ReefSeason BETAPrologue
Flashy Fish
A dive briefing · Curaçao

Kleine Knip

Dive site off Curaçao. Here's what has been recorded at this site month by month, how the region’s reefs have weathered ocean heat, and how to prepare.

Curaçaoreef
At this sitegeotagged 366 m from the site coordinates Flashy Fish · LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Living on a Coral Reef
Chapter I · Arrival

Kleine Knip: dive site off Curaçao.

~12.342° N~69.154° W · OpenStreetMap · node/447928252
1,070open records · GBIF
116species recorded
At this sitegeotagged 407 m from the site coordinates Living on a Coral Reef · LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
II

Entry

Living on a Coral Reef

Entry points, depths, currents and any local rules will be added once we can verify them from official sources.

Approximate positionThese coordinates come from a crowd-sourced map or Wikidata item, not an official mooring list. Use them for orientation only.
To verifyDepth range, entry points and current notes. We publish them only with a citation. The coordinates mark the site in general, not a mooring or entry point.

At this sitegeotagged 407 m from the site coordinates Living on a Coral Reef · LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Flashy Fish
Open media · At this sitegeotagged 366 m from the site coordinates Flashy Fish · LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The surface noise falls away.

Reds go first. The world turns blue-green.

Then Kleine Knip rises to meet you.

Flashy Fish
IV

What lives here, by month

Pick a month. These are the species most often recorded within about a kilometre in that month, from open survey records.

Oct
October · 0 qualifying records
Life calendar · records per month for this site's most-recorded species (blank means not in that month's top list)
SpeciesJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
French Grunt
Dusky Squirrelfish
Brown Chromis
Bicolor Damselfish
Flamefish
Sharpnose Puffer
Glassy Sweeper
Bluehead Wrasse
Keeltail needlefish
Reef Scorpionfish
Spotted Soapfish
French angelfish

Most-recorded species, all months

  1. French Grunt (71)
  2. Dusky Squirrelfish (35)
  3. Bicolor Damselfish (22)
  4. Flamefish (22)
  5. Brown Chromis (22)
  6. Sharpnose Puffer (19)
  7. Glassy Sweeper (15)
  8. Bluehead Wrasse (13)
  9. Reef Scorpionfish (11)
  10. Spotted Soapfish (11)
  11. Keeltail needlefish (11)
  12. Slippery Dick (10)
  13. French angelfish (10)
  14. Cerion uva (10)
  15. Greater Soapfish (9)
  16. Smooth trunkfish (9)
  17. Plate fish (9)
  18. Common Lionfish (8)
  19. Cardinal Soldierfish (8)
  20. Graysby (8)

GBIF.org (2026-10-15), occurrence records within ~1 km, licensed CC0 or CC BY 4.0 only. Birds and land animals are excluded. Counts reflect survey effort, not abundance. 1,070 qualifying records. See them on GBIF. Common names: Wikidata (CC0) / GBIF. Species photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species.

V

Forty-one summers of heat

Each stripe is one year since 1985, colored by its peak heat stress across NOAA's “Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire” region. These are NOAA Coral Reef Watch satellite figures for the whole region, not for this one site.

19852026
Reef health report · Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire

Heat stress, measured from orbit.

Degree Heating Weeks · 2026-10-131.3°C-weeks · NOAA status: Bleaching Warning

NOAA CRW virtual station “Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire”. NOAA's alert thresholds are 4 °C-weeks (Alert Level 1) and 8 °C-weeks (Alert Level 2). Station page · Method. Credit: NOAA Coral Reef Watch.

Peak per year · dashed lines at 4, 8 and 16 °C-weeks
The past twelve months
VI

Conditions

Average sea temperature through the year. Check the live readings before you go.

Average sea surface temperature by month: NOAA CRW “Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire” station climatology (monthly means).

Meteorological Department Curaçao · marine forecast →

Buoy readings are measurements; forecasts are models. Use them for planning only, and assess conditions on site. Depth and visibility data aren't listed until we can cite a source.

VII

Plan & prepare

  1. Read the official marine forecast the night before.Offshore, wind and sea state decide the day.
  2. Confirm access, hours and any fees with the site.[Placeholder: verified operator list to come]
  3. Study this month's species above.You'll recognise more when you know the names.
  4. Hands off, fins up, buoyancy dialled. Log what you see.Your sightings can become tomorrow's open data.

Credits

Coordinates
OpenStreetMap node/447928252 · source · ODbL. OpenStreetMap (ODbL) dive-site nodes, plus two Wikidata (CC0) reef items. Crowd-sourced, approximate positions. Approximate position.
Species records
GBIF.org, CC0 & CC BY 4.0 records. By license: CC0_1_0: 564, CC_BY_4_0: 506
Dataset
Vertebrate Zoology Division - Ichthyology, Yale Peabody Museum · doi:10.15468/mgyhok (548 records) · GBIF
Dataset
EOD – eBird Observation Dataset · doi:10.15468/aomfnb (426 records) · GBIF
Dataset
iNaturalist Research-grade Observations · doi:10.15468/ab3s5x (63 records) · GBIF
Dataset
The marine palaemonid shrimps (Crustacea, Deapoda, Caridea) of the Dutch Caribbean · doi:10.15468/vakfdr (10 records) · GBIF
Dataset
INSDC Sequences · doi:10.15468/sbmztx (6 records) · GBIF
Dataset
International Barcode of Life project (iBOL) · doi:10.15468/inygc6 (5 records) · GBIF
Dataset
LACM Malacology · doi:10.15468/xxm2eb (4 records) · GBIF
Dataset
Hexacorallians of the world · doi:10.15468/90drpi (3 records) · GBIF
Query
https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search?decimalLatitude=12.33156,12.35156&decimalLongitude=-69.16387,-69.14386999999999&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&taxonKey=44&taxonKey=206&taxonKey=229&taxonKey=136&taxonKey=225&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&limit=0
Heat stress & SST
NOAA Coral Reef Watch, 5 km Regional Virtual Station “Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire”
Hero photo
At this sitegeotagged 366 m from the site coordinates Flashy Fish · LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Arrival photo
At this sitegeotagged 407 m from the site coordinates Living on a Coral Reef · LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Gallery
7 photos, credited under each image
Species photos
Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species. Full list: Data & sources