After seeing our first lionfish here on the East End of Grand Cayman in September 2009, I caught lionfish number 10,000 on the 30th July 2017. TEN THOUSAND!. So I have caught about 3.5 lionfish every single day since September 2009, all the way up to the 30th July 2017. I cull the lionfish at work with Tortuga Divers and on my days off using my own small 17 foot Logic fishing boat. Having a … Continue reading
We had a great day diving today with Tortuga Divers in Grand Cayman, seeing sharks on both dives in the morning, and on the dive in the afternoon. We are used to often seeing sharks on the east end of Grand Cayman. Mainly we see Caribbean grey reef sharks as well as a few Nurse sharks and if we are really lucky maybe a Hammerhead or Tiger shark. Well, today we saw 6 Caribbean grey reef … Continue reading
I was absolutely fascinated by this article from the Huffington Post, and to see what scientists from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) are doing with killer robots on the Great Barrier reef. Simply click on the picture below and the original article will open in a separate window. How amazing is that submersible robot, which the scientists at QUT have named COTSbot. Blown away that technology on this sort of level can operate underwater in a 3d … Continue reading
Since 2009 when lionfish came to Grand Cayman I have dived with them many times with or without my pole spear. Most of the time I see a single lionfish trying to hide itself somewhere on a mini-wall. Or I see one hanging around pointing its tail and therefore spines in my direction. Or I see a whole group together, my record for that is about 17 together in one small area. I am led … Continue reading
With a little help from a big friend you will see in the video below a Nassau grouper eating a small healthy lionfish. Sorry about the sound – you may want to mute that. However, if you want to hear the reaction of the diver keep it on a low volume. The actual eating part takes place near the end of the video, at 2:20 into the video. The video was taken recently by a … Continue reading
This question is a no brainer to me. Why would anyone want to hunt, shoot, torture and eventually kill a lion? Lions are magnificent creatures and they are the king of the “jungle” (savanna & grassland). These apex predators should be left alone to do what they do best – lots of sleeping and then some awesome hunting, protecting their family and roaming their territory looking cool. Why do people enjoy this sort of activity, … Continue reading
Amazingly cannibalism has been recorded in over 1500 species in the animal kingdom. There is a long history of cannibalistic humans in such countries as Fiji, The Solomon Islands, Liberia, The Congo etc. Humans as a form of food were referred to as “long pigs” in some civilizations. Well it now turns out that lionfish are resorting to cannibalism. Katie Pyzyk published a post in the National Geographic on the 23rd July 2015 highlighting the … Continue reading
As a scuba diver we have two main options to move us around underwater – leg power or DPV’s (diver propulsion vehicles). However, these guys have something much cooler. How about getting a tow ride around on a mini sub and have its lights shine into the dark holes to find those dam lionfish. So I hope you enjoyed that awesome video, that was the last part of a written article. If you want to read … Continue reading
Simon Morley a local diver and photographer in Grand Cayman went on a dive this week on the East End of Grand Cayman with Tortuga Divers to the deep wall site “Split Rock”. This is a beautiful site where a number of Grey Caribbean reef sharks are regularly spotted. Simon took this photo just seconds after a lionfish swam by and was snatched up by one of the sharks. “From what I saw of the … Continue reading
