Capturing the Moment

Just Breaking the Water's Surface Orca    It had already been a pretty great day; snorkeling with seals, finding my first nudibranch, and watching brown bears catch and eat salmon underneath a waterfall. It would be hard to imagine how a day like this could get any better. Then it happened. Pec Fin wave    The general cry of 'orca' went through the boat from bow to stern in what seemed like a millisecond. People crowded the rails, grabbing and pointing cameras, or just pointing off in the distance where a large, dark fin would break the surface. Glassy orca bow wave    It turned out to be a large pod of orca who decided to stay with us for about twenty minutes. A couple of different times they would swim right over to and under our boat. Some seemed quite playful waving there short nubby pectoral fins in the air, while other calmly patrolled the perimeters. There seemed to be quite a bit of belly to belly swimming which led me to think...

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...

A Loving Couple On the search for a mate    Mission accomplished! Ever since first seeing a photo of a rare fish called a mandarinfish, ( Synchiropus splendidus ), I have wanted to see one for myself. I had high hopes for seeing them in Lembeh, Indonesia last year but both Heidi and I came down with sickness that kept us from scheduling a mandarin dive. That just made me double my efforts at my next dive destination, the Philippines. I wasn't sure where in the Philippines these fish could be seen but I committed myself to the mission.  First a little about the mandarinfish and why it is such a rare fish to encounter. It lives in tropical waters in the Pacific, and is a bottom dweller spending most of its time hiding in rubble or coral. One might think that their bright colors would make them easy to spot but their small size, about 6 centimeters, makes it tougher still. The best time to find and take a photo of these timid fish is right after sunset. This is ...

Red Spotted Nudibranch Dwarf Moray Eel What a dive! In a place where people go for big things like sea turtles and white tip reef sharks, we found a treasure trove of the small and overlooked creatures of the reef. Carefully picking our way over the reef provided a rare opportunity to see creatures like nudibranchs, dwarf morays, and cleaner shrimp. Mating Tom Smith Nudibranchs! The tiniest frogfish  One of the most fascinating events we witnessed on this dive was mating nudibranchs. Two Tom Smith nudibranchs were very close to each other, head to tail on their right side, with the reproductive gland extended and touching. It was easy to miss but Heidi's sharp eye and constant research into the behavior of nudibranchs allowed her to know exactly what was going on. I could hear her thru the water yelling, "They're mating, they're mating!" Grumpy little frogfish Wire coral goby  As I slowly set pictures up from different angles and settin...