fishwatching
Universal Truth of Blenny Watching #1: The desirability of the blenny is inversely proportional to the conditions in which one must dive to see/photograph it. Longhorn Blenny? High on our list and took two 90-minute dives in surge to get the shots (see last year’s post here). A blenny with eggs? Seaweed blennies are pretty common in Florida, but the Seaweed Blenny with eggs was in 72-degree water with 3-foot visibility (see that post here). So why would I even … Read more
Calling all fishwatchers! Join us on May 15, 2013 at 8pm EDT, for “Cleanliness is next to Fishiness: All About Cleaning Stations”, highlighting many of Ned’s unique cleaning station photographs. We’ll be live, online for this fish behavior class, via REEF’s free online Fishinar series. REEF (Reef Environmental Education Foundation) offers some great outreach programs for scuba divers, snorkelers and fish enthusiasts including the Fishinars, a.k.a. webinars, that are so much fun. The presentation will be followed by a Q & A … Read more
October 2012 ~ Here are a few more observations from our most recent trip to Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Batanta, one of four main islands, is located just a few cruising hours from the port of Sorong and is usually the first and last stops on our itineraries. That has never been enough for me so for this most recent trip aboard the Dewi Nusantara, we planned an all-Batanta itinerary. The heavily forested island has been my favorite for beachcombing, birdwatching and … Read more
November 2012 ~ We have just returned from a cruise aboard the Dewi Nusantara around Batanta and Waigeo, two islands in the Raja Ampat region of eastern Indonesia. If I had to rank my top 10 favorite dives of all time, I would include a 2007 night dive off Batanta when we saw this frogfish, Lophiocharon sp., with her clutch of eggs. The only divers still in the water after a two-hour dive, we were on our way back to … Read more
Bonaire, September 2012 ~ A new species for our life lists but the Longhorn Blenny images did not come easily. Ned describes our adventure in the latest post about our September stay with Buddy Dive in Bonaire over on our travel journal: marinelifeblog.com but I just had to share another super close-up blenny face here: (video at the end of this post) Longhorn Blennies (Hypsoblennius exstochilus) are in the family Blenniidae (Combtooth blennies.) They prefer shallow, surgy habitats in the … Read more
Bonaire, September 2012 ~ This is why they are called spinyheads! I have been examining Ned’s photo of a Spinyhead Blenny (Acanthemblemaria spinosa) for the past 30 minutes – I cannot get over the detail. Even with a flat port, diopter and tripod, I have never been able to capture a close-up video portrait that would allow me to examine the cirri and spines on the fuzzy little heads of these 1-inch fish. The amount and location of the cranial … Read more
On our recent trip to Bali, I added a new blenny species to my Blennywatcher life list and observed what we are sure was spawning. Excited by my initial sighting, I chased a little Smith’s Fangblenny, Meiacanthus smithi, down the reef, where to my surprise, it joined a milling group, whose attention seemed to be focused on a blenny peeking out of a hole. The blenny in the hole would emerge, gently lunge at one of the group and swim … Read more
Blenny Watcher is back after a hiatus – With the help of family and friends, I have been caring for my 81-year old mother, who had spinal surgery to repair damage caused by a serious fall. An inspiration to us all, she is preparing to resume teaching her art classes next month and has shooed me off to get back to my own work. Although I do not possess her artistic abilities, I did inherit her overexcitable sense of curiosity, … Read more
June 2012 ~ Our last two posts have been about our Fish & Critter Hunts in Lembeh Strait, Indonesia, hosted by Eco Divers Resort, Lembeh. The Wi-Fi connection on the boat allowed me to post from the event but didn’t support the more resource intensive video upload, so those had to wait. I couldn’t include everything we saw, so went with some of my favorites, including a cool Melibe nudibranch, hatching Flamboyant cuttlefish, A very tiny frogfish, mating nudibranchs and … Read more
June 2012 ~ Earlier this week I posted photos from the first week of our Lembeh Fish & Critter Hunt with Eco Divers Resort Lembeh. We sadly said goodbye to our friends from the Octopus Army and greeted a new crowd for Week 2 and wow, another super adventure! The group embraced the hit list of 30 animals with gusto and with the help of our superb dive guides, most had checked off the entire list by mid-week. One of … Read more
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