Coral Diseases; Black and White

Here is a picture taken in the Dry Tortugas of white band disease.

Below is a picture also taken in the Tortugas of black band disease.

This disease actually kills the coral as the band crosses the coral leaving behind just a skeleton. A marine biologist studying these diseases told me it was possible to remove the disease by simple fanning it away from the coral... but there's a catch. The tissue that has been fanned away also needs to be collected since it is very contagious to the coral including all the surrounding corals.

Sunset in Key Largo

This is the view my Mom, Harold, Samsun and me had while we were eating dinner.

Swimming with Stingrays

A Shell, an Acre Lot, and a Beautiful Pool

This is the latest "house of interest". It is basically a small house in the center of an acre lot full of fruit trees and other vegetation and a beautiful pool surrounded by a large wooden deck. The house was completely gutted which makes the perfect opportunity to rebuild the house however you may please.

Mark: Our Waiter at the Diner

Oh My Gosh! Saturday night we went to the

Fountain Plaza Diner in Pembroke Pines to

watch Viva play and this was one of the

waiters in the restaurant. What a character.

He was like this the entire night. They had

great food, I had the seafood soup, crab

stuffed sole with garlic butter linguini, and

for desert homemade strawberry cheesecake.

Everybody had a great time, and best of all

we enjoyed listening and dancing to Viva.

They played all the oldies. I can not wait until

they play there again, it will be a blast.

Airplane Photos

This is a piture taken from my seat on the plane. The picture below is of Miami Beach.

White Water Rafting: Ottawa River

That yellow dot my head

Phillipe Cousteau & Me

Samsun went Kayaking Today!

Today my Mom and I decided to go kayaking and we brought Samsun along. It turns out we could not have picked a windier day but he loved it. At first he sat on my shoulder as close as possible to me. It was not long before he was sitting on the bow of the boat riding the waves. He just earned himself a new nick name... Captain Jack. In the picture below you can see the island we paddled out around, it is known as Dove Key.

TENNIS: Sony Ericsson Open

I went to a tennis match with my Mom. We watched Marion Bartoli play Yanina Wickmayer. Bartoli won the match but lost to Venus Williams in the Semifinals. I thought this was a cool picture.

Samsun & D'lyla taking a bath

Florida Marlins Baseball Game

I was invited to go to a Florida Marlins game. We had Batters Box MVP tickets. We had to be escorted to our seats because in order to get to them we had to go underneath the stadium. On the way to our seats we walked by the players and the dugouts. It was so interesting to be able to sit that close to the field. You could hear the ball hitting the bat and the players talking amongst themselves. I could almost hear them breathing. This picture was taken with no zoom and the blue wall at the bottom was where I was resting my feet. The Marlins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Think Twice Before You Eat Shrimp

Every time you eat shrimp this is what is also caught when your delicious shrimp is caught. Except the shrimp is not wasted, but all this bicatch is just throw away. Here you can see a shark was killed as well as thousands of other creatures. The ocean floor is also destroyed in the process as they rake the bottom.

I See You

Dry Tortugas - October 2006

Nothing but a boat, a few tanks and open ocean...

Dry Tortugas - October 2006

Aflac: My Duck

During my Junior year in High School I found a duck egg and actually hatched it after heating it under a light in my bathroom for 21 days. When Aflac finally hatched I brought him to school with me. That was an interesting few days to say the least. I went to all my classes as normal except I had a duck in the pocket of my hoodie. After the first week I got permission for him to stay in the back room of the chemistry class. I fed him before school, during my lunch break and when I got home. Four weeks later school was out for the summer and Aflac was getting bigger.

Coral Restoration Project

I was going through my pictures and I found these and thought they were interesting. WIt took weeks for us to pour cement into cheap plastic Dixie cups to form the pedestals for the coral to grow on. Then we cut pieces off other corals and cemented them onto our pedestals with underwater epoxy. Then we left the rest to mother nature and the corals grew. Later they were transfered to various reefs where they could continue to grow. It looks like Pirates of the Caribbean when we were walking across the bottom of the ocean with the cement blocks.

D'lyla's Newest Trick

I was sitting outside the a few weeks ago drinking juice and when I finished the bottle and put it down on the table D'lyla walked over to it and tipped it up and started drinking the last drops. It was the funniest thing. I grabbed my phone and took a video of her. Here it is...

Fender Hand Painted Electric Guitar

Here is my newest creation...a Fender Electric Guitar that I refinished and hand painted. I wanted to give it that Woodstock vibe. I think I nailed it.

Hand Painted Acoustic Guitar

I ordered this acoustic guitar online after searching for about a week. I was not sure exactly what I was going to do with it once I got it but I knew something would come to mind. When it arrived I was completely inspired and this is the result of my sudden inspiration.

Happy Birthday Samsun

Last Summer I raised a Scarlet Macaw from ten days old. His name is Samsun. He just turned One Year Old!