The Komodo Diving Honeymoon.

We had a rather incredible honeymoon, spent in large part, under the waters in and around Komodo.  This is by no means a full trip report, but for anybody interested, we stayed aboard the Archipelago’s Adventurer II, which had spacious cabins, incredibly friendly helpful crew, and delicious meals.  If you are a diver, and are looking for a luxury liveaboard, I highly recommend this operation.

This was my first time in the waters of Indonesia, and it was really great. While I personally cannot say that the diving was so great that I’ll never dive the Caribbean again, I am thankful for this perspective, as Indonesia is a very long way from home!

There is a lot of life in the Indonesian waters.  In fact, in the following picture, the black and green nudibranch (Nembrotha Cristata) was not even seen by me when I was taking the picture!  That says something about the abundance of life in the waters, my abilities to spot critters and my abilities as a photographer (i.e., there is a lot of luck involved in getting a nice picture).

Nembrotha Cristata (originally oriented 90 degrees to the right)

Sharks Up Close and Personal

Here we see a Caribbean Reef shark, eying my camera.  Or perhaps, eying me.  The focus is all wrong because the eye is blurry.  However, I thought it was an interesting shot nonetheless.

Shark making eyes with me.

Diving with Tiger Sharks

Colleen is enthusiastic about diving with sharks. After diving with the reef sharks, she is now eager to see the bigger animals.  And watching divers in the water with tiger and lemon sharks has given her something to look forward to.  Last night, I asked her, “Would you want to do a night dive with the tiger sharks that are 12-15 feet long?”

Her response? “Yes, they will be easier to see at night if they are big!”

I love her.  I don’ t know that I’ll dive tiger beach at night with her though. I may just have to sit that one out!

Starfish

The “typical” way to shoot a starfish is to focus right down on top of it, so you can see all five arms.

Instead of shooting an ordinary shot, I decided it would be nice to get a picture with the background of “eel grass.”  In this way, it appears as though my starfish is sitting on the lawn.   Enjoy.

Starfish on the grass

Parrot Fish versus Sea Urchin

I was doing a shallow dive, and noticed this Parrot Fish going after something. I am pretty sure its an urchin. There were no other players on the field, so I guess the spines were somewhat protective….

 

The urchin is in the lower left.

Fish goes in for a nibble.

Some soccer action and the Fish is moving the Urchin around.

Fish, recognizing the photographer, smiles.

Happy Shark Photographs

Here are a few more shots of the sharks we saw in the Bahamas. The photos of me were taken by Colleen and are the first pictures she has taken underwater with the dSLR camera.  So far, both of us are shooting as if we had a large point and shoot digicam, but we’re taking fun pictures nonetheless!

David and the Shark

David says "Cheese!"

Shark swimming by

The above photo is among my favorites. I just like the way that both pectoral fins are showing as well as the eye.

Sharks and More Sharks.

Well, I’ve written about going to the Bahamas to dive with the sharks, and I’ve posted a few photos, but I thought more pictures of the animals would be appreciated.  People have been asking, “Are those great white sharks?” And the answer is, no. They are carribbean reef sharks. MAYBE they are grey reef sharks, but I don’t know if that is the case.

Other people ask, “Are those man eating sharks?” and the answer is, No.  They are reef sharks. There really are no “man eating sharks” if by “man eating” one means a species that regularly makes man part of its diet.  Sharks don’t eat people, though on occasion they do take an exploratory bite, and the bigger the shark the bigger the bite.  Unlike other animals (certain tigers, mosquitoes), sharks rarely attack people. It happens, of course, but rarely.  Dogs attack people too. Hippopotami attack people. People attack people. There is nothing especially dangerous about sharks. People fear them because of media hype. People fear them because when people swim in the ocean, they are no longer the top of the food chain. People fear them because they are hard to see when one is swimming in the water.  And, then, there is Jaws, which ruined the ocean for at least two generations of people!

In any event, the shark is a beautiful animal that has been around for hundreds of millions of years. As the apex predator, it helps keep our oceans healthy.  Sharks are being destroyed, and the harm to the ecosystem cannot be readily predicted, but can easily be imagined. Entire food chains are collapsing. For want of sharks, the ray populations explode. Too many rays, and the population of scallops is destroyed. If you  make yoru living selling scallops, and there are none to be found, you can thank the overfishing of sharks. Of course, you are then probably killing rays and cutting them up into discs and calling them Scallops (yes folks, this does happen), but the point is, messing with an ecosystem is never a good thing.

Enough preaching, and here are some pictures!

Shark and Fish Merry-Go-Round

Staring down the barrel.

Its a Bird! It's a Plane! No, its Super Shark!

Bloody tooth

David Posing While Photographers Shoot the Sharks

Bahamas Photos (Macro Shots)

These pictures were taken with a 60mm macro lens. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Hawksbill Turtle

Spotfin Butterfly Fish

Bahamas Photos

Lion Fish

This is a Lion Fish, which is not endemic to the Bahamas, but is thriving there as a result of having no predators.

Colleen, Swimming with the Fishes!

Reef Shark

Divelove

Welcome to the birth of what could quite possibly be the most important Blog in the history of man. Whether your choose to return or not, I hope you enjoy your visit.

This is a picture of a smooth trunkfish.  Sometimes they are sold in aquariums.  However, they make poor pets since they may excrete a toxin when under stress, and this toxin can kill it, as well as all the other fish in the tank.  Of course, these beauties can be safely enjoyed in the open ocean by snorkelers and scuba divers alike!  I strongly encourage anybody who is interested in diving to take up the sport.

Edited: To delete reference to website which was too difficult to maintain. WordPress Blog is all I needed. Imagine that!