Capturing the Moment

  Art in nature - the wrapped up arms and spines of a crown-of-thorns sea star. I love spending time underwater. Especially in a place like Maui, Hawaii. I have logged hundreds of scuba dives here, all around the island. This dive took me back to one of the places where I have dove before, a place called 5 Graves or 5 Caves. Snorkel boats come here often, looking for sea turtles. But the snorkeling miss a world of small and unusual creatures living in the cracks and crevices and caves down below. That is why I geared up for scuba diving and went out for a hour-long underwater search for charismatic micro-fauna. The entrance for this dive is down a gravelly path, past a small graveyard on an tradition coastal access trail. It would be very easy to drive right by if you didn't know what you were looking for. The entrance into the water is a small, rocky cove, that can be quite tricky, especially if you have heavy scuba gear and a large camera. The waves surge into the bay, sending th...

Hypselodoris bullockii laying eggs Nudibranch laying egg mass   I have seen nudibranchs in cold California kelp forest, on deep wall dives, in tide pools, and on rubble bottom tropical muck dives. Their vivid colors make them fit right into their surroundings in Indonesia, especially with all of the vibrantly colored soft corals, sponges, and hydroids covering the shallows. But in all of these different habitats certain behaviors remain the same. Egg cases will be attached to sturdy rocks or coral, mating will also be right side to right side, and nudibranchs will find poisonous stationary creatures like hydroids to feast upon and in turn use those toxins as part of their own defense. Nudibranch searching for food Nembrotha rutilans feeding Risbecia tryoni nudibranchs mating   We found so many nudibranchs during our week diving the Lembeh Strait that we were lucky enough to see and photograph most of the different behaviors these creatures display. The...