Blue Neon Goby – IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern This species of coral looks alien, with the orange, red, and green coloration and texture. This species of coral looks alien, with the orange, red, and green coloration and texture. I’ve always enjoyed this species coral, which can grow to be quite large and live hundreds of […]
Saddled Blenny – IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern A sea rod is a soft coral that is affixed to the seafloor like a tree, with a central trunk. Corals can be separated into two categories, hard corals and soft corals. Hard corals generate a calcium carbonate skeleton and tend to be known as reef building corals. Soft […]
Rough Cactus Coral – IUCN Conservation Status: Critically Endangered Although we are too zoomed-in to tell, the rough cactus coral colony is roundish in shape. Stony coral, like this rough cactus coral, have a limestone skeleton with a fleshy, colorful, textured, outer skin. As a scuba diver, if you spend time looking closely at coral, you […]
Cauliflower Coral – IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern This was my first scuba dive in the Pacific Ocean, and I was overwhelmed by the beauty In 2022 I was fortunate enough to spend some time in the north shore of Oahu. While I was there I took a day trip down to the south shore […]
Hump Coral – IUCN Conservation Status: Near Threatened The tides and surf tend to be calm at Keawakapu Beach which makes for great snorkeling! This photo comes from a snorkeling adventure off the coast of Maui’s Keawakapu Beach in 2019. Keawakapu beach is great for snorkeling. You quickly find yourself in water that is ten […]
Finger Coral – IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern The scientific name of this species of finger coral is Porites compressa. This photo was taken while I was diving off the coast of Oahu. I was on my second dive at a site called the Nautilus. At this point I was probably in 40 feet of […]
IUCN Conservation Status: LEAST CONCERN This grooved brain coral is from the Dominican Republic This photo of a grooved brain coral is one of my favorite underwater photos that I have ever taken. I took this this photo while diving on the Morales shipwreck in the Dominican Republic off the coast of Bayahibe. This was […]
There is a flurry of activity… This photo comes from a coral spawn dive off the Upper Keys in Florida. Once a year staghorn coral reproduces by broadcast spawning, generally after the full moon in the late summer months. This simultaneous release of eggs provides a feasting opportunity other reef species. This Acropora coral crab […]
Brain Coral – IUCN Conservations Status: Least Concern It easily took hundreds…of years to form this brain coral This is a photo of a massive colony of brain coral taken in Key Largo, Florida. In fact, this was the largest colony I knew about in the whole Florida Keys reef tract, until it’s recent death. This whole […]
Staghorn coral spawns once a year in the late summer This is a photo of staghorn coral spawning. It was taken at the Coral Restoration Foundation nursery off Tavernier, Florida. Staghorn coral spawns once a year in the late summer, in the middle of the night. These corals broadcast spawn, meaning that male and female corals release their […]