Snorkeling in Grand Cayman

Smith's Cove

[.]
I went snorkeling in the Cayman Islands in June 2001, mostly at Smith's Cove, where I took this picture on land. This small very popular public beach has a narrow stretch of sand where you can easily get into the water without touching coral rock.

The pictures of Grand Cayman reef fishes are at the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) Web site and I've linked to them from there. The site is well worth visiting.
[sergeant majors.]
Sergeant majors, Abudefduf saxatilis, greet the snorkeler high above the reef. Like park bears, they've learned to depend on handouts. Rubbing your fingertips together sometimes brings them out in greater numbers. Sargeant majors are the most portly of the usually svelte damselfishes. Supposedly the genus name "Abudefduf" means "fat sides" in Arabic.
[yellowtail snapper.]
At Eden Rock yellowtail snappers, Ocyurus chrysurus, are apt to join the sergeant majors in panhandling the snorkeler. Feeding reef fishes is probably not good for them, though nobody really knows.
[blue tang.]
At Smith's Cove blue tang, Acanthurus coeruleus, move over and through the coral in schools of as many as a hundred. They vary enormously in color, from gray to deep blue. The small white spine at the base of the tail is very sharp, and the tangs are often called "surgeonfish" or "doctorfish".
[stoplight parrotifish male.]
Stoplight parrotfishes, Sparisoma viride, sometimes more than a foot long, are the most spectacular fishes on the reef, and also among the most difficult to photograph. Shown here is a "terminal male". Sometimes you can hear the parrotfish munching on coral with their heavy beaks and grinder teeth. The Caymanians call them "squab".
[bluehead.]
Immature blueheads, Thalassoma bifasciatum, accompany the parrotfishes and other large fishes as they feed, and help themselves to the debris. They are large as wrasses go, and are quite common on the reef.
[yellowtail damselfish adult.]
Yellowtail damselfishes, Microspathodon chrysurus, are usually seen far below the snorkeler, near the base of coral heads. [yellowtail damselfish juvenile.]Tiny but spectacular, the immature yellowtail damselfish is sometimes called a "jewelfish". The brilliant blue spots fade as the tail turns yellow.
[rock beauty.]
Don't confuse the yellowtail damselfish with the somewhat less common rock beauty, Holacanthus tricolor, also a denizen of the deepest parts of coral heads.
[four eye butterflyfish.]
Four eye butterflyfish, Chaetodon capistratus,feed mostly on the flat coral bottoms on the reef floor beneath the coral heads. Probably the tail spot confuses predators into attacking the wrong end of the fish.
[peacock flounder.]
The peacock flounder, Bothus lunatus, glides silently over sand and light coral rock bottoms, barely visible except when it moves. You can follow them from above, and dive down and almost touch them as they forage across the bottom. A left-eyed or bothid flounder - the young fish lies down on its side on the bottom and the lower eye migrates around the head until the two eyes are both on top. "Scuba Bob" (not me!) snapped this fish over by Cayman Brac.
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June 18th, 2001