Descubrimiento

The last couple of days in Vieques have been a whirlwind of discovery for me. I've learned some new species of fish, seen some that I knew for the first time in their natural environment, and even gotten to see the inside of community activities in the protection of the natural resources here.
Last Saturday we went snorkeling under the pier near the Malecón in Esparanza. We were accompanied by Emily, who is working on her thesis here on the invasive lionfish, as well as a student joining us from a college class trip visiting the islands of Puerto Rico. We capture one more lionfish, this one much smaller than the one we had previously captured, and found some other fish to visit our educational aquarium. Unlike larger aquariums that keep their fish stocked permanently, "The Smallest Aquarium in the World" as we fondly call it only houses the animals here on a temporary basis. They live with us for a week or two, help us to educate the community, and then are released back where we found them. Here are a couple of my favorite new visitors:

This is a Barred Hamlet. The Shakespeare nerd in me at first thought that it was a "Bard Hamlet," but regardless of my misunderstanding, this fish is incredibly beautiful. It changed color right before my eyes as it adjusted to the tank. Mark told me that the Barred Hamlet, like many fish, changes the intensity of its colors depending on its mood. When it was first put in the tank, the blue stripes were hardly visible, but within a few minutes he changed his colors and started eyeballing us.

Speaking of fish that change colors, see if you can spot the peacock flounder. It is one of my favorite games to play with people visiting aquariums. The flounder, of course, is famous for changing its coloring to blend in with the environment. When it is young, it swims and looks like a normal fish, with one eye on each side of its face, but as it grows, the eyes migrate to meet each other and it starts swimming flat. The Peacock Flounder, however, can be distinguished by the bright blue rings on its body. Think you've found it yet? Check at the end of the post to see if you got it right.

This is a Flamingo Tongue Snail, or in Spanish "Lengua de Flamenco," which I think suits it better. These snails are often found in male and female pairs and eat soft corals like sea fans. That beautiful design isn't actually the snail's shell but its mantle, which covers the plain shell you can see peaking out in the middle.

These aren't exactly my favorite fish, but it's interesting to see the variety of sizes of lionfish you can find out in the water. The larger of the two is still relatively small for a lionfish, and both are too small to serve for dinner, but it's important to remove them from the ocean before they can do any real damage nonetheless. Vieques is full of so many interesting species it is worth trying to maintain the natural balance.

Aside from snorkeling, I was also allowed to sit it on a community meeting where they discussed the protection of the Bioluminescent Bay here in Vieques as well as the accessibility of the bay to locals and tourists. Puerto Mosquito is one of the brightest and healthiest bioluminescent bays in the world. When the water is irritated at night, tiny dinoflagellates called Pyrodinium bahamense create the light as a way to protect themselves, and the effect is almost otherworldly. Although people have a variety of ideas of what is best for the bay, what was evident was that the bay is a very important part of life here in Vieques. Whether you appreciate the bay for its incredible beauty or for the science behind its nightly glow, it is important to protect this natural resource for future generations of locals as well as visitors.
If you are still looking for the Peacock Flounder, check out the image below. If you want to see the Peacock Flounder in action, check out the video.