As one of the volunteers of Stimana, the foundation for Marine Archeology in the Netherlands Antilles, I dive regularly in the harbor on the historical wreck of the Mediator (for more information see Mediator / Welcome to the Curacao Diving Paradise - Curacao Diving Paradise).
Today we got permission to dive at another location near the Pontoon bridge. There you can find several artefacts from the 19th century (bottles, pipe-heads and -stems, etc.). But today I found something completely different. At first it looked like a chicken or dove with a beek and wings. But at closer inspection I saw fins at the wing tips and a mouth underneath the beek. Later I found out that it was a Batfish and more specifically a Polka-dot Batfish. According to Paul Humann Reef Fish Identification (Florida, Caribbean and the Bahamas) this kind is not reported in the Caribbean. Apparently that is no longer the case.
Some pictures are attached and more pictures from this dive can be found at Picasa Web Albums - John - Annabay (near....
Don't try to dive for this fish in the harbor. Diving there is forbidden except with permission from the harbor authorities. There is a high fine for diving without the proper permission.
Today we got permission to dive at another location near the Pontoon bridge. There you can find several artefacts from the 19th century (bottles, pipe-heads and -stems, etc.). But today I found something completely different. At first it looked like a chicken or dove with a beek and wings. But at closer inspection I saw fins at the wing tips and a mouth underneath the beek. Later I found out that it was a Batfish and more specifically a Polka-dot Batfish. According to Paul Humann Reef Fish Identification (Florida, Caribbean and the Bahamas) this kind is not reported in the Caribbean. Apparently that is no longer the case.
Some pictures are attached and more pictures from this dive can be found at Picasa Web Albums - John - Annabay (near....
Don't try to dive for this fish in the harbor. Diving there is forbidden except with permission from the harbor authorities. There is a high fine for diving without the proper permission.