A pair of Chromodoris annae nudibranchs presumably about to mate
RAJA AMPAT, WEST PAPUA, INDONESIA, AUGUST 2015

Nudibranchs mate right side to right side – so head to toe, not face to face.
They are truly the ‘jewels of the sea’, little treasures that come in a vast spectrum of (bright) colours and significant variations in size and shape. In fact, over 3,000 species have been identified.
C. annae are easily among the most colourful and beautiful; I absolutely love them, and travel companions and I have been privileged to see them many times.
Anecdotally, this was taken on a fairly shallow dive and because my three friends on the trip skipped it,
I had the unusual privilege of not one, but three guides swimming around looking for subjects to photograph!
Truly an experience – and species – to remember.

Halgerda batangas
LEMBEH, INDONESIA, AUGUST 2016

The shapes, colours and variety of nudibranchs are flabbergasting.
With “Nudibranch” essentially meaning “naked lungs”, sea slugs breathe with the beautiful bouquet on their backs.
“Nudis”, as divers often call them, are horrible meals, poisonous to eat, producing toxins they derive from their diets of things like poisonous sponges. One surface species – Glaucus atlanticus – lives entirely on jellyfish.

A pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti) on its gorgonian home 28–30 metres down
PHILIPPINES, MAY 2017

Pygmy seahorses are only 14-27 millimetres long – hard to believe and fascinating to see. They come in 9 recognized species, all living in Southeast Asia.
Other dwarf seahorse species exist but, due to anatomical differences, are not considered true pygmies.
They come in a variety of colours, including black, pink and yellow. This species seems the most common; at any rate it’s the one you see images of most often.
It’s very rare to see pygmy seahorses in shallower water.

Medium-sized green turtle with a beautiful shell I affectionately call “Matilda” in surface light rays at the site called The Sea Aquarium
THE EXUMAS, APRIL 2017

I visit Matilda and her relatives on 20-25 dives a year; we have a good working relationship!
She is a phenomenal model. Not shy at all, on a lucky day she’ll let you swim with her, very close, for half an hour or more. “The Aquarium” is a very shallow site, so your air lasts a long time – more than long enough for a lengthy swim with Matilda or one of her reptilian friends.
Green turtles, like five out of six of the other sea turtle species, are endangered. But I believe greens are the most common.
Shell color varies greatly among regions and animals. Some green turtle shells seem virtually black. In a few Hawaiian bays there are turtles rumored to have whitish shells. Barnacles and algae sometimes grow on shells, making some look darker and/or dirtier than others...
The green turtles with the nicest shells I see in the Bahamas, such as the one in this photograph, tend to be small or medium size – so on the young side.

Nembrotha kubaryana, also known as the “variable neon slug” or “dusky Nembrotha”!
PHILIPPINES, 2017

Another favourite, this is a relative of the beautiful Nembrotha cristata.

A flatworm (Pseudoceros bimarginatus) sliding over coral.
APO ISLAND, PHILIPPINES, 2017

Flatworms, like nudibranchs, tend to be extremely colourful and rare outside tropical waters.
It’s always exciting to see one.
I don’t know whether or not they’re poisonous to eat – like nudibranchs, poison arrow frogs, monarch butterflies, coral snakes and other creatures with bright “warning colours” that advertise their toxicity.
It was a challenge to photograph this flatworm without bumping into coral or breaking it. At one point while I was trying to position myself, the worm dropped from the coral and started sinking to the bottom. Surprisingly, the photographs of the animal falling are as nice as, if not nicer than, the images of it moving across the coral.

