Bubble Vision

My DVDs are now manufactured and shipped by CreateSpace, a...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 18:11:28 +0700

My DVDs are now manufactured and shipped by CreateSpace, a subsidiary of Amazon, and I designed a new sleeve for my “Diving in Bali” DVD. You can still find them at http://www.bubblevision.com/marine-life-DVD.htm

Answer to my video puzzle “How Many Fish?”. There...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 17:08:00 +0700

Answer to my video puzzle “How Many Fish?”. There are 2 frogfishes here. I never saw the far one until I watched this video back on my computer.

How many fish do you see in this video? Answers in the comments...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:22:21 +0700

How many fish do you see in this video? Answers in the comments please. If you think you know the species (common name or scientific name), please add that too.

Mist rolls across the reservoir on a fresh morning at Pang Ung...

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:16:51 +0700

Mist rolls across the reservoir on a fresh morning at Pang Ung (ปางอุ๋ง) near Mae Hong Son: Thailand’s own little Switzerland. This is another video shot with my little Sony RX100 compact camera. Watch in HD and feel the chill! Thanks to Klangachse for the beautiful piano music.

In January I travelled around Mae Hong Son in north Thailand. We...

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 22:59:49 +0700

In January I travelled around Mae Hong Son in north Thailand. We visited the village of Kayan Tayar, and I took some shots with my little Sony RX100. One of the Kayan Lahwi long-neck women sang and played us a tune.

This is the first video on my new YouTube channel for non-diving videos. Please subscribe (below the video on YouTube) if you’re interested in more.

Scuba diving in Bali. This DVD is available to purchase on my...

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:14:00 +0700

Scuba diving in Bali. This DVD is available to purchase on my website.

Diving in Bali is a document of an extraordinary expedition I made to Indonesia’s magical island of Bali in 2006 with Aquamarine Diving. From Tulamben’s awesome USAT Liberty wreck, to the reef manta rays of Nusa Penida, via the fascinating macro marine life of Tulamben and Seraya Secrets, the footage covers the breadth of Bali’s fascinating underwater world.

The video features 158 species of marine life, and their common and scientific names are available by turning on the captions with the CC button under the video.

From Tulamben there is footage of the wreck of the USAT Liberty in both day time and night time, including the humphead parrotfish that spend the night there. Also from Tulamben are numerous marine live encounters from dives at the Drop-Off and the Coral Garden.

Just around the corner we make a dive at Seraya Secrets, a macro hotspot where I encountered seahorses and nudibranchs. From Padangbai on the east coast of Bali we have footage from The Blue Lagoon and Pura Jepun. From the island of Nusa Penida we have the manta ray cleaning station, Manta Point, and Ped.

Full list of dive sites featured in this video:

1. USAT Liberty Shipwreck, Tulamben
The USAT Liberty was torpedoed by the Japanese off Lombok and beached at Tulamben in Bali. In 1963 the last eruption of Mount Agung caused the wreck to slide deeper into the sea where she lies today. The USAT Liberty shipwreck makes an excellent dive site. This video features the towering stern, the coral-encrusted gun on the bow, green humphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum), a Pacific hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata bissa), garden eels, sweetlips and lots of other interesting marine life from the wreck and its surroundings.

The USAT Liberty also makes a fantastic night dive. Green humphead parrotfish sleep in the protection of the wreck. Other highlights include a Spanish dancer and a bluespotted ribbontail ray.

2. Coral Garden, Tulamben
The Coral Garden at Tulamben lies conveniently right off the middle of the beach. Skunk cleaner shrimps tend to moray eels and groupers at a cleaning station based around a barrel sponge. Also featuring a ribbon eel, ghost pipefish, leaf scorpionfish and trevallies schooling in the shallows.

3. Tulamben Drop-Off
Video from the Drop-Off at Tulamben, Bali, featuring a spectacular giant purple knotted sea fan, nudibranchs, a ghost pipefish and a seahorse. Before and after exploring the Drop-Off we spend time in the shallows where we meet Tulamben’s famous schools of trevallies.

By night the drop-off at Tulamben provides plenty of treats for the visiting diver. This video includes a squat lobster, a cone shell, a dwarf cuttlefish, a hermit crab and various pretty reef fish.

