The cryptic and the deep

I, like so very few marine biologists, like looking for small cryptic (secretive and/or camouflaged) fish and often go deep to find them. Over the course of 41 dives so far in Guam, I have seen numerous species which had not previously been seen in the park. We are currently working on setting up a full species list for the park which we can then publish as a technical report. The old list had around 150 species. So far we have 302 species listed! While some of the old lists have questionable IDs, our list even has voucher photos of most of the species. Some of these fish are small and cryptic fish and others were seen when Mark and I went and did a technical dive to 200 feet on our day off. Below is a sampling of some of our cool cryptic and deepwater fish we have seen as well as a few fun invertebrates.Clearfin lionfish- a relatively commonly seen cryptic fishLeopard blennyCoral banded shrimp- a type of shrimp which makes its living cleaning the parasites and dead tissue off reef fish papuan scorpionfish- close-up of the same fish as the top photo. Deepwater seafan of a wall at 200' Engleman's lizardfish Spotfin lionfish- no the picture is not upside down, this fish like many cave dwellers, spends much of its day upside down next to the cave/ crevice ceiling. In this case defended by their venomous spines Reef octopus Yellow cardinalfish Mark- narqed and excited about being at 200' Yellow-speckled chromisAnd finally, my favorite find so far, a surge dottyback. This fish was found in about 7 feet of water inside a small cave in the reef.

Update from another territory

I was invited to do some work at War in the Pacific National Historic Park (WAPA). So here I am sitting in Guam. Guam at first glance is more like Oahu, HI than some of the other territories. The bustling Japanese tourist market ensures that much of the ills that plague smaller Pacific islands is absent, or at least hidden from view. Large high-rise hotels, high-end retail stores (Gucci, Rolex, etc.), and an overwhelming numbers of restaurant choices are all easy to find. Don't forget the strip clubs, adult stores and massage parlors (that seem to be everywhere).

I have mostly been diving though and have really gotten a good look at the marine waters of the national park. It is well known that Guam is neck and neck with Oahu in having the worst fishing anywhere in the Pacific. It is readily apparent as soon as you hit the water here. Not only are there very few fish, entirely absent trophic groups (apex predators), but what fish are here are tiny for their kind. With all that said, there are some good spots and I have seen some great things. Below for your viewing pleasure take in some of the marine life of Guam.

Ambon damsel

Barred thicklip Mixed school of Yellow tangs and Lined bristletooths Bullethead parrotfish- female Tiger cardinalfish Christmas tree worm in coral Slingjaw wrasse Crown-of-thorns seastar. These are the starfish that can sometimes reach plague numbers and devastate reefs as they eat live stony corals. Oh, and they are venomous. Big school of scribbled rabbitfish on the reef flat Well it's not called War in the Pacific National Park for nothing. This 8" shell cartridge from a howitzer was found on a dive called UXO reef. UXO stands for unexploded ordinance. While this shell is just the spent empty casing, there are many live rounds of various shapes and sizes found on top of this reef. Yet another reason never to touch anything underwater. Fire dartfish Latticed sandperch Lined bristletooth- Fun fact for the day... these fish eat other fishes poop. Saber squirrelfish Longnose butterflyfish And finally here's your clownfish, this one is an orangefin clownfish.

The walk to school

Sharing one car is not always very easy, but Paul and I have managed to make it work for many years now. The first place we lived on the island was conveniently located across the street from Emma's school, but now it is a 3-mile commute on foot (round trip). Some days Paul rides the bus to work and some days Ona and I walk Emma to school.At times I dread the walk and find myself longing for sidewalks and white-picket fences, but then I remind myself that this life is much more fun. Really, is it that hot out there (90+ degrees and 100% humidity)? Who needs to worry about the mosquitoes when you have lots of deet products? Oh, and the stray dogs charging at us... at least Ona is learning the sign for dog. And really, do I want a boring sidewalk when I have the adventure of negotiating the stroller through toad infested ponds? Despite my complaints I honestly enjoy these walks. Ona loves being outside and Emma and I have wonderful chats along the way.

