The international trade in sharks and their close cousins rays has driven many of them to the brink of extinction. New protection under CITES will offer protection for Wedgefishes, Giant Guitarfishes and Mako Sharks. If you’re unfamiliar with CITES, it stands for the...
One of the most common corals on some Indo-pacific reefs is not technically a coral at all, but it does a very good job of blending in. Here's a little about Millepora, the aptly-named Fire Coral. You'd be forgiven for thinking this coral head, complete with a shoal...
My guidebook to Red Sea fishes says of the Little Dragonfish: 'Rarely seen, but probably more common than thought'Â I tend to agree; it took two of us almost an entire dive to find these two fish, it was worth it though, to see one of the oddest looking fishes I've...
I recently shared some images of butterflyfish from the Indo Pacific and Red Sea regions, touching in brief on Chaetodon semilarvatus, the Masked Butterfly. Given that's it is such a wonderful fish and such an impressive species when photographed, I thought I'd share...
In my last post I shared some images of superficially similar Chaetodon species from the Red Sea and Indo Pacific region. Here are three more similar fish from the same part of the world. My first species is the Head-band butterfly, C. collare. I first came across...
Time after time I've been out on a reef photographing something - a coral head full of anthias perhaps - when part of the reef gets fed up with me and scuttles away, well, that's what it feels like anyway, for the spilt second before I realize that the bit of...
Out on the reef, yellow is a very prominent color, especially in full tropical sun. Yellow fish, especially members of the Chaetodontids, make great photography subjects. Here are several Indo Pacific species I've recorded over the years; note just how superficially...
I’ve often shared images of shipwrecks and mentioned how interesting they are as artificial reefs. Well, here are some images of an amazing wreck that really prove my point. This old tub, once known as the Stellar Maru, lies off the west coast of Mauritius. She was...
I’ve often wondered just how many people have ever become ill from exposure to palytoxins. We’ve all read the warnings of course, but how few of us have ever taken it seriously? Well, a UK family appears to have had a near miss. Numerous UK websites and news outlets...
