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 […]
Sky Pond Lake Trail Overall, the Sky Pond Lake Trail is a must-do for anyone visiting the Rocky Mountains The Sky Pond Lake Trail is a popular hiking trail located in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The trail is approximately 8.5 miles round trip and offers stunning views of the surrounding mountains, as well as […]
Prickly Pear – IUCN Conservation Status: Varies Prickly pear cactus can be found throughout the world This photo was taken as the sun was setting over the mountains at Big Bend National Park in Texas. It was within an hour of sunset which is commonly referred to as the golden hour. I love taking photos […]
IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern Living rock cactus are being poached from the wild I absolutely love this weird wild photo of a living rock cactus! This was taken while on a trip in Big Bend National Park in Texas. When I first saw one of these cacti, I thought that it had been stepped […]
IUCN Conservation Status: Insufficient Data Alpheus Spring Packard identified 500 new animal species I took this photo while out for a hike with Matt in New Hampshire. The day before we had been diving in Maine, and we had spent the night camping. Surprisingly, this was the only photo that I took that day, and […]
IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern Their bodies have horizontal blue and yellow stripes This is the head of a snakefish, otherwise known as a blunt-nose lizardfish. This species is found in the Atlantic Ocean, and more specifically this photo was taken off of West Palm Beach, Florida. These fish live on the bottom (benthic) and tend to […]
IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern They have an anguilliform body plan This creature may appear menacing; however, it is only opening its mouth to breathe. Goldentail moray eels will continuously open and close their mouths as a requirement of their respiration process. These eels don’t have bony gill covers like a fish would have. Instead, goldentail eels […]
Shades State Park The drop off is 100 feet to the bottom of the sandstone ridge! Step after step we hiked up the trail. It was a perfect day for hiking with temperatures in the mid-seventies. The sun was shining that day, and there wasn’t a hint of foul weather. Jill and I were hiking […]
IUCN Conservation Status: Varies Lichens are known as composite organisms I took this photo while out for a hike with Matt at Eagle Creek Park in central Indiana. we had rented a super telephoto lens to take some bird photos. While we were getting out to the lake, I was playing with matts 105mm lens […]