4. Seraya Secrets
Seraya Secrets, nearby to Tulamben, is an exellent muck dive known for weird and wonderful critters. Here we encounter some batfish around the artificial reef project in the shallows. A little deeper we find 2 thorny seahorses, catfish, an anemone crab and nudibranchs.

5. Blue Lagoon, Padangbai
The Padangbai area on the east coast of Bali provides some fantastic diving. Just north of Padangbai lies the Blue Lagoon. This footage comes from my first ever dive in Indonesia with a video camera and features leaf scorpionfish, cuttelfish, anemonefish, lionfish, shrimps, catfish, nudibranchs, moorish idols and a goby.

6. Pura Jepun, Padangbai
Pura Jepun also lies just north of Padangbai and is home to some fantastic marine life. This video features clownish, sweetlips, angelfish, a peacock mantis shrimp, a stingray, a panther grouper, a wart slug, ribbon eels, a scorpionfish and a flying gurnard.

7. Manta Point, Nusa Penida
On the north-east side of Nusa Penida lies a cleaning station for reef manta rays (Manta alfredi) known as “Manta Point”. On 23rd May 2006 we had the pleasure of diving with these graceful giants.

8. PED, Nusa Penida
Ped is sloping reef on the north coast of Nusa Penida. Here we encounter a variety of tropical reef fishes including angelfish, triggerfish, anemonefish and scorpionfish, as well as a rhizostome jellyfish.

Thanks to Toao for the music tracks, “Deep Blue”, “Starbeam”, “Afterglow”, “Time & Space” and “Woodsman”, and to Erik Verkoyen for “Prickly Shark”.

The giant manta ray, Manta birostris, is a common visitor to...

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 17:52:00 +0700

The giant manta ray, Manta birostris, is a common visitor to Thailand. The first manta ray in this video was filmed at Koh Bon’s south-west ridge, north of the Similan Islands in the Andaman Sea, where scuba divers can often encounter giant manta rays.

We then meet another giant manta ray at Hin Daeng in Thailand’s southern islands, another popular scuba diving destination.

Finally we encounter a giant manta ray at Richelieu Rock, also north of the Similan Islands in the Surin Islands National Park.

Manta rays are pelagic elasmobranchs, closely related to sharks. There are now known to be at least 2 distinct species of manta ray. This video features the largest species, the giant manta ray, Manta birostris, which is thought to travel great distances underwater.

The first giant manta ray at Koh Bon has 2 common remoras, Remora remora, attached to it’s head. The manta at Richelieu Rock has many smaller remoras (live sharksuckers), Echeneis naucrates, accompanying it. The remoras attach themselves to the manta ray and other large marine animals using their dorsal fin, which has evolved into a sucker. The remoras get a free ride, and they feed on the giant manta ray’s faeces.

Manta rays are threatened because of overfishing. The manta’s gill rakers are used in a so-called traditional Chinese medicine. As it has become popular in recent years, the manta ray population has fallen dramatically, and the IUCN have declared giant manta rays as “vulnerable with an elevated risk of extinction”.

The lovely music is “Are We Dreaming” by Solidtrax, who you can find here:
http://soundcloud.com/solidtrax
Twitter: @Solidtrax

Part 27 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Crabs...

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:44:59 +0700

Part 27 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Crabs and shrimps at night.

Night diving offers the opportunity to see many crustaceans that are typically hidden in the reef during daylight, but are highly active under the hours of darkness. This video features 13 species.

At Koh Doc Mai, near Phuket in Thailand, and in the Similan Islands, we see banded coral shrimps (Stenopus hispidus) plucking plankton from the water to eat. Rock cleaner shrimp (Urocaridella sp.) are busy cleaning a large snapper and a fimbriated moray eel (Gymnothorax fimbriatus).

Space is at a premium on the reef. In the Mergui Archipelago in Burma (Myanmar) we see a fimbriated moray sharing its home with a variable coral crab (Carpilius convexus).

Female crabs carry their eggs under their apron for a few months while the embryos develop. We witness the dramatic sight of a spendid round crab (Etisus splendidus) releