Daily Dose 2018

"A" is for Almonds.

"B" is for Baby Bluebirds.

"C" is for Crab. Chesapeake Blue Crabs steamed with Old Bay Seasoning is what Marylanders can't get enough of!

"D" is for Dragonfly. If anyone knows the name of this variety, thank you in advance.

"E" is for Eagle. This guy was injured so in a local park for rehab.

"F" is for Frogfish. This fish stayed in the same area of the reef for a week while we were scuba diving in Utila (one of the Bay Islands of Honduras). We named it Scarlet.

"G" is for Green Turtle, my favorite animal! I'm in Aruba now and forgot to bring my cords to download from camera to my computer so found this one from St. Croix from years ago.

Enjoy your Sunday!

"H" is for hatchling. While in Aruba I was very fortunate to witness baby Leatherback turtles emerge from the sand and journey into the sea. It was incredible and perfect since I have such a love for sea turtles.

Enjoy your Sunday!

"I" is for Iguana. Bonaire.

Enjoy your Sunday!

"J" is for Jeep. My new Jeep bought a year ago when my last one of 16 years died. Just love them !

"K" is for Killdeer. Strange name for a bird, but K was a bit challenging for me, other then the basics.

Have a great Sunday!

"L" is for Lionfish. They look so fancy but are an invasive species with venomous spines. Several dive companies make it a mission to eradicate these fish to save our ocean habitats. Turks and Caicos.

"M" is for Manatee. Went scuba diving with them in Clearwater Florida.

"N" is for Nudibranch. This is a Lettuce Sea Slug, while scuba diving in Bonaire.

"O" is for Octopus. Taken while scuba diving in Bonaire.

"P" is for Porcupine Pufferfish. Those eyes! and they actually look like they're smiling! Love seeing these guys. Taken while scuba diving in Cozumel.

"Q" is for Queen Triggerfish. Taken while Scuba diving in Turks and Caicos.

"R" is for Rock Beauty. Taken while scuba diving in the Cayman Islands.

"S" is for sharks. It was tough to pick just one "S" as Seahorse and Stingray were close contenders. This picture may not be the cleanest but represents the large number of sharks that surrounded us and was one of the best dives I've ever been on. It was a shark dive with Stuart's Cove in the Bahamas. They are always on Shark Week sharing shark stories. This dive had the divers form a circle on the bottom and then shark feeders were in the middle to feed these Caribbean Reef Sharks. There were about 40+ that showed up swimming so close to us as you can see. This dive was the one that took my fear of sharks away and can't wait to do it again!

"T" for Toadfish. This Splendid Toadfish is typically only found in Cozumel. They lurk under ledges and you don't typically see more than their face and front fins. I've never seen one swimming, not sure what the back half of the body even looks like. Fun fact - They actually croak! That's how they got their name.

"U" is for Underwater Tranquility. The only other underwater U I had was an urchin , but didn't seem interesting enough for the dailies. So went with scenery instead. No fish to distract from the calm of the ocean in this shot.

"V" is for Volkswagen and yes, this one is underwater. In Isla Mujeres Mexico it is part of an underwater museum. For this unique museum, they hired English sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor. Today, MUSA consists of over 500 permanent life-sized and monumental sculptures and is one of the largest and most ambitious underwater artificial art attractions in the world. http://musamexico.org/

"W" is for Whale Shark. One of my favorites! Went snorkeling (wouldn't let us dive with them) with these gentle giants 3 times in Mexico, an amazing experience. For up close and personal, to see inside their mouth and to reassure you they have no plans to eat us - I have a quick video for you - https://tstravels.smugmug.com/Vacation/Isla-Mujeres-Mexico-August-2016/i-jhH85GP/A

"X" is only a shape of coral taken while diving in St. Croix.

"Y" is for Yellow Stingray. Taken while scuba diving in Cozumel.

"Z" is for Zero. I don't have anything that starts with Z underwater, except for the shape of zero taken in St. Croix. Saw Zebra Mussels while diving in Canada but they weren't photo worthy.