Blackwater diving
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.
One of our favorite suggestions for fish watchers in the Caribbean is to look for small one-to four-inch Slender Filefish, Monacanthus tuckeri, hiding out within gorgonian bushes, where they shelter from predators, feed, and even more delightful, sleep or rest at night by biting down on polyps for stability – especially helpful when the current runs. This behavior turns out to be a common family trait. In the Caribbean, we have also observed the Whitespotted Filefish, Cantherhines macrocerus, Orangespotted Filefish, … Read more
Following the lead of veteran blackwater photographers, we headed for Anilao, Philippines for seldom-seen larval fishes and invertebrates.