Green turtle with a stunning carapace at a site called the Sea Aquarium in the limpid waters of the Exumas
APRIL 2018

This is one of the turtles my group – including Oli, Henning, Maria, Svet, Noah and Tamiko – and I became extremely familiar with. Among them were two near- identical medium-sized greens, one of which you see here, with absolutely stunning shells. The other turtle was slightly paler and had some kinks in its shell.
It seems clear that younger turtles have more “perfect”, colourful carapaces with less irregularities, algae, barnacles, evidence of attacks and so on.
Regarding attacks, one of the main predators of sea turtles is the tiger shark, whose jaws are apparently powerful enough to break through their shells.
Green turtles, while endangered, seem to be the most common of the 7 sea turtle species.
The species with the least conservation information available seems to be the flatback turtle, which is restricted to Australian waters.
Happily for friends and me, green turtles are common in the Galapagos and in the Bahamas, which is also home to loggerhead and hawksbill turtles.
Greens are also common in Hawaii... and I have seen many in Indonesia.
Adult green turtles average 68-190 kilos in weight and can grow to 1.5 metres long, although average length is between 78 and 112 centimetres.
They can live up to the age of 80.
Their favorite food is seagrass, which is unfortunately declining in most places. Whilst seagrass meadows are on the decline, the second biggest expanse of seagrass in the world (second only to Shark Bay in Australia) was recently discovered in the Bahamas. This discovery was made in large part thanks to cameras that were fixed on some tiger sharks!

Silky sharks at a site literally known as “Silky”
THE EXUMAS, 2017

Whilst Silky is a fairly deep site, the sharks are nearly always just under the surface or at least in shallow water.
Most of the silky sharks we see in the Bahamas are rather small – well under 2 metres – even though the species can reach 2.5m in length.
One of the most abundant sharks around, with a cosmopolitan distribution, silkies are migratory. We see them at this site in the winter and spring; but never in the hot water of summer.
The light on this specific day was extraordinary.
It would have been difficult to take an ugly photograph. Indeed, by the end of the dive I’d taken hundreds of photos and the majority of them were great.

Humpback whale mother, calf and escort (not the father)
VAVA’U, TONGA, AUGUST 2018

Humpback whales reproduce in Tonga, engaging in heat runs – energetic and high-speed competitive chases with a number of males pursuing a female in the hopes of mating with her.
The individual males we see with mothers in Tonga are not the calves’ fathers; but rather suitors to the mothers and protectors of their calves and them. “Males will frequently trail both lone females and cow–calf pairs. These are known as ‘escorts’, and the male that is closest to the female is known as the ‘principal escort’, who fights off the other suitors known as ‘challengers’...”
Humpback whale mothers, in what is known as “natal philopatry”, return to the place they were born to give birth.
In Tonga the humpbacks do not feed; but rather live off their fat. The calves there suckle, however, and purportedly gain up to 45 kilos a day!
Humpbacks migrate up to 16,000 kilometres (8,000 km each way) a year! “Their winter breeding grounds are located around the equator; their summer feeding areas are found in colder waters, including near the polar ice caps. Humpbacks go on vast migrations between their feeding and breeding areas, often crossing the open ocean.”
The world’s humpback community is split at the Equator, resulting in a Northern Hemisphere population and a Southern Hemisphere population.
Humpback whales SING! Only the males sing and they sing for short amounts of time; but they do so repeatedly.
Some say all humpbacks around the world sing the same song – and that the song changes every year. “Whale songs are similar among males in a specific area. Males may alter their songs over time, and others in contact with them copy these changes. They have been shown in some cases to spread “horizontally” between neighboring populations throughout successive breeding seasons.”
Humpback whales BREACH! In the past it was thought that perhaps they breach to rid themselves of parasites, to attract mates or to intimidate rivals. It’s also quite
clear that they do it for fun. Increasingly it is thought that breaching might be some sort of communication tool. Whatever the reason, each time you see a humpback breach it looks like it’s jumping for joy.
A humpback’s pectoral fins measure a third the length of its body. The scientific name Megaptera novaengliae roughly translates to “New England big wing”.
Humpback whales were nearly hunted to extinction.
At the height of whaling the North Atlantic population had dropped to approximately 700 individuals.
Since whaling was banned, populations have made a remarkable recovery – one that’s enviable to other species. The present day worldwide population is estimated to be 135,000 animals.
Humpbacks are therefore a major conservation success story.

