The northern stargazer buries itself and then ambushes its prey! You are looking at a northern stargazer partially buried in sand. Seldom seen by divers, this fish is a master of stealth. Sometimes the only thing exposed above the sand are its eyeballs. If you look closely, even the skin around the eyeball is dotted […]
I was out on a “blackwater night dive” Capturing a flash of lightning in a photo can be pretty challenging, even in Florida (the state with the most lightning strikes every year, ~1.45 million strikes). This photo was taken about 5 miles offshore of West Palm Beach, Florida. I was out on a “blackwater night […]
Arrow crabs don’t seem to mind divers This is a photo of two arrow crabs fighting. During this dive, I remember watching the arrow crabs battle, presumably over territory. When the one arrow crab grabbed the other arrow crab’s blue claws, I took the shot. Arrow crabs don’t seem to mind divers, which makes them […]
This shrimp can be found among anemone. Believe it or not, this beautiful shrimp is less than one inch long. Spotted cleaner shrimp are found among certain species of anemone, in this case a corkscrew anemone. As the name implies, this shrimp actually “cleans” the parasites, dead tissue, and algae off of fish. If you […]
To say the turtle was wrapped in fishing line would be an understatement Diving on a patch reef in the Florida Keys about a month ago, I came across this turtle. It swam right up to me and my dive buddy. To say he was wrapped up in fishing line would be an understatement. The turtle had fishing […]
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 […]
You can go your whole dive career without seeing [one of these spiders] If you thought spiders only lived on land, you’re wrong. This is a photo of a Caribbean Sea Spider taken near Blue Heron Bridge in West Palm Beach, Florida. This is a great dive location because no matter how much you dive it, every […]
Like with most things in life, timing is critical. This is a photo of a juvenile American Lobster riding on the back of a nudibranch. To provide some scale, this white “shag-rug” looking nudibranch is only about one centimeter long. The lobster is about the size of a grain of rice. I took this photo […]
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 […]
Tarpon can survive in waters with low dissolved oxygen Tarpon are an unmistakable fish. They can grow to eight feet in length and weigh almost 300 pounds. These guys are tough. Tarpon can survive in waters with low dissolved oxygen and varying PH levels. They can also hangout in freshwater rivers or open ocean. This […]