Last month I wrote about my trip to Thailand, and the beautiful coral gardens in the Andaman Sea surrounding the beautiful island Ko Phi Phi. This month I want to mention a short long boat trip I took to an island off of the coastal city Krabi, Thailand. See photo1! Although I brought with me my mask and snorkel I was initially disappointed by what appeared to be barren sand surrounding this small island. Looking around I thought to myself: too much human activity for coral to survive.

Photo 1

However, I decided to snorkel around anyway, and much to my surprise I discovered innumerable homes for shrimp gobies in only a few feet of water at low tide. For awhile I amused myself by chasing the goby back into its burrow, and then watching the shrimp bulldoze the debris out of their hole that had rolled in due to the fishes’ rapid retreat. Here is a picture of the duo that I scanned from an old Scuba magazine. See photo2! The complex communication that goes on between the shrimp and fish is quite fascinating and has been extensively studied by marine biologists. If interested in this wonderful relationship check out the following link: http://www.explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/Shrimp-goby/general/Warning%20Communication.htm.

Photo 2

The May issue of Advanced Aquarist will have an article by Sanjay Joshi on his technique for photographing his captive corals. Sanjay posted many photographs on our bulletin boards using his technique, and they were some of the best photos I have ever seen. Here is a photo taken from our boards as an example: