Underwater Recently

I haven't been diving nearly as much as I would like, but I have snuck in a few over the last few months, and every time I get the chance I jump in for a snorkel.  In fact, as far as lighting goes, with my simple little camera setup, snorkeling is better for pictures!  So... I will share a little over my next few blogs... (I'm sure this is nothing compared to the IMAX movie you guys saw recently, Mom & Dad!)

At my first dive ever on a site called "Chicken Reef" (even though it is within 15 minutes of our field station), we were surrounded by about 15 black-tip reef sharks.  I'm always thrilled to see sharks on the reef, since they've become so rare in recent years (due to the senseless Asian craving for shark-fin soup).

On this last trip with the Kalabia, my snorkelling mostly consisted of around and beneath the local village jetty before or after we ran the education programs - an experience not to be knocked... many interesting things lurking around here!

... this massive mantis shrimp is the biggest I've ever seen (sorry nothing in the pic to give it scale, but its hole in the sand was about 20cms in diameter)!

Under the big concrete pilings of the jetty at Fam I found at least four different species of pipe fish (Look closely - some are barely indistinguishable from the substrate)...

And of course, there were the usual jetty-lurking suspects of stone fish, scorpion fish, lion fish, old shoes, and tires...

(Stone fish are one of the most venemous fish in the sea... although they aren't dangerous unless you provoke them (or step on them accidentally because you didn't see them - they blend in perfectly with the rubble or reef, hence the name!?))

(Can you find the scorpion fish?  It could be dangerous if you don't see him in time and put your hand down on him on the reef!!!)  

(Lionfish display their venomous nature with bright colours to ward off predators... they're spines are dangerous for humans as well, although not necessarily deadly... as I can tell you from experience!)

In one dive, I encountered several new species... 

...I looked into a deep hole under some coral...

...and discovered a new species of lobster...

... and right around the corner was a new formation of mushroom coral that I have never seen before!