Staying anchored in one spot for a month, you get to know individual fish and crustceans on the surrounding reefs and make aquatic friends. Most are territorial with daily routines - sleeping, hunting, mating and personal hygiene top the list.
The lagoon behind the barrier reef is a nurse shark haven. They are typically docile and un-intimidating, except when they are much bigger than you or excited by potential prey. Taking pictures in the waters around the boat one day, Michele came up for air and found herself up close & personal with a "monster" nurse shark that topped 8 feet. The photo op was missed due to a hasty retreat! This same shark stole Stefan's fish a few days later in an even closer encounter.
The patch reef behind Reach is a popular cleaning station, where fish line-up to be picked over for parasites by cleaner fish: gobies and the juveniles of french angelfish, spanish hogfish & even spotted drums. Barjacks and trunkfish are frequent customers. They hover very still as if in a trance and turn various shades of dark, or occasionally light, coloration when getting groomed. It is reminiscent of a line for a car wash, except the biggest fish wins first place in line. An abuelo (old granddad) ocean triggerfish is the king of this particular cleaning station.
Certain types of shrimp are also cleaner species, such as the banded coral, Pederson's and spotted cleaner shrimp. They wave their long, white antennae around to attract attention of passing fish from their home-base in a giant anemone. A few have swum out to try to clean the camera or fingers on occasion. Michele is slightly obsessed with getting a good picture of these tiny critters, as well their fellow sun anemone and squat (non-cleaner) shrimp.