Compass Cay nurse sharks, blurred
EXUMAS, DECEMBER 2018

Compass Cay is quite famous for its practically tame (we say “habituated” for wild animals that are tolerant of humans) nurse sharks.
There are about twelve sharks they’ve named and know well there that they feed publicly daily, which tourists can swim with and help feed.
Unfortunately visitors frequently touch them and I’ve seen two of the sharks harassed by guests.
The sharks never bite and, in fact, nurse sharks mainly feed on shellfish and bottom-dwelling prey. They have grinding plates rather than cutting teeth in their mouths. And whereas nearly all shark species need to swim continuously in order to access oxygen by passing water through their gills, nurse sharks don’t have to. They spend all their time lying on the substrate, frequently nestled in the reef.
Nurse sharks are wonderful evidence that, contrary to popular belief, not all sharks are dangerous. In fact only a tiny fraction of the over 500 species of shark have ever bitten anyone! Whilst we kill approximately 100 million (exactly 80-273 million) sharks every year for their fins, in nets and so on, only 6-8 people die from shark attacks around the globe every year.

Black grouper among corals hard and soft
DANGER REEF, THE EXUMAS, APRIL 2019

Danger Reef is a fairly famous site as it is frequented by a number of Caribbean reef sharks as well as some very greedy groupers. Whilst feeding there may no longer be allowed today, the reason the sharks and groupers came to – and stayed at – the site in the first place is that people used to feed the animals there.
This grouper was big, beautiful, confident and highly attuned to its environment.
It never ventured more than a few feet away from these corals during our session.
One of the more common sights when it comes to groupers at Danger Reef is that of a grouper with its mouth and gills open, an ideal situation to allow cleaner gobies to rid the fish of parasites and dead skin. Like cleaner wrasse in the tropics and barber fish in colder waters, cleaner gobies, also known as “neon gobies”, provide important services to their clients as they wander up and down their bodies, inside their gills and mouths, and more or less gently peck at their skin.
Black groupers, which reside in the western Atlantic, can grow to a meter and a half long, weigh as much as 100 kilos and live up to 30 years. They are really fun to observe.

Bottlenose dolphin rubbing itself on coral at “Dolphin Reef” near Hurghada
EGYPT, NOVEMBER 2020

This was by far one of the strangest and most wonderful things I’ve ever seen.
Dolphin reef is pretty much the only place I know where you can DIVE, and not just snorkel/free-dive, with dolphins.
Cetaceans don’t like bubbles, are protected and, it seems, we show them more courtesy, deference and respect than we do other creatures. (You are also not allowed to use flash when photographing cetaceans.)
At Dolphin Reef, visitors dive, the dolphins usually make their rounds up and down the reef nearly all day... and they decide whether or not to come and interact with you.
On this particular dive we had 4 dolphins for a number of minutes, swimming around the coral heads, coming between us and so on. Pure magic, utter privilege and an incredible window into the wild world.
One of the dolphins in particular kept circling around some coral, twisting above it and sometimes spinning on its rostrum on top of it!
It scratched and rubbed itself repeatedly on the coral. This act of rubbing against coral has a purpose.
As says impressive, in the words of a marine biologist friend, “Witnessing nature at its best – a dolphin self-medicates by rubbing its skin against coral. The mucus of selected corals and sponges possess bioactive components that help dolphins fight off skin infections and keep them healthy. Interactions between dolphins and corals continue to fascinate observers as scientists work to better understand and support life in the natural world.”

“Arise”
DOMINICA, JULY 2021
Taken on government permit

After a brief slumber, this family of sperm whales rose one by one toward the surface. The whale in the centre was the first to wake and it slowly and gradually approached us moments after this image was taken. We got a very nice view of its eye and face as it passed us by.
«Sperm whales sleep vertically, in groups, suspended impossibly, the way an object might be suspended only in a dream. They look like planets, their orbit suddenly stopped. They look as if they could stop time. And maybe they would, if they ever slept for longer than 20 minutes...»
– HELEN SULLIVAN

