Tour Guide Tree

Fight fight fight!! 🐴 The wild mustangs in the Outer Banks are truly that - wild. Aint no farm horses here. These two stallions (males) are going after each other, but don’t worry! This appears to be a “play” fight. Ya see, our bachelor stallions, a name given to a male without any ladies, will bunch up in groups called bachelor harems. These bachelor harems serve important functions for safety and socializing, and here is just one example of that - play fighting. Play fighting is when bachelor males go toe-to-toe with not much on the line but bragging rights. This gives them the practice and skills they need for when they DO fight dominant stallions for ladies. That’s right, the boys fight over the girls. Who knew? As always, give a follow and stay in touch with the wild horses of the Outer Banks with me, your favorite tour guide. #TourGuideTree #OBX #OuterBanks #WildHorses #BeachHorses #Wildlife #GuideLife #TourGuideLife

Friday Finds: French Angelfish 🐠 Probably my favorite fish to see on the reef, angelfish are usually the most vibrantly colored fish out there. The French angelfish just takes the vibrancy to new levels. Fun fact: juvenile French angelfish and juvenile gray angelfish look incredibly similar. The best way to tell them apart is to go home and Google the differences because even I don’t know them (Just kidding! Sort of). That’s partially why I picked this song as background music 😂 #TourGuideTree #GuideLife #TourGuideLife #Snorkeling #Caribbean #USVI #Angelfish #FrenchAngelfish

It never takes long. And that’s because sea turtles are awesome. And seeing them? That’s my job. #GuideLife #TourGuideTree #TourGuideLife #SeaTurtles #Snorkeling

What I’m trying to film vs what I end up filming: a story. I am strictly a @GoPro user, for no other reason than… that’s all I have right now. And they are great for what I use them for! I’m still learning how to get the best out of my cameras too, and one day I’ll have some nice cameras too. But one hard part about using GoPros when freediving is the fact that I will eventually run out of air and have to surface again, and sometimes I forget to turn my camera off. I also tend to forget to look at the framing of my shots, so half the wildlife I’m filming isn’t even in the frame 😂 So 10% of my footage is usable, fun, and reminds me why I love wildlife! And 90% of my footage gets laughed at and deleted. Oh well. I’ll keep bringing my GoPro on tours and sharing it with you! #TourGuideTree #GoPro #GoProHero11

Cruise Ship Shore Excursion Advice: I’m speaking to my cruiseshippers here - if you’re worried about your shore excursion being crowded, it probably will be. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. One of the things I do most when working in the Virgin Islands is lead cruise ship “shore excursions”. They’re the most consistent clientele. But I’ve lead kayak, hike, and snorkel shore excursions with up to 80 people before! How do you not get lost in the crowd? A good shore excursion company knows these concerns. They’ll try to mitigate those concerns. I’ve been told by a cruise passenger that I led the best shore excursion that persons ever been on. I run a tight ship and keep the fun high. But here’s a tip the cruise lines don’t want you to know - shore excursion companies would be more than willing to set up a private, or at least smaller, experience for you. Just call! Don’t book through the cruise, book for yourself. Cruise ships promise that the ship won’t leave port without you if you’re on an excursion booked through the ship. The big reason cruise lines encourage you to do this though is because they take a commission, which in turn drives the prices higher so the business can compensate for the loss. What does this mean? It means that, when you book a shore excursion through the cruise, you pay more for a more crowded experience, the second clip in this video. Or schedule yourself something outside the ship. Pay less, enjoy more, see the first part of this clip. #TourGuideTree #CruiseShips #ShoreExcursion #USVI

Friday Finds: Barracuda 🙈 Barracuda are cool!… when they’re not anywhere near you. Sharks get all the hype. My tour guests always ask if we’ll see sharks, they’re afraid of sharks, there’s a movie about sharks yadda yadda. Sure, while “Jaws” would’ve been objectively less entertaining if it meant the jaws of a barracuda, to me they’re worse. Toothy, menacing, and the bad guy at the start of Finding Nemo, barracuda are best viewed from a distance. Fun fact: barracudas can reach speeds of up to 27 miles per hour when swimming, enabling them to snatch prey quickly… or your fingers. #TourGuideTree #USVI #GuideLife #TourGuide #TourGuideLife #Snorkeling #Barracuda

Just a quick clip for your caribbean viewing pleasure. #TourGuideTree

Friday Finds: Queen Conch 🐚 This beautiful queen conch was hanging out with all its friends in a protected marine ecosystem on St. Thomas. The older they are, the bigger (and more beautiful!) the shell! KEEP IN MIND: vacations are fun. I’ve made my whole career thus far being somebody to help make your vacation fun. But bringing sea creatures above the water for a photo is akin to holding land creatures below the water for a photo. Seems wrong, right? Right. So leave sea creatures (like conch, sea stars, etc.) below the water if and when your responsible guide finds them. Ethical wildlife ecotourism should always leave the wildlife happy and healthy with minimal, if any, interaction. #TourGuideTree