A Spotted Fin Butterfly Fish

It happens every year. The Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean shifts. The warmer water migrates north, and with it come tropical fish. Normally the fish here in Rhode Island are a dowdy grey, and even brownish. But in September and October the fish glow yellow, orange, blue and green. Gossip spreads through the dive community about who caught what exotic fish for their aquarium. Last year a friend of ours caught a rare lion fish for his tank. Last weekend another friend of ours caught a sea horse for her tank. I’ve never seen a sea horse in the ocean, and my lucky friend caught one.

Here's a lion fish, like the one our friend caught, photo credit: www.taba-heights.co.uk/DivingSnorkeling.html



On Sunday Todd and I went diving at Fort Wetherhill, on the southern tip of Jamestown, Rhode Island. We saw the usual lobsters hiding in the rocks, and the dowdy looking fish. But this time I saw two spotted fin butterfly fish. Then the same friend who caught the sea horse before, also caught a spotted fin butterfly.

This picture is kind of like the fish I saw on Sunday, photo credit: piddlefish.com.


I am terrible with fish names. I can never seem to get them to stick in my mind. But a few years ago I saw two clown fish--you know, like the ones in Finding Nemo. The kicker is I saw these clown fish on a dive just off of Newport.

This, my friends, is why I dive.