Pods of sperm whales may sleep for short periods, assuming a vertical position with their heads just below or at the surface, or head down. A 2008 study published evidence that sperm whales may sleep with both sides of the brain. (Whales in captivity have been found to use only half their brain while sleeping, a behaviour scientists think could help them avoid predators, maintain social contact, control breathing, or continue swimming). A video shot in northern Chile showing whales did not wake from their surface naps until a ship approaching with its engines off unintentionally bumped into them is further evidence that sperm whales might enter a full sleep (with both hemispheres of the brain).
The whales generally nap for only 10 to 15 minutes at a time, and researchers suggest that they might be one of the world’s least sleep- dependent animals.
It appears that some whales may fall into a deep sleep for about 7 percent of the time, most often between 6 p.m. and midnight.
Whaling led to the near-extinction of large whales, including sperm whales, until bans on whale oil use were instituted in 1972. The International Whaling Commission gave the species full protection in 1985; but hunting by Japan in the northern Pacific Ocean continued until 1988.
Fortunately, these amazing creatures are now protected in most places around the world, and the populations are beginning to rebound. Dominica, where this image was shot, recently became the first official sperm whale reserve in the world.

“Probably not a kiss”
CAPE DOUGLAS, THE GALAPAGOS, AUGUST 2021

These damselfish seemed rather aggressive and self-interested, trying to steal the marine iguanas’s food (algae) and even, at times, attacking them.
The damselfish species in this image appears to grow much bigger than other members of the family of fish it belongs to, one including about 250 different varieties.
Marine iguanas, the sole reptiles to feed entirely underwater, are endemic to the Galapagos, and have sharp, long claws which allow them to grip to the rocks they feed off and avoid floating away in the surf.

“Slow-motion backflip” or “Mermaid Maneuvers”
MARSA ALAM, EGYPT, WINTER 2022

A dugong performs a slow-motion backflip over a discarded tyre, its yellow jack escorts scattering.
This voracious goliath with a herbaceous appetite can reach up to 3 metres in length and a weight of 420 kilos. Much like an elephant, it grazes for hours and hours every day – in its case on seagrass.
Dugongs are not the same as manatees (among other differences, their tails are split like a cetacean’s. A manatee has a unified paddle-like tail). But they are from the same family, Sirenia or “sea cows”. Whilst these intriguing creatures usually swim lazily at an average speed of 8 kph, sirenians can reportedly reach 24 kph in short bursts! Indeed, whilst you might see them as simply rotund, idle creatures that love to do nothing more than eat, dugongs will surprise you! They are remarkably muscular and agile.
The OTHER thing that might surprise you is that it’s believed that manatees or dugongs gave rise to the legend of the mermaid! The Spanish sailors who sailed to the New World hadn’t seen women for a long time after all, having spent many months at sea, and may have imagined a creature with a woman’s face and torso but a fishtail instead of legs. An article on History.com states that Columbus saw 3 “mermaids” (manatees!) off the Dominican Republic on January 9, 1493, and later described them as “not as beautiful as they are painted”. Mermaids have, however, reportedly existed in seafaring lore since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. They were often depicted holding a mirror and a comb!
The image above was taken on our third dugong dive that season – the second dive during which an animal played around a discarded tyre. And this time we witnessed what appeared to be profound interest and unbridled play. At first the animal sort of flattened itself out on the tyre, becoming one with it – briefly immobile. But then something magical happened. The dugong elegantly, gracefully performed a full somersault over the tyre! She or he made a full, beautiful circle, demonstrating strength, balance and commitment. My group and I felt utterly lucky to witness this rare, fascinating behavior – and to even capture it on film.
In conservation terms, dugongs are considered vulnerable or endangered in multiple locations around the world due to habitat loss, fishing nets, ship strikes and pollution. In Florida, the West Indian manatee, listed as an endangered species, is facing a serious crisis for the same reasons as the dugong, but with the added and significant threat of harmful algae blooms (HABs) such as red tides. Tragically their numbers are declining fast and, with their food source at risk, in some places they are being fed by hand in a desperate attempt to save them.

Truly one of the most stunning and colorful sea fans I have ever been privileged to come across

Unbelievable beauty and extreme elegance...
WAKATOBI, INDONESIA, JANUARY 2023

Incredible spirals of Turbinaria reniformis coral at a site at Wakatobi
INDONESIA, JANUARY 2023

The complete structure and others there were massive – so big and healthy it was hard to believe as you swam over and around them.
One normally wouldn’t compare much to Raja Ampat, which is the pinnacle of marine biodiversity and ecosystem health; but the coral at Wakatobi is by far the best I’ve ever seen.
Beautiful, grandiose structures, outlandish colors, dainty lattices, amazing diversity...
One of the great tragedies we are living today is the continued degradation of our coral reefs.
We have already lost half of our reefs since 1950.
Many believe we will lose up to 90 % of what’s left within 20 years’ time.
Even the Great Barrier Reef has suffered massive damage with bleaching events affecting over 70% of its area.
The most biodiverse ecosystems in the world – tied only with rainforests – coral reefs support up to a fifth of all marine species at some stage of their lives.

Pink skunk clownfish resting in its host anemone
WAKATOBI, INDONESIA, JANUARY 2023

Pink skunk clownfish are very common in Indonesia. Clownfish, which are related to damselfish, are actually quite diverse in terms of species numbers. Whilst we only regularly see the species from Finding Nemo (Amphiprion ocellaris) and maybe a couple more in the media, there are nearly 30 known species in the family.
A personal favourite is the spine-cheeked clownfish (Premnas biaculeatus), which grows larger than most species and is frequently dark red rather than the more typical orange or yellow colour adorning other species.
Clownfish, also known as “anemonefish”, are endemic to the warmer waters of the Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea, and Pacific Ocean, the Great Barrier Reef, Southeast Asia, Japan, and the Indo-Malaysian region. While most species have restricted distributions, others are widespread.
The mutualistic relationship – symbiosis – between clownfish and anemones is amazing.
Anemones sting and eat other species of fish; but clownfish are immune to anemone stings!
Thus, anemones protect clownfish from potential predators. Leftovers from the anemone’s meals and, occasionally, dead tentacles help feed the clownfish.
One theory has it that the bright colours of clownfish attract potential prey to the anemone. Clownfish excrement apparently also nourishes the anemone.

Magical manta at Eagle Rock, one of the more famous manta sites in Raja Ampat
WEST PAPUA, INDONESIA, MARCH 2023

We saw perhaps 6 reef mantas at Eagle Rock that day – coming down from the surface, gulping up water, hovering above or circling around coral heads. The one in this image came closer than all the others, and it took off like an aeroplane over my head.
Manta rays are much more common – reliable in their presence – in some locations than others.
Many dive destinations such as Raja Ampat, Bali, Micronesia, the Maldives and even Mexico include specific sites for them.
Mantas possess the largest brain of all fish, are intelligent and tremendously curious. They are prone to interacting with divers and are even believed to be capable of recognizing individuals.
Like their gigantic relatives the whale sharks and basking sharks, manta rays feed exclusively on plankton.
There are two well-known species of manta – the oceanic manta, which can reach a wingspan of 7 metres but averages 5.5, and the reef manta which is significantly smaller at maximum 4.7 metres. There are consistent reports that a third species has been identified.
Mantas and all other rays, like sharks, are cartilaginous fishes and not made of bone. An extraordinary number of species of cartilaginous fishes are known to science, with the figure I see reported most often being 1071!
Manta rays and other mobulids are sometimes referred to as “devil rays” or “devil fish” because of the appendages that look like horns on either side of their heads. Known as “cephalic lobes”, these appendages can be used to help funnel plankton into a manta’s mouth.
Mantas can be identified, distinguished and catalogued since every animal has a different spot pattern and the proportion of colours on their backs and bellies varies. Hence, scientists and NGOs can recognize and track manta rays more easily than other species. The same is true of humpback whales.
Unfortunately manta rays are increasingly being fished for their gills for traditional medicine – with tens of thousands of animals being killed each year – despitea lack of evidence that these gills actually contain medicinal value.

"Batfish at the gill spa"
An incredible symbiotic interaction between a cleaner wrasse and a batfish
RAJA AMPAT, WEST PAPUA, INDONESIA. MARCH 2023

The cleaner wrasse gets a meal whereas the batfish is kindly rid of parasites and dead skin.
Clients are occasionally sort of massaged by the flutter of their service providers’ fins.
Cleaning often includes bravely entering the client’s mouth and/or gills.
Cleaner wrasse are truly incredible fish. Several of them will set up a cleaning station together, something reminiscent of a car wash, and go through clients that wait their turn patiently – as a driver might.
Surveys detailed in the book What a Fish Knows teach us that a cleaner wrasse can take care of up to 1,200 clients in a day, that one client came to a station 144 times in a single day (presumably because it enjoyed a sort of massage), that clients often return to the same wrasse – their personal favorite – over and over again (just as you or I might have a favorite hairdresser!) ... That the wrasse are gentler and kinder to predators than to less threatening species. And that a client who was bitten a little too hard might chase after a wrasse for a while; but that the wrasse are never killed or eaten.
So appreciated is the work of cleaner wrasse and so trusting are their clients that one species of fish, the false cleaner wrasse, mimics cleaner behavior successfully enough to lure fish to it but then actually bites chunks of flesh out of its unsuspecting prospective clients.
This was an incredible encounter, something very special to witness.
Whilst I have seen this symbiotic behavior a thousand times over 3 decades in and out of the water, this was by far the closest I have ever been to it.
The batfish was EXTREMELY trusting, at times less than 80 centimetres from me as I shot away with a wide- angle lens.
The fish could very easily have moved away for this highly personal hygiene service – and most would have.
But instead it stayed right there, mere inches away, allowing me to observe something magical for well over four minutes.
I was rather impressed by the fearlessness of the wrasse, who could also have moved away very easily, as well.
The wrasse was clearly too busy to notice or care; but the batfish, which had a whole ocean to swim away to, allowed me within a foot and a half of its face for an extended period. I have much closer images than this one, taken from just above the batfish’s tail, showing the entirety of the fish’s body – its open mouth and expressive eyes at the top of the frame.

A ribboned sweetlip behind a gorgonian and a sponge
RAJA AMPAT, WEST PAPUA, INDONESIA, MARCH 2023

A beautiful sight indeed, it was like stumbling into somebody’s private garden...
The coral in Indonesia is probably the best in the world and Raja Ampat is one of the two most biodiverse places underwater on the planet. At Misool Resort alone they have identified over 600 species of coral and 2,200 species of fish!
Sweetlips are beautiful, fairly large schooling fish. Approximately 30 species have been identified.
These fish have big, fleshy lips and tend to live on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific in small groups or pairs. They will often associate with other fishes of similar species; several species of sweetlips sometimes swim together. They are usually seen in clusters in nooks and crannies or under overhangs. At nightfall, they venture from their shelters to seek out their bottom-dwelling invertebrate prey.
Most sweetlips species are beautiful... and ribboned sweetlips are a favourite.
It’s not all that common for a photographer to swim up to a place or animal and find that the entire setting will create a lovely image. This was one of those lucky times...

HEAT RUN 2023
VAVA’U, TONGA

We had about 8 whales on this specific heat run, one of which – the one at the center – had much more white on it than the others.
We stayed with these whales in fairly rough seas and quite far from shore for an hour or more. As is always the case with heat runs it was hard work. But as is NOT always the case with heat runs, it was rewarding in the end.
Heat runs are a fascinating behavior observed in humpbacks. Competitive group chases, heat runs involve one female with multiple males chasing after her, vying for the opportunity to mate with her.
It can be 16 males or more at a time! A local guide claims to have once seen 24 whales together!
Sometimes it’s a mother with her calf in tow being courted – practically harassed in fact – by a large number of suitors. I often feel bad for the calves because they’re not accustomed to swimming fast or long distances in one go like their mothers – so it must be a struggle.
During a heat run, whales display a variety of behaviors such as breaching, vocalizations, aggressive interactions (like trying to bump competitors off course) and incredibly fast swimming.
Whilst I’ve never seen breaching during a heat run, I have observed males blowing bubbles at each other,
a sort of threat display that wouldn’t seem particularly intimidating to us, but one that is also used by sea lions.
I’ve asked guides before which male a female will pick (Is he a hard worker? Funny? Intelligent? Kind? A good listener? ), and their answer is always: persistence seems to pay off. Many of the males get tired or sick of the challenge and drop off. In the end only a handful remain and the female takes her pick.
Heat runs are really hard to follow as the animals are moving so fast – and hard to photograph for the exact same reason. By the time you’re in the water and you’ve aimed your camera at the whales they’re often practically gone. And so we do drop after drop after drop from the boat in order to get just a few decent images.
A heat run, which comes across as an exercise in chaos, is a clear demonstration of the social complexity and physical prowess of humpback whales.

