Scuba Adventures

Larval Ornate Octopus, Callistoctopus ornatus

Night Drift: Our Kona Blackwater Diving Adventure

August 17, 2021

Almost four decades after seeing Chris Newbert’s portrait of a larval long-armed oceanic octopus, we finally saw one for ourselves. We joined our friend Steven Kovacs for ten nights of diving in Kona, Hawaii, where blackwater diving began.

Bumphead Parrotfish, Bolbometopon muricatum

Bumphead Wrangler

March 6, 2021

Solomon Islands, Bilikiki Cruises ~ After a week of smooth sailing we wake at 6 a.m. to overcast skies and threatening seas at Kicha Island, the westernmost stopover on our Solomon Islands’ itinerary. All I can make out of our anchorage through the cabin’s rain-splattered porthole is the shadowy silhouette of a craggy volcanic island being battered by surge—I roll over and groan. The idea of squeezing into a still-wet wetsuit to make the unusually early morning dive on a … Read more

Collage of BlennyWatcher 2020 Social Media Favorites

2020 Social Media Favorites

January 4, 2021

Time to say “Bye” to 2020 with some of our 2020 social media favorites. We certainly had plenty of time to sift through old files and dabble. I wish we had more to say about diving (sigh), though we did manage to slide in two trips – one to the Philippines before the pandemic lockdown, and a quick, socially distanced trip to West Palm for a few days in July. A friend recently commented that if we’re posting anything “on … Read more

More than Forty Years

June 15, 2020

We have more than forty years of magazines stuffed into bookshelves and closets around our house. We scanning and adding them to the BlennyWatcher Publications page.

Two Brothers rocks (Morro Dois Irmaos) - Probably the most iconic view of Fernando de Noronha.

A Visit to Fernando de Noronha, Brazil – Above and Below

March 24, 2020

Fernando de Norohna isn’t necessarily easy to reach, but the endemic fishes and gorgeous scenery are worth the journey.

Tasmanian Blenny from Here's a Blenny for Your Day

A Blenny for Your Day

April 21, 2017

April 2017 ~ Happy Friday. Here’s a blenny for your day.  I haven’t been online for a while – work here on the home front has kept us preoccupied, hence the paucity of posts. Plus, I’ve been self-exiled from social media but I guess it’s time to check in and see all the fun I missed. So, back to the blenny… At the end of January, we bounded off to Australia to join friends for five weeks of diving and touring. This … Read more

Red Blenny, Parablennius ruber - Blennywatcher's 2016 Review

BlennyWatcher’s 2016 Review

January 21, 2017

BlennyWatcher’s 2016 Review: We didn’t post as much here last year as we would have liked though as diving goes, 2016 was a pretty good year. We added quite a few species to our life lists (including a blenny or two) and in our continued commitment to making at least one dive trip a year that is out of our comfort zone, we ventured into the cold water in the Azores. That led to a new experience – dry suit … Read more

Zebra Dartfish displaying

Ambon to Triton Bay

June 1, 2016

April 2016 ~ It had been nearly a decade since we last sailed into Triton Bay—an unspoiled, mountain-lined piece of paradise in far eastern Indonesia. On that 2007 trip, we departed out of Sorong and dived our way south and along the Fak-Fak peninsula before arriving in the fabled bay. This time, we sailed from Ambon to Triton Bay aboard the Dewi Nusantara, just one of several live-aboards that have recently added the remote destination back on their itinerary. Diving … Read more

Bulbonaricus pipefish Triton Bay Ned DeLoach

Triton Bay!

April 6, 2016

April 2016 ~ We’re on shore in Kaimana, a small port in eastern Indonesia, awaiting reprovisioning of our dive boat, Dewi Nusantara, before we head back to Triton Bay for another 11 days of diving. We woke yesterday morning to a splendid sunrise, seven hornbills overhead and a feeling that our last dives of this first trip were going to be special. And they were. The little pipefish above is one we have wanted to see for a long time. … Read more

Mandarinfish trio in Lembeh Strait, Indonesia

Lembeh 2015 Portfolio – Part 2

November 30, 2015

Lembeh Strait Part Two, November 2015 ~ Here is the second installment of favorite photos from our two-week stay at Eco Divers Resort Lembeh. Friends who visited Lembeh earlier reported unseasonably cold water and strong winds so we were bracing for the worst but as luck would have it, the wind died and water warmed just before we arrived at the end of October.  We have dived here in every month of the year but this month the bottom seemed more interesting … Read more