Scuba Adventures
July, 2015 ~ Two years ago, our good friend, Dr. Richard Smith (Ocean Realm Images), showed us photos that he took while diving in Japan. The Pinecone fish, a blenny (ginpo) and undescribed Japanese pygmy seahorse (Japa-pigu), caught our imaginations and Ned and I decided then and there that we had to see these fishes for ourselves. Richard kindly set up an entire three-week itinerary for five of us and off we went last month for a dive trip unlike … Read more
Banda Sea, April 2014 ~ This algae covered decorator crab, found by Ned on a night dive off Pantar, Indonesia, is one of my favorite images from our April trip around the Banda Sea. We boarded the Dewi Nusantara in Ambon and dived our way down through and around the southern perimeter of the Banda Sea and across through the Alor region, ending in Flores. And oh, what a trip! Last year, I posted about the little bryozoan goby that … Read more
This is my entry for this week’s Photo Friday topic: Perspective. One of the things that makes diving so appealing on the island of Bonaire is the access to sites from shore. The story is a little different on the east side of the island, where the shoreline is rough and in most places, high above sea level, making entries difficult. The camera, placed in a rather small hole, creates an interesting perspective; the ancient coral reef, long exposed to … Read more
Dominica! When Ned and I were asked to lead a 2014 REEF (Reef Environmental Education Foundation) field survey, we suggested the lush tropical island in the eastern Caribbean. Our 2011 visit with friends, including the Wilk family (of ReefNet fame) and Dr. Ben Victor, had been so productive that we were eager to return. The eastern Caribbean has some interesting diving and the region has plenty of unusual fishes to lure avid fishwatchers looking to add a few more species … Read more
In 1999, on our first trip to Lembeh Strait, Indonesia, we were introduced to dives unlike any we’d ever experienced. No colorful coral reefs here – this was “muck diving” – a new concept to us. Dropping down into greenish water to behold a wide-open expanse of nothing but black sand was almost enough to send many of us scurrying back to the boat. But it had taken us 44 hours and 5 flights to get here, so we stuck … Read more
Here are a few more favorite Blennywatcher images from 2013. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will already have seen most of our favorite images, but some didn’t make into a post and others were published earlier this year in Alert Diver, Scuba Diving or Wetpixel. So, we’re ringing in the New Year with a few more photos from 2013, starting with this Anchor Tuskfish displaying quite a mouthful of teeth. The menacing look is quite … Read more
Ned went diving last month in Palau, a destination we had long wanted to visit. I had to change plans at the last minute and stay home with my parents so I missed out on the trip but we are counting Ned’s visit as a recon for a future visit when we can both go. This week on Blenny Watcher we share some of my favorite images from his visit. They range from a speck of an algae shrimp to… … Read more
This is my entry for the Photo Friday: Delicious! challenge. Aboard the Dewi Nusantara, fresh green coconut was one of my favorite after-dive snacks. Nothing processed, no additives – just fresh and succulent, right out of the husk. The crew demonstrated how to eat the coconut meat by cutting off a small part of the green husk to create a scoop. Delicious!
Photo Friday: Activity is the challenge this week. Our favorite activity underwater is “critter hunting” – the search for unusual fish and invertebrates. Finding cool critters like this crocodile fish above and the rare melibe nudibranch below are what keep us diving.
We were lamenting leaving home during our favorite season, late spring, until we woke our first morning in Indonesia to the sun rising over Manado Bay. Just around the corner we found little mudskippers, from the goby family. Mudskippers have adapted to life in shallow, muddy areas by breathing through their skin. These occasionally made a funny little flip, presumably to wet their skin for protection from the very hot sun.