“Welcome to Egypt!” or “tower of bottlenose”
EGYPT, NOVEMBER 2023

What an unbelievable surprise and welcome sighting this was – running into bottlenose dolphins right after our very first dive of the season, close to the Kingstone wreck and only thirty metres from our ship!
Our dinghy captain pointed to a small pod of dolphins at the surface which, to our absolute surprise, stayed there for several minutes and not only allowed us in the water with them, but also put on a show for us.
Dolphins are, as everybody knows, extremely social animals which are not always averse to interacting with humans. However, more often than not, wild dolphins want absolutely nothing to do with us – and they usually scatter the moment you enter the water.
These individuals played and played with each other, wandered away from us multiple times but returned each time. They stayed clumped together, as this image shows, much of the time and only occasionally swam down into deeper water.
The most wonderful thing, other than the fact
that they stayed with us for a number of very intimate minutes, was perhaps that they remained in a vertical formation like this much of the time. This is a fairly rare sight and it was a privilege to witness it.
Encounters such as this one – with very tolerant and fairly slow-moving animals as well as clear water, strong colour contrasts and a calm sea – are easy, a true delight, to photograph. In fact, it would be difficult to make a situation like this one look bad...

Hawksbill turtle in magical light
EGYPT, DECEMBER 2023

Now and again it is almost as if holy light were beaming down from the heavens onto a creature that basks in its glory.
The light on this excursion, which was principally to see and photograph oceanic whitetip sharks, was phenomenal.
After minutes of waiting for sharks that never came, a wonderful and easily approachable turtle swam into view.
For something like thirty minutes we swam together, next to each other, one in front of the other, criss-crossing each other’s paths, speeding up and slowing down, alternating between gliding in open water and hovering above the reef.
The hawksbill was unafraid, confident and curious. Graceful, elegant, endearing, even appeasing. The light was magical for our entire swim, shining down on the turtle or its surroundings every moment. Not a pose or position was aesthetically unappealing. Each moment was a vision of beauty, a slice of heaven.
There are 7 known species of sea turtle – green turtles, hawksbill turtles, loggerheads, leatherbacks, Kemp’s ridleys, olive ridleys and flatback turtles. Their size ranges between 1.8 metres for the leatherback and 60 centimetres for Kemp’s ridley. The life expectancy of most sea turtles is between 50 and 100 years. Several turtle species are omnivorous. Green turtles prefer seagrass and leatherbacks feed almost exclusively on jellyfish.
Hawksbill turtles specifically grow to about 1 metre in length and weigh up to 80 kilos. Their diet is made up principally of sea sponges. They live primarily on tropical coral reefs.
Sadly, hawksbill turtles fall within the critically endangered category of animals – whereas most of their relatives are endangered, something which is already bad enough.
Sea turtles face an incredible number of survival threats – almost all of which are linked to the behaviour of humans. These include entanglement in nets, ship strikes, climate change, beach lights disorienting hatchlings as they head to the sea, and even harvesting for food and the poaching of eggs. Turtle soup was very popular in some places in the past and sea turtles were often collected for their shells.
The good news, however, is that sea turtles respond very well to some conservation measures. The use of turtle excluder devices efficiently prevents entanglement in nets. In some places, including Florida, disorienting lights on beaches are being replaced with lights that do not negatively affect hatchlings. Electronic trackers and tags provide vital information on population numbers, locations and migration patterns (and hence indicate which locations would be best to protect). And as with other sea creatures, marine protected areas (MPAs) are very effective at saving lives and conserving species.

