Divers surfacing. Koh Tachai, Thailand.

Monodactylus argenteus, aka silver moonyfish, butter bream or diamondfish

These pretty little fish can be found schooling in the shallow waters of Jemeluk bay in eastern Bali. Their presence in this small bay makes sense given that they are very adaptable to salinity changes and the bay is subject to large amounts of fresh water run-off during the intense rainy season experienced by this part of the island. Wikipedia article.

Coral Grouper trying to decide which fish is for dinner first… Richelieu Rock, Andaman Sea, Thailand

A red feather star floats just above the sandy slope of Sidem, a dive site in Eastern Bali. Popular for its bounty of small creatures. Seasons come and go and the variety of creatures ebbs and flows with them. Seahorse, Pipe-fish, Frog-fish, Rhinopia, Octopus, Nudibranchs, Boxer crabs, and much more can be found here at various times of the year.

An impressively perched table coral overhanging a small canyon at a beautiful dive site just north of Tulamben in Bali.

For reference this table coral is a flat disc oriented horizontally, and I am shooting this picture looking almost straight up. The underside is pale white and stained with algae while the top is the usual healthy pale brown colour. The tightly branched structure of the coral provides shelter for small damsel fish that venture up in to the water column to feed and retreat amongst the branches when any threat presents itself.

Having the chance to dive and explore some of the lesser dived sites along Bali's East coast has revealed some hidden pockets thriving with life, that compete in quality with some of the best I have seen anywhere in Indonesia. These contrast strongly with the better known sites just a kilometre or two down the coast, which are conspicuously quiet in terms of fish life and the corals which are in noticeably diminished in quantity and health by comparison.

Its quite amazing how a little bit of protection either by way of obscurity, or by design, in the form of marine protected area status, goes a long way to support a thriving habitat.

The beautiful Blue Dragon Nudibranch (Pteraeolidia ianthina) is quite an amazing beast. It absorbs algal zooxanthellae from its food and these photosynthesise inside its body lending it the beautiful range of colours it can be found in. They also absorb and use the stinging nematocyst cells of their prey and these offer up defence for the dragons by way of a painful sting.

This particular specimen was one of the largest I have seen and the colours were very striking. Shooting head on like this you can see the body trailing off out of focus in the background of the shot.

The tender of a liveaboard diving boat drifts over the corals in the shallow waters surrounding the islands near Halmahera, Indonesia. Coral structures provide shelter for countless fish such as these Anthias. When the currents are flowing it’s feeding time and the countless individuals swim in to the water column to collect food. Any potential threat or even just a disturbance by a noise will send the fish flocking back to the protection of the corals. When the threat has passed they will swim back out in to the blue again and continue feeding.

Not much to say about this shot other than I was grateful for the snaking pose this little Moray eel was kind enough to strike before me on a night dive in Bitung, North Sulawesi.

Shooting pipe fish is never really something I enjoy because their long thin shape rarely lends itself to a nice composition, so when this particular Banded pipefish (Dunckerocampus dactyliophorus) struck this pose that made the most of the frame I was relieved that I could be happy with the shot I got and move on. And I vowed, from that day forward, to never shoot another. But, being inconsistent in my convictions and just plain forgetful I still do actually try and it’s always as difficult as I remember. And I rarely get lucky enough to have them play nicely like this one did. So, one day, I actually will never shoot another. Let’s see which one is the last.

Off the North East coast of the Indonesian island of Sumbawa is a volcanic island called Sangeang Api. On the east coast of this island is a dive site known as Bubble Reef. Named as such because of the volcanic gasses that percolate through the black sand in the shallows.

On this site there is a rocky outcrop and nestled among the rocks in about 7m of water is a colony of Bubble Anemones. This particularly colony is bright neon pink and blue in colour, due to bleaching. And as we all know clown fish find their homes and protection among the tentacles of these Anemoe.

So, here in this shot, is a Clarks Anemone fish talking shelter from the bloody photographer who eye was caught by the amazing colour of the Ameone.

An early morning wreck dive on my new(ish) rebreather playing with other divers on their definitely new rebreathers. Marc (Tekdeep Asia) and G (Big Fins Bali) looking nicely in trim on the Horizon SCR (Semi Closed Rebreather) from Mares/rEvo, next to the bow of the Boga Wreck, just off the coast of Kubu, North East Bali.

Perhaps the most famous and easily accessible Manta Encounter in the world. Nusa Penida is an island just to the east of Bali and at the base of the steep south coast cliffs that are pounded relentlessly by Indian ocean swells is a place known as Manta Point.

Just below the surface is a cleaning station that is almost always host to Reef Mantas (Mobula alfredi) coming in for some pampering. They can often be seen forming trains (as in the image above), taking it in turns to slow down and hover above the rocks and allow the small reef fish to nibble away at dead skin and parasites. After their turn they will loop back around and come in again and again.

This population has been well studied and tracking data has revealed that they are making a journey of more than 400km east to Komodo and back again.

Don’t forget the little one. Easily over looked when there are bigger specimens to be seen. Here is a tiny little shrimp goby resting on the sand just outside the entrance to its little burrow, which is kindly maintained by an equally tiny shrimp. They have a symbiotic relationship whereby they each derive benefit from the other. The shrimp digs and maintains their home and the goby provides protection. As this is a long term partnership they live and grow together. So if you look carefully on the sandy bottom of dive sites you will find pairs of more or less equally sized shrimp and their buddy gobies, and they quite possibly have been besties since they were little. Shot on the East Coast of Bali.