Marine Life

Too many to list,... for now We have so many different species here in our Caribbean and Atlantic waters that it would be impossible to list them all. However, to give you an idea of what you might expect, we have listed a few of the common species we see here. Do not be surprised if this list grows over time... Damsel Fish There are very many sorts of Damselfish. It would be impossible to list them all here on this website. However, on the picture you see the most common specie. "The Sergeant Major". Easy to recognise isn't it? It is funny to see these fish underwater, vigerously defending their patch of algea. No worries. They don't bite. They just swim at you and then quickly turn back, etc, etc... Spiny Lobster The Spiny Lobster is a species we see here very often. They often hide in gaps and cracks in the reef. It's not really hard to find them if you swim nice and slow and pay attention. Sometimes you will find a few solitary species, but most of the time they live in groups. Murray Eel On practically every dive and at every dive site, you can encounter Murray Eels. They live in small holes out of which only their head comes out. On rare occasions you will see a Murray Eel swimming, but as soon as it becomes aware you are in the neighbourhood it quickly finds a place to hide. Murray Eels look like snakes, though are far less dangerous. As always, stay hands off and do not tease. Intimidated by their display of "agression"? No worries. They have to open and close their mouths to breath. Stonefish The Stonefish is a species belonging to the family of scorpionfish. As the name probably tells you, it is a poisonous species. Stonefish are hard to spot. They are very well camouflaged and resemble just another rock. The trained eye can spot them a little easier, but it never becomes easy. The Stone fish is not agressive. It will not attack. Just do not touch it as the dorsal spine is the poisonous bit Southern Stingray On the sandy areas around the island we see a lot of Southern Stingrays. Usually partially burried in the sand. Southern Stingray is easily disturbed and will flee the scene when this happens. If approached carefully and slowly, the Southern Stingray can look impressive in pictures.

Octopus Although we see Octopus here with great regularity, they are always hard to find. Octopus is capable of adapting to their environment. If they lay on a rock, they have the color of the rock and the texture of the rock. You find them on sand? They look like sand. etc. It's a really cool thing. Look for holes in the reef with a stack of shells in front of it. That could be it's home. Eagle Ray Most impressive to see, the Eagle ray spreads it's large wings and comes gliding by. Not our every day encounter, but with regularity we see this beautyful animal. On occasion it will allow for pretty good encounters, since these animals are somewhat curious of nature. Great Baracuda With it's dangerous and agressive looks, the Baracuda we find on the reefs along Sint Maarten can be a little deceiving. In the few years that our staff has been diving here, not a single Baracuda bite has been reported by any of the divers. Usually we see them in schools of up to 25 species, but sometimes we see them soletary. We usually find a few of them on the reefs around Shark Hotel. Green Turtle Feeding mostly on seagrass and spunges and sleeping under cover of the shallow reefs, we often encounter Green Turtle in this area. The youngsters are specifically shy and quickly flee the scene. The larger individuals however, often allow for pretty long encounters and make for impressive photoos. Blacktip Reefshark Although people tend to be afraid of sharks, and sharks are not there for us to tease, the black tip reef shark is a very shy animal. We do se them very often, but usually also very briefly. To be truthful: The blacktip seems to be more afraid for us than we are for them. Of course both the shark and the diver encountering the shark will deny that. (We know better) Grey Shark Grey Shark is also a species that we see here. Never in groups. It seems to always show up as an individual, check us out and then retreat. Although it seems to be a little less shy than the Blacktip, the Grey shark guarantees awesome encounters. When taking pictures of sharks (any) it is best not to use a flash, to avoid scaring the animal. Nurse Shark Okay, this shark we do not see very often, but occasionally you wil find these sharks under rocks. We often compare them to shark shaped plants, but it is really a fish. Do not let their friendly character fool you. This animal, just like all other animals, it does not like to be touched or cornered.