North Belhem, Kralendjik, Bonaire

With Paulie busy attending scuba diving school Anne and I were free to concentrate on diving, however, we still had to contend with her sister and her husband, Irene and Paul, both non-divers. Paul enjoys the water and snorkeling, but Irene is one of those scaredy cats when it comes to water. Suffice it to say she likes to get her ankles wet. In selecting our dive sites we tried to keep them in mind which is what led us to North Belhem, which is located at the end of the runway by Flamingo Airport. We've avoided this area because it's usually quite busy, but it has a nice sand beach. Perfect to keep Irene busy hunting for sea shells.
Whitespotted Filefish (orange phase)

Rock Beauty The Rock Beauty is a beautiful, colorful fish and, without doubt, one of the hardest to get a photograph of. I've tried for years without success. This picture isn't great, but it does show the head fully which is unusual in my experience.

Unsure

Unsure (Red Hind or Soapfish?)

Crab I'm not sure what drew my attention to this crab as he was very difficult to spot hanging upside down under some coral. To take this picture I placed the camera on the sand, aimed up in the approximate direction and clicked the shutter. I had no idea as to what I would get as I couldn't see anything.

To cap off our dive at North Belhem Anne spotted a turtle and signaled to me. When I first saw him I was about 70' down and the turtle was swimming away from me at about 35'. Without thinking I started my pursuit of this gentle giant. By the time I managed to catch up to him my fuel tank was about empty. I was moving on pure adrenaline when I took these pictures. He was moving at a pretty good rate away from me so I didn't have time to fiddle with exposure settings or anything. It was just point, shoot and hope. They aren't the greatest pictures, but they help me relive a wonderful memory. This was identified by one of the divemasters as a Green Turtle. Anne and I are proud to be members of the Turtle Conservation Bonaire an organization dedicated to the study and well being of sea turtles. They have done much to assist these gentle giants and insure their natural habitat. If you are interested in joining (individual, family and corporate membership fees apply) you can contact the STBC at: STBC Kaya Niagara 9 Kralendijk, Boniare Netherlands Antilles Web site www.bonairenet.com/turtle/turtle.com E-mail STBC stbc@bonairelive.com

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