there, but unfortunately none with its tentacles extended.

And one more pretty Red-spotted horseshoe or oranžni cevkar (Protula intestinum).