The Sabertooth Blenny

"I venture the theory, in short, that adventure lies in the man himself and not in the happening."
- White Waters and Black

I liked that quote. Now I will share an exerpt from my journal on one of my favorite fishes.

20-2-2011

My luck continues. Today I saw a scorpion fish, triggerfish,  several types of rare damsel fishes, and then some. Today was the lowest tide to date here, and I reaped its benefits. I was also able to see the deceptive sabertooth blenny feed. What a treat. I shall describe the scene.

I came upon a cleaning station where a large chub idled allowing small wrasses to pluck annoying isopods from beneath its scales. A wonderful symbiotic relationship where larger fish, such as said chub, are rid of their pesky parasites, and the the cleaners are provided with an excellent meal. At this point I spy the stealthy sabertooth blenny. He is amongst the rainbow wrasses posing as a cleaner and biding his time. He blends in quite well with the rainbow wrasse, but his movement and slightly different coloring give him away. My coastal bible here, Fishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific, says these fish can be identified easiest by  "a very large recurved canine on eah side of the lower jaw." Hence the name sabertooth blenny I suppose.
The wrasses continue to clean the unknowing chub while our dear blenny lies in wait. Then, out of nowhere, he strikes. Going in for a supposed isopod he lunges forward just like a wrasse. Rather than removing a pest he opens his mouth and bites off a large chunk of flesh and scales. Mission accomplished. The chub looks stuned for no more than a moment then swims off disgruntled. I suppose he was feeling ashamed and silly for being duped by the tiny sabertooth blenny that reaches no more than 10 cm. That is to say that fish have the capacity to feel shame which I highly doubt. Regardless the rainbow wrasses were out of isopods, and a chub was missing a few scales. Deceptively cunning little fellow the sabertooth blenny and fearless to boot. They are said to have a bite at divers who aggravate them--although I have never been bitten, and I have done my fair share of aggravating the sabertooth blenny.


Photo of sabertooth blenny

Suppose it's time for an update. Where to begin...

Right now I am in an internet cafe drinking a cold Imperial typing lab inventory.

Cathy and Jim left a few days ago, and I was sad to see them go. While they were here we had a great time tooling around the country. We started out in Malpais near the park where we rode horses through the mountains and on the beach (stopping at the house for a beer and a break by the pool). Then we headed to Arenal for a night where we hiked around the volcano and went to mass at the base of the volcano with a congregation dressed in white. The hotel in Arenal was beautiful, and we had a great view of the volcano. The clouds actually completely cleared from the volcano for a brief period of time lending an amazing veiw of the smoking top of Arenal at sunset. Next was Monteverde where Cathy and Jim bravely conquered the ziplines, but opted out of the Tarzan swing. We also visited both of my old host families in the San Luis valley. We drank fresh coffe and ate the tastiest tamales ever at Oldemar's house and watched a smashing sunset at William's. It was a great trip and we only had one close encounter with the central american grizzly bear. (Cathy and Jim--Javier's daughter is doing well, and Javiers form of transportation is a lovely light pink bike.)

The dry season is officially in full swing here, and the temperatures are rising daily. Let me paint a picture of CR, on the coast, in the dry season. The unpaved roads are dustier than you can imagine. People driving quadracycles and motorcycles look like bandits with their hats and sunglasses on and a bandana tied around nose and mouth for protection against the dust. Plants line the roads to protect houses from the dust, and as a result the plants are all covered in a greyish film of dust. Fancy hotels and restaurants spray off their plants periodically and wet down the road to prevent dust. Oh Costa Rica how I love thee.

Since my return to the park after Cathy and Jim left there hasn't been too much going on. Four students from the Universidad de Costa Rica came for a few days because they are friends with Luz, one of the cooks. I had great time with them. It is funny how some things are unchanging despite cultural differences. One example being circle of death. The card meanings may change slightly and the name may be a little different, but the gist of game itself is the same. College students around the world love (or hate) a good game of circle of death, and that's all I have to say about that. The UCR kids returned to San Jose and offered me a place to stay if I ever find myself in San Jose. On their last night we purchased fresh pargo from the pescadaria just outside the park, and feasted on some delicious fried fish. Also in the park now are a group of volunteers from the UK and a tico named Jamie (pronounced High - mee). They are rebuilding the boat house and mending the bridge that was taken out during the rainy season.

I am passing my time helping the volunteers, doing lab inventory and bits of research in the ocean. Milton has also recently convinced me to teach myself calculus....we all know how amazing I am at math. He is bringing me books on their next trip to Cabo Blanco. I also read. A lot. Any book suggestions are more than welcome. Anyone who is interested in fishes and likes to read, I highly suggest Probably More Than You Want to Know About the Fishes of the Pacific Coast by Milton Love.

That's all for now folks.

