White Spots
Tag: reef
Postcard from the Reef – Cushion Star
I have occasionally seen these starfish tucked into the coral by day. When you see just a small part of the animal it is not immediately recognizable as a starfish, just a lump of something that does not match. They emerge at night to feed on the coral itself. Once in the open the five-fold symmetry begins to suggest that you might be looking at a starfish…
Yet Another Whitemouth Moray
Yet another photo of a Whitemouth Moray on a Kohala reef. Well? they are the most common moray to be found at scuba depths. At this point I have an extensive collection of Whitemouth Moray photos. They are common, photogenic, and quite cooperative, they sit still while you take the photo.
I only found three of them in the afternoon and evening of diving…
An Alien Landscape
Postcard from the Reef – Coral Blenny
Deb spotted this one. I come over the coral head to find her gesticulating at a very large antler coral (Pocillopora eydouxi). These coral are always worth checking out, so many things live amongst the branches. These denizens are fascinating, and frustratingly hard to photograph deep in the branches.
This particular coral had a number of residents… A couple guard crabs and several fish, including this fellow…
Postcard from the Reef – Guard Crab
Most divers do nothing during their safety stop, I have some trouble doing that. Hanging in the water fifteen feet below the surface for five minutes is sometimes pleasant, sometimes boring.
Also hanging fifteen feet down is the mooring ball, a buoy holding a steel cable near the surface so the dive boats can avoid dropping anchor on the reef. I have made a habit of checking out the growth on the mooring ball and line during my safety stop. I have found hydroids, wire coral gobies, even corals growing here, no real estate goes unclaimed around the reef.
A set of cauliflower corals were growing on this cable, complete with the usual community of critters that find shelter in the branches. Even more convenient, I could rotate the coral colony simply by twisting the cable to which it was attached, giving me a chance for a better photo of a guard crab…
Peek-a-Boo
Postcard from the Reef – Dragon Moray
One of the rarer, but very impressive, moray eels of the Hawaiian Islands is the Dragon Moray. This is my first decent sighting of one. Decent meaning I did not see the last bit disappearing into the coral, and actually saw the head for more than a glimpse.
He was staying well out of harm’s way with noisy divers about, deep in an antler coral head. The location also made the eel fairly difficult to photograph. I used my usual in-coral-head technique… zoom in, pray for focus, and nuke the coral head with light.
Whitemouth
Minature Garden
