Paddle boarding on the Sea of Cortez and Pufferfish photos

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Today Bethany and I went stand up paddle-boarding (SUP) here in La Ventana Mexico before the afternoon winds picked up and kiteboarding started. SUP is so much fun, especially here in the Sea of Cortez! The water is so clear and calm in the morning... the feeling of silently and effortlessly gliding over coral reefs and thousands of fish is quite fulfilling. :)

This was Bethany's first time trying it out and she did great, loved it too.

I brought my snorkel stuff and underwater housing along... here are some of my pics-

Bethany getting used to the balancing act-

Beautiful clouds-

Bethany looking like a pro already-

I went for a snorkel and caught this absolutely amazing and adorable pufferfish called the "Guineafowl Puffer". They are really slow fish and catching them isn't very difficult. They look a little bit boxy and funny at first, then you bother them, and they'll instantly start rapidly sucking water through their mouth to entirely fill their rubbery body, then, hundreds of small quills come out of their skin. It's FASCINATING! As you can see, these things are freaking comical when in this mode... I love it.

Video would be even better because the action of their tiny little flippers trying to move about is hilarious. For a size comparison, this one is almost basketball size and weighs like 10 pounds with the water inside.

Onto the next puffer! This one is a Barred Porcupine Fish an is equally adorable... but what's crazy is that puffers are the earths most deadly fish, as the ovaries, liver and intestines contain a tetrodotoxin that is known to be at least 1,200 times more potent than cyanide!! A poison that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says can “produce rapid and violent death.” The spikes don't contain the toxin so it's ok to gently handle them, but if you eat one of these guys you'd be lucky to live for 24 hours. In Japan it's considered a delicacy and can be ordered at special high end restaurants for $100-$200 per serving, but people die every year from it being prepared incorrectly... thanks but I'll pass and have the tuna please.

Size comparison to my hand. Some were much larger but harder to catch the big guys!

Back to paddle-boarding-

Bethany is feeling great and looking beautiful at 24 weeks preggy! Our baby enjoyed the ride too. :)

On the way back the wind started to pick up, luckily it was at our back though.

Hoping to go again tomorrow!