Under the Sea...

Yesterday, after talking with some of the friendly folks at the Bali Diving Academy, I am learning more about some of the showy creatures I saw on our snorkeling trips. I was nearly enticed to take part in a scuba refresher course and go diving. But nae, snorkeling is just as good with less worries. I was loaned an Asian Pacific Reef Guide book to help with identifications. Little did I know that the odd and unusual fish with about eight protruding finger-like spines at the third snorkel site, called Post One was a lion fish and extremely poisonous. If we had misbehaved and broken the rule of "No Touching Anything," we could have possibly suffered some grave consequences. Shooo-sha!

The stars I mentioned seeing, fall in a category known as Snake Sea Stars and are named merely, Blue Sea Stars. I also saw beautiful giant clams embedded in coral with their iridescent blue, green and purple sides facing up. Surprisingly they are called Boring Giant Clam--but certainly not to me. When I looked closely, I could actually see small breath-like movement. At that moment, I had the realization that everything I witnessed was alive. There were also various colors of parrot fish--some dark blue with red lips, angel fish and a fish that to me looked similar to an angel fish with a long, white, thin thread of a dorsal fin that angled upward. It had bright white, yellow and black stripes with a somewhat protruding nose. That one was a Butterfly fish. Some of the coral were in reality sponges of various types, shapes and colors. Other fish were Round Bat Fish, Sailfin Snappers, a few small Barracuda plus too many more to name. The sea is really brimming at these sites around the island and thankfully protected, as it is part of the nearby National Park.