fstopandsee

I love the sea, I love the fish, but I’d go on an entire dive trip just to watch the anemones slowly wave in the current.

The limestone rocks of Phang Nga Bay have two neat party tricks. They can both stick sharply out of the water and also look like they are dripping back into the water as they are eroded away by the bright green water below.

One of my best dives in Thailand was at Richelieu Rock. This reef has a crazy amount of life, both fish and corals, and in this spot they all swirl together to make a very busy but very intricate pattern. The rock itself barely sticks out of the water, and is pretty far from other islands. This isolation must make it a safe place for all this life to exist.

Styles change over time. At one time clunky exposed steel was what bridges were expected to look like. Today the more dramatic white tower and cables of the Bay Bridge really shines over the water.

What does this look like to you? Some type of microbe, a spiny cactus or a sea creature? If you guessed sea creature you’d be correct, and this one isn’t nice at all. It is a crown-of-thorns starfish, and this nasty guy eats the coral reefs. Close up you can see his sharp spikes and understand why most other animals don’t mess with him.

Today is World Turtle Day, and to celebrate, check out this green turtle I encountered while snorkelling in Hawaii. I hadn’t seen very much until this guy started swimming towards me! I could almost hear him say “You lookin’ at me?” but I think he just caught his reflection in my lens and wanted to have a look. This left me with a great opportunity for a close up!

This fish must have thought he was perfectly safe in the coral. Eventually I got too close and he took off, but I had time to get this shot while he was just hanging out doing his thing.

Look at those pearly whites! I’d hate to have to brush all those crazy teeth, but this whitemouth moray eel doesn’t seem to have an issue keeping them looking sharp. They seem vicious since they are always opening and closing their mouths, but they do that to breathe. This one let me and my camera get quite close for a photo.

Seeing lava flow into the ocean is a rare sight, but my timing was just right to see it on a recent trip to Hawaii. The lava near the Kilauea Volcano at the Kamokuna ocean entry produces a lot of steam as it hits the cool ocean, and at night you can see the red glow of the lava when the sun goes down

Normally this spot is accessible by car, but with 15 feet of snow falling in the last two weeks, Hwy 89 is closed. The good news is you can still get to the spot if you are willing to snowshoe. It doesn’t even seem like there is a highway there with all the snow, but after snowshoeing a couple miles you are at the top of Eagle Falls looking out over Emerald Bay.