The Experience

This past week was Spring Break back at Bowdoin and because of that I took the week off from photographing. Instead I spent the week in the keys and the weekend at my home in Orlando. Tuesday and Wednesday morning were spent diving while Thursday was spent in Key West and exploring some of the parks throughout the keys. Between Tuesday and Wednesday we did seven dives in John Pennekamp State Park which protects the largest coral reef system in the United States. We also we able to dive two different wrecks, one of them during a night dive. It was a wonderful couple of days with spectacular conditions on Tuesday when we were able to get in five dives. Wednesday morning conditions deteriorated with four to six foot seas with seven and eight foot swells. We still got underwater despite the surge and had two very nice dives.

It was a very relaxing week and a wonderful break from the work I have been doing down here. This week I will be returning to photographing and spending the first few days in the western Everglades and Big Cypress. Hopefully my weblog will resume tonight, but I will be posting from my laptop from a campsite and can’t promise it will work. If it doesn’t work I will be back to my trailer tomorrow night with new images.

Thank you for bearing with me this week as I took a break and I can’t wait to get back into it all. Just as a quick preview, over the next few weeks I plan to photograph the endangered Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow, orchids and bromeliads in Fakahatchee State Preserve, a wading bird rookery that hosted upwards of 20,000 nests last year, and wading bird nests including White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbills, Glossy Ibis, and Reddish Egrets. I also hope to have the opportunity to photograph endangered Snail Kites nesting. Along with all the birds and wildlife, I also will be taking a new look at the landscape and really focus on it as the rains slowly begin to turn things green. I hope that will keep everyone interested and I will do my best to deliver images.

The Photos

Since I don’t have a underwater housing for my camera I did not photograph this week. Being underwater again with the amazing fish and corals without a camera was killing me and I am going to have to figure out how to take a camera down next time. Anyway, look for new images next weekend.