We saw a TON of nudibranch in this trip, they deserve a post of their own.
So many different types!
Karl says he doesn’t understand the appeal, that everyone makes such a big deal about something so small, but they’re so cool looking (and pretty!), how can you not get excited?
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Karl is wrong. Nudibranches are awesome. There aren’t many in the Caribbean, sadly, and my husband does not believe that, “superior nudibranch life” is a good enough reason to go diving in the Pacific, but they are SO COOL. We saw a bunch in Hawaii and I just think they are so cute and fun. I think they are also neat because at least here, they are kind of hard to spot and you have to hunt for them, so they are more challenging than those easy parrot fish. (I can’t be the only competitive fishfinder here!)
Agree! He IS wrong! And yes, they’re hard to spot, since they’re tiny and the corals are so colorful that they blend in pretty easily. We saw a ton in El Nido though.
Your pictures, as usual, are AMAZING. Is there some trick to taking underwater pictures? You are doing and seeing some amazing things, my friend.
Thanks for the book recommendation! I had no idea about the reef pooping. Do you want to know on which island I would never live? Pitcairn Island. It caught my interest because it is the least populous jurisdiction in the world, but I changed my mind about spending part of my reitrement there after I read about the big sex scandal that blew up in 2004.
The trick is to have a steady hand as much as you can. It’s hard, as your whole body wants to move (specially if there’s current), but let your body move but keep your hand in place! My camera also has an “underwater setting” which helps bring out the blues a bit. And I don’t use flash since I only have the built-in flash, and it highlights ALL the sediments in the water (for flash you need an attachment that flashes from the sides, not the front, so you’re not highlighting the sediments — think of taking a picture with flash on the rain, and all you see is rain drops). Sadly the flash attachment is a fortune, so no flash yet (flash would have brought the colors out more, since light does that, specially underwater when you don’t have much light).
As for the reef pooping, it’s gross! All the local people would poop on the reef, so you couldn’t swim without a floater, and even the fish was contaminated with human feces (so you could die if you ate a fish from the reef). Totally buy the book! It was a great read!