February Baby Recap

Ona is now 9 months old and it is hard to believe that her 1st birthday is already around the corner. It has been quite the month! Ona crawls really fast and efficiently now (even on the hard tile). She often crawls right over something or someone in her way. Ona has turned into a crazy climbing monkey and is even trying to scale the walls. I think Paul has visions of rock climbing with his daughters someday. Ona seems to always be looking up and figuring out how to get there. When not trying to climb, Ona loves to be upsidedown. She even understands the words "upsidedown baby" and will stop what she is doing to turn herself in said position.A big first this month was the first tooth. It came in on the bottom after a bout of fussiness and night waking. I'm hoping the subsequent teeth don't cause such an ordeal. Ona is eating lots of finger foods now and loves her carbs - O's cereal, homemade bread, rice cakes. Ona got the chicken pox this month! She had a fever for a couple of days and then a bunch of spots appeared mostly on her arms and legs. I'd say it was pretty mild and most of the pox cleared up in a week. I thought we'd have a healthy household for awhile, but then Paul got dengue fever!I just love babies at this age as their personalities really start to shine. Ona is often very quiet and enjoys figuring out things on her own. She will not make a peep for hours and then she will suddenly babble a bunch as if to give us a recap. Ona may have a bit of an OCD streak in her (I swear she didn't get that from me!) as she must pull out every single book from the shelf, remove every single puzzle piece, clear the coffee table of each and every item, empty every block from the bucket, etc. I will replace one of the items and sure enough she has to go right over to remove it again. It seems to be a world of ordered chaos. Ona is also quite silly and will laugh and laugh, especially at her favorite entertainer, Emma.

Loving the beach... again

If you are going to live on a small, tropical island you really should enjoy spending many of your days at the beach. Unfortunately, I started to despise the beach during my pregnancy and it has taken me awhile to get back into it. I think I am finally cured of my beach-itis after having many great days at the beach in recent weeks.

One day over Christmas break, the whole family and friends hiked to Fagatele Bay Marine Sanctuary. Now that we have to carry Ona and the associated baby stuff, we often opt to not lug the camera (but Julia posted a couple pictures here). Another day over the school break I joined several other moms and a multitude of children and hiked to nearby Larsen's Bay. The kids discovered a tunnel and "cave" and once they started swinging from vines, it really looked looked like something out of a movie set. We even saw dolphins! An amazing day, but again no camera (this time Sue posted pictures here). No pictures, but I did make the map, with Fagatele Bay on the left and Larsen's on the right. I love both of these hikes and beaches...typically the more remote, the better the spot!I finally learned my lesson and brought the camera along on Saturday to $2 Beach. Yes, they really charge $2 to hang out on their beach. There are few places on our island that are public domain, but most people allow you to use "their" beach just by asking, but the people of this village decided to profit from their gorgeous stretch of beach.I spread the word around Emma's school and lots of moms and kids turned up, which made for a fun day.

Ona says, "yum, humpback whale."

A date with scuba

Yesterday, Paul and I were finally able to go scuba diving together. This is the second time Liz has offered to babysit Emma and Ona recently (our first post-baby date was a lovely dinner at Tisa's on the beach). She is a great friend, from midwife extraordinaire to now babysitting the baby she cared for in utero... is she really moving back to Oregon soon?

It was really windy this weekend and I think Liz was a bit surprised as we still planned on diving. It turns out all the wind must have blown the usual funk out of the harbor because the visibility was excellent! We saw several beautiful soft corals:My favorite part of a dive at Utulei is the oyster wall. There are oysters attached all along the reef wall and it is fun to get close to them and watch them quickly close. I am often tempted to stick my finger in one, but that is just asking for trouble. We saw lots of fish, including this grouper. It was a great dive and there is no one I'd rather dive with than Paul. We hit 120 feet and stayed under for about an hour. I am always looking forward to my next chance to go diving.

Merry Christmas from Samoa!

Although I have blogged about Christmas in Samoa before, this was officially our first Christmas on the island. Emma and I went to Hong Kong and China in 2006, and last year we all went to New Zealand. It is easy to not miss family and traditions while traveling, but with no trip planned this year, I wasn't really looking forward to the holidays in American Samoa. In spite of the tacky island Christmas decorations trying to keep me down, I just couldn't stay a scrooge with Emma getting quite excited. It turns out we had a fine Christmas and I didn't miss family, snow, fires, food, and the associated holiday bliss as much as I thought I would. In truth, it didn't really feel like Christmas. With temperatures near 90 degrees, it felt more like we were just pretending by celebrating Christmas in July. It seems that the spoiling of grandchildren follows some sort of mathematical equation that the greater the distance apart, the more presents are sent. Given the 7,000 mile distance our little tree was barely visible amongst all the gifts. This being Ona's first Christmas we were entertained by the classic baby reaction of loving the boxes and wrapping paper more than the toys. Emma also had fun with boxes as she decorated dad in a box hat and lovely gift bag earring.Instead of a snowy scene out the window, we had a beautiful sunny day in the jungle, perfect for taking photos of flowers. The first is often visited by a wattled honeyeater, one of our favorite yard birds. The second flower is red ginger. Liz joined us for a delicious brunch. Her time on the island is winding down so I am enjoying every minute we get to spend together.In the evening we headed to a friend's house for a Christmas potluck. It was a nice evening of friends, good food, and incredible views (thanks for the photos, Liz). It was fun to search for our humble dwelling in the valley from their "castle" up on the mountain.