Bonaire

Text and images by William Warmus ( Warmus Undersea )

Notes on the 2004 dives

These images are nothing special: simply reminders of the effortless pleasures of diving. 

This mellow image evokes the floating, at times milky mysterious atmosphere. A fish is gliding by in the foreground. It has an antique flavor, I think--as if taken 50 years ago.
 

Below, the diver has merged into the landscape of the reef with camera in hands--no bubbles, just stillness against a backdrop of darkness, and he's there carefully wedged between coral heads, as if he were coral. A consummate professional in the ocean, working to get the right shot.

Two images below: It was difficult for me to take pictures of the roof of a cave without professional lighting equipment...while working to keep my footing and get the snorkeling equipment ready to dive inside the cave's fresh water streams and ponds.

The first is a living Coral head with Christmas Tree worms, at a depth of about 10-15 feet. The second is the fossilized interior of a similar coral head, inside an inland cave on Bonaire -- the lighter color arch shape you see is actually the edge wall of the coral--it projects down in three dimensions, which is hard to tell in this photo--and inside that arch shape are several white finger shapes (near center of the photo)--these are the worm's holes.

Negative fossil mold of coral inside Bonaire cave system:

Below: An elongated trumpet fish crosses behind some sponges and coral