As I was laying in a hammock taking in the view from Casa Toucan in Puerto Morelos, there were several frigatebirds hovering above me and some coming quite close. They are splendid flyers and were probably here because the fishing pier is nearby and possibly a source of some food. They fly across vast oceans, never landing on water, but taking their food in flight. In Baja they call them tijeras, which means scissors in spanish, because of the split tail.
It´s time to leave Holbox…what great memories I will have! Here are a few shots to try and capture the essence of this place. 
The runway is lined on all sides with large conch shells painted white….the runway is 650 meters long with a shell about every meter…I figure there at least 1500 conch shells! 
Palapas on the far west side of the island. The water´s edge used to be much closer to the palapas before Hurricane Wilma (2005) deposited lots of new beach!
Another cool adventure here in Holbox....assisting INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia), a Mexican federal government bureau that researches, preserves, protects and promotes its cultural heritage. 
The underwater archeology division is interested in documenting ship wrecks in the area. The fishermen here know many of the sites as fish tend to live in and around underwater structures. So the boat captain could take us directly to them. We documented 6 sites in just 4 days. This is not easy work though it is enjoyable for the most part. Most of the dives were in deep COLD water with strong currents and low visibility...I opted to stay on the boat as I am only qualified as a recreational diver...besides they needed someone recording all the data and taking GPS points to make the maps!
They did see some amazing things though....
Sea turtles, Manta rays...
This one was wrecked recently during Hurricane Wilma, but it is important to document it as someday it will be a hundred year old shipwreck!
We met a lady here who does animal rescue and so we offered to care for this sweet little critter that was brought to her by some children that were feeding it coca cola and tortillas.
Coatis are a member of the raccoon family and are very social. We named her Almendra. She is an omnivore and eats fruits and insects. We give her a bottle of milk 3 times a day as she is still young. She loves climbing on anything and everything and likes to curl up with humans.
The whale shark is so docile as she swims along the surface filtering the plankton through her gills. They will be here in these waters as long as there is the plankton bloom which usually ends around the end of August.
Today we were invited to assist the biologist that is directing the Mexican Atlantic Whale Shark Project called "Domino" as that is what the locals call the whale shark. Rafael wants to know how long the whale sharks are here, how many there are, where they came from and where they go from here. 
He has tagged over a hundred whale sharks with transmitters and is installing acoustic receivers on the bottom of the sea that will record the data as the whale shark passes within 500 meters of a receiver.Today we placed 3 of these cylinders on the sandy bottom (21 feet deep) by driving in a stake with a sledgehammer and affixing a cable that is attached to the device. They will be taken up in 6 months and will have the data inside.
When combined with similar data from other projects in Belize, Honduras, Cuba etc, we will have a better idea of the migration patterns of this mysterious shark.
We have a new member to the team, Oscar...he specializes in kite aerial photography (hanging a camera from a kite string)...particularly photographing whales. We asked him to join us here in Holbox to photograph the whale SHARKS. To begin with he showed us how it is done on land....first you measure the wind to determine if its too strong or enough.
He had 3 kites with him.....it was amazing how strong they are....
once up about 50 feet,
you attach the camera on a special rig 
that can be turned and tilted by remote control....he had several type of cameras....simple to complex, still and video.... 
using a fish eye lens you can get some amazing shots. It takes a team to fly the apparatus....making it that much more fun!!
Then we took it to the sea......Wow...lots of moving parts in that operation!! 
Here we are at the mouth of an estuary near Cabo Catoche.
I think we are ready to photograph the whale shark! Here are a couple examples of Oscar's photography he has done with whales near Puerto Vallarta 
and also a Mayan ruin that he plans on photographing the sunbeam as it shines directly through the pyramid on the right to a stellae (rock statue on left) at sunrise on the Fall Equinox. I just may have to make that event!
has really nice beaches and the most amazing clear blue water....golf carts are the main mode of transportation as the streets are narrow but paved. The first time I was on this island was 30 years ago when Annie was a little girl and we rented a hammock for 5o cents a night. 