1 Month Down

I guess I've lasted month on the Rich Coast and I'm pretty sure I can handle 5 more months in paradise. You don't have to twist my arm. Things are going great.
Five ticos from San Luis came down to dig a new septic tank. I already knew Jocksan from previous trips and the other 4 were fast friends. They enjoyed mimicking Miltons slow incorrect Spanish and were thoroughly entertaining. Pilipe let them drive the quadracycle so I got to tear around the park in tow which was awesome. When the septic tank was finished Pilipe gave us a fiesta with fresh ceviche and imperial. Shortly after the fiesta we headed out to walk around the peninsula to the Cabuya side of the park. 5 ticos and a gringa how hard could it be? The walk was supposed to take 3 hours of harsh walking on reef rock, we did it in 2.5 and went the long way. We ran on the beach stretches and walked so fast my calves burned across the reef. When we reached playa cabo blanco everyone realized we had no idea the correct way to go, and no one had given us directions. We picked a trail and started walking. In reality we were a few meters from the station if we had continued on the beach. We hiked through the forest for another hour or so before we reached the other park station completely drenched in sweat. We were immediately served fresh passion fruit juice and crackers. Efrain, another park guard, was at the station with, as he explained later, his mistress and love child.
This side of the park is open to tourists and has a few more amenities then my side, one being a TV. We watched a Manchester United game as we ate dinner. The next day the boys left to head back to San Luis and Pilo drove me back the entrance of my side of the park, but not before we all planned a trip to San Jose to watch a Saprissa soccer game.

As i type this I am sitting on the deck of a beautiful house on the side of hill overlooking the pacific ocean with Cathy and Jim. They are here for ten days and we are currently staying in this awesome house just outside of the park. It has an infinity pool which is where we watched another breathtaking sunset last while chatting with Javier, the grounds keeper.I am so excited Cathy and Jim are here! Today we are hiking into the park and I will show them around and take them snorkeling. They have seen iguanas, parrots, cows and horses, but jim keeps asking "where dat monkey?!" ha. Im hoping we see some monos in the park today.

On the reef looking towards Isle de Cabo Blanco

Snorkeling this morning was great! I saw several fish I had never seen before and swam the length of the lagoon with a massive sea turtle. I also managed to slice my knee on a rock. Comes with the territory on a turbidite rock reef. The cut isn´t too bad, and I would like to inform anyone reading this that decolorized iodine is actually 50% alcohol. Read the label before dousing an injury with it. I think it hurt worse than the initial cut. Just wanted to warn everyone who may be reading this and want to use decolorized iodide.

While walking on the trail with several other students and Markwainright we ran into a troupe of white faced cappuchins. One was on a branch just overhead and not happy at the fact we were so close. We went to backup to give him more space but found there was another angry monkey behind us. We were trapped in the middle. No one was concerned at this point. Then the first monkey began screaming at us and shaking the brach. He then lept off the brach and charged us. Just before reaching us he ran into the woods. It definitely got my adrenalin flowing.

Also there is a family of kuwati that constantly forage near the kitchen in hopes of finding left overs. There is one female, one male, and 3 babies. So adorable. For anyone who doesnt know what kuwati are, they are closely related to racoons and much cuter. There is also a lone male who puches his luck and sometimes has to be chased out of the casona. I entered the kitchen to do dishes the other day, and everything was in order: both doors securely closed and the screen pulled down and locked to prevent kuwati and racoon breakins. Much to my suprise the organic food bin flipped over and out poured a terrified kuwati along with fruit rinds and coffe grounds. He ran into a corner and I chased him out with a broom. The thing had pulled apart the wood door with his tiny hands and pushed his way in! I found it amusing. Philpe, the park gaurd, did not because he had to fix the door.

Well I am out of stories and internet time. Plus I want to see the sunset. You can see the green flash here! It is insane. The stars are also AMAZING! I thought Cathy and Jim had good star gazing, but it pales in comparison. There is zero light pollution, and Jupiter shines so bright it reflects in tidepools. Beautiful.

Ciao

Cabo Blanco

About time I updated this thing. The internet is slow and sparatic.

Things here are absolutely amazing. The weather is warm, but there is a nice ocean breeze to keep you from overheating. Next month is supposed to be much hotter. I have had 2 student groups come through so far. One from Lehigh University and the other from Westfield University. Both went very well. We took them snorkeling, on hikes to the waterfall, and did shell o rama. Mark Wainwright came with the second group and he is pretty much a badass. Knows everything you can thing of to do with tropical biology and them some. Im going to watch the superbowl at his house in Monteverde with a few other gringos.

The snorkeling is awesome. Tons of fishes which I can identify, sea turtles, octopi, eel, snail. etc. I see something new everyday. I am sporting a nice snorkel tan that looks something like pale in front and strangely tan in back. Its the next big thing. There are howler monkeys and white face cappuchins (sp?) that come through frequently and eat fruits from the trees. I was actually peed on by a howler monkey while walkng to town the other. True story and something that would only happen to me. I swear he was aiming. Ha. I also came face to face boa constrictor while leading the students over some rocks to shell beack. He was in pursuit of a lizard. We scared the lizard away but it was really neat to see up close and personal.

The food is great. Pretty much rice and beans with fruit and meat at every meal. Coffee breakfast lunch and dinner. Fresh squeezed juice as well, mmm. The staff and I get along and great and I am working on my spanish with them.

Everything is great here.


Hope all is well with everyone in the states and the snow is not too cold!

Arrival

This will be a boring post, but I made it to San Jose in one piece with all my luggage. Everything went smoothly at the airport and my dad and I spent a few hours VIP style in the Crown Room before my flight.

It feels so good to be back! My spanish is rusty to say the least, but I've managed to get by with a new fangled spanglish. I'm staying in a hostel tonight then taking a bus across the country in the morning to Cabo Blanco which is the park I will be working in while I'm here. Weather is warm and the sun is shining. Can't wait to get to the coast and reunite with the Drs Lieberman.