Christopher Columbus called Samana Bay “Golfo de las Flechas”
This beautiful sunset is from the Samana Peninsula in the Dominican Republic. More specifically this was taken near a small municipal district called, Arroyo Barril, just west of Samana. If you are looking at a map of the Dominican Republic, this was taken in the northeast part of the country.
The water in this photo is from Samana Bay. Something interesting I came across was that Christopher Columbus called Samana Bay “Golfo de las Flechas”. This translates to “Gulf of Arrows”. This would lead you to think that Columbus was not well received in this area.
Samana Bay is about 40 miles across by 16 miles north-south. It has been an important body of water for humans and marine life for a long time. Pirates used to seek protection from rough seas in this sheltered bay. Humpback whales use this bay to breed during the winter and spring. Anywhere that has reliable humpback whale activity is going to attract tourists as well, and Samana is no different. Whale watching tours are a big part of their economy.
I spent a couple days snorkeling in this area. There were stands of elkhorn coral, tropical fish, and clear waters. However, I only saw “small” fish, as everything nearshore had been overfished. There was also quite a bit of plastic in the nearshore waters. The sargassum weed that floats on the top of the water would act as a filter and catch countless floating plastic pieces. Some fish were making use of the floating garbage, using the structure as protection. It was a memorable moment, there was so much natural beauty, and yet it was so sad to see it covered in manmade waste.
There was so much natural beauty, and yet it was so sad to see it covered in manmade waste
I have only seen this fish at one other place, Little Cayman
On a lighter note, one of the fish that I found while snorkeling here was a greenbanded goby. These are my favorite fish! These wild looking fish are half black and yellow striped, and half red and white striped. The front half of this fish looks nothing like the back half. Something interesting is that these fish will have different numbers of stripes depending on what island they are from. DNA shows that the populations are genetically different from island to island.
Greenbanded gobies are very shy fish. They are also very small (about an inch long). They hide under urchins for protection. They are typically found in shallow water, so you have to be careful not to get too close and have the waves throw you into the urchins. The good news is that it is easy to find the sea urchins, and if you check enough you might get lucky and find your greenbanded goby. That’s not to say these fish are found under sea urchins everywhere. In fact, I have only seen this fish at one other place, Little Cayman.
Did you know? This area is prone to earthquakes. There is a fault line that runs along Samana Bay.
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