Whale shark surprise!
ABU GALAWA WRECK SITE, FURY SHOALS, EGYPT, NOVEMBER 2023

Appearing only at the very end of a reef dive and right next to our boat, he/she was accompanied by a BUNCH of remoras and other fish – and was a BABY, no longer than maybe 6-8 metres. Adult whale sharks frequently get to be 13 metres long or more; the largest whale shark ever recorded is said to have measured 18.8 metres.
I’d have done anything to stay with this fish for longer and get better photos... but it was the end of our dive, we were all about to surface and I was too buoyant to stay well under the surface.
As your tank becomes empty it starts to float and brings you up to the surface. The shark only stayed with us for a minute or two anyway; but it was incredibly frustrating not to be able to capture more or better material.

A cloud of glass fish, with all individuals moving gracefully as one, at Shark or Yolanda Reef in Ras Mohamed
EGYPT, NOVEMBER 2023

Glassfish are absolutely BEAUTIFUL – and they always move together as one. They are never out in the open, but frequently found in cave-like sections of the reef – or even in and around standalone, large coralheads as was the case here – as well as inside shipwrecks.
Whilst you usually see one species much more often than others in any given region, more than one species often co-exist in the same habitat. In fact, one frequently sees 2 or 3 species sharing the same space on a reef or in a wreck.
Finding information on these fish seems difficult as the Internet keeps bringing you to a freshwater species that is common in the aquarium industry. There is frequent reference, however, to 24 different species in the Indo-Pacific region, including both fresh- and saltwater fish.
It seems that “sweepers” are another family of fish that behave like glass fish and inhabit the same reefs. And sweepers apparently occur in marine or brackish waters in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans. They have “elongate-oval, compressed bodies with well- developed fins and tail”.
My group and I have been very lucky to find glass fish frequently in the Red Sea over the past few years and they are quite common in Raja Ampat in Indonesia, another favourite destination, as well. Their group movement is fascinating to watch and photograph, their coordination precise, rapid and extreme.
Glass fish are pretty much always in formation... and the form of a school of them varies every time a group of individuals move – making for very different series of photographs.
It is very rare to find such order in the schools of other species of fish.

Pilot Pod!
DOMINICA, JANUARY 2024
Taken on government permit

Sometimes the ocean giveth; sometimes it taketh away. That day the ocean GAVETH the most indisputably phenomenal swims with pilot whales – swims I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams. A big guy (dominant male?) stayed next to me for minutes at the beginning, looking deep into my soul, my friend Oli and I had the whole – but fairly small – pod around us for twice ten minutes, and occasionally whales would come up to us two by two to try to assess what strange kind of cetaceans we might be. They always appeared to be smiling as they darted in and out of view, swam between and swarmed around us. (the smile is an impression; in reality the upturned lips are a fixed anatomical feature – and also not proof that cetaceans are happy when they perform tricks at marine parks!)
Pilot whales are known to be highly social animals anyway; but these whales were unbelievably comfortable with us. They allowed us into their world and just sort of lived their lives in front of us, providing by far one of the best photographic opportunities I’ve ever had – and that’s saying a lot!
With pilot whales calving only once every three to five years, they have one of the longest birth intervals of all cetaceans. This likely contributes to their strong social bonds. These bonds are also seen when females are no longer able to reproduce – older female pilots continue to contribute to the pod by providing important ecological knowledge.
These magnificent, playful creatures gave Oli and me memories for a lifetime. Indeed, moments such as this one seem to become indelibly attached to your mind, feel etched into your hippocampus and tattooed on your soul.

Swimming with the biggest fish in the world!
LA PAZ, MEXICO, MARCH 2024

It’s always a little funny to hear that the 6-metre animal you’re swimming with is a baby, but in this case it was 100% true. And it’s very humbling.
Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the sea, reaching a maximum length of 18 metres – though males average 8-9 metres and females 14.5.
“Found in the open waters of all tropical oceans”, whale sharks are rarely found in water colder than 21 degrees (much like my friends and me!)
Just like most great whales after which they were named – and the second biggest fish in the sea, the basking shark – whale sharks feed solely on plankton.
As you can tell from this image, the visibility wasn’t very good at all. But of course filter feeders flock to locations where they can gorge on plankton soup. And the thicker the soup the worse the visibility.
Major threats to whale sharks include the shark fin industry, ship strikes, plastic pollution and, like the majority of life on Earth, climate change.