• Day 004: Wednesday January 4th

17:15 Have already been on my first snorkel and it was great.  Very different to my past experience out in Indonesia in that the diversity is lower, but this is a rocky reef complex here, so the habitat and life here is different and prove interesting.  My favourite fish of this first snorkel experience here was a Giant Hawkfish (Cirrhitus rivulatus) I almost swam into it was so relaxed.

Basking In Sun - A Very Shallow Giant Hawkfish (D.Philpot)

Some other photos I took during my first snorkel:
 

View Of The Yard / Lodge Area From The Lagoon (D.Philpot)

First & Only Coral - Porites (D.Philpot)

A Massive Lobster (D.Philpot)

Lobster - Side (D.Philpot)

The Park Administrator (D.Philpot)

Birds On The Rocks (D.Philpot)

Night-Heron Silhouettes (D.Philpot)

I drew out my own diagram of the lagoon area, which is only good for snorkelling at a low tide for reasons I don’t see yet, and the thing that stood out from me this first time was the pronounced and aptly named shark tooth rock at the back of the lagoon fronting the whole of the Pacific Ocean. I include below a diagram of the lagoon, which I will surely talk about a lot, that will be explained in detail February (the diagram, not lagoon).

Recreated Rough Diagram Of "The Lagoon" (D.Philpot)

I took out 4 of the students to supervise, along with my dive slate to draw and start learning some of the fish.  I duck dived down next to an Olive Ridley turtle causing it to swim off, such a rookie moment. Also saw a big lobster just walking out and about in the open while I took out the park administrator snorkelling too in the afternoon.  I found that fish were rather still for my camera despite the currents and bubbles about. What do you think - Videos 6 and 7, here and here show my first encounters with the fish of this area.

Before Snorkelling I went on a short hike to the next main bay/beach and picked out a couple of spots which I could see becoming my favourite over the coming months:

Half Hour Walk To Balsitas Beach (D.Philpot)

First View Of Isla Cabo Blanco (D.Philpot)

My Already Favourite Tree & View (D.Philpot)

I then saw some of my first Black Iguana or Ctenosaurs (Ctenosaura similis), the most memorable was one that I captured a shot of licking the ground and another that climbed a charasmatic Pochote tree:

Ctenosaur Yummy (D.Philpot)

Ctenosaur Close-Up (D.Philpot)

Climbing To New Heights (D.Philpot)

20:15 DL gave the whole story of the reserve and how this absolute reserve came to be because of couple Nicolas Wessburg and Karen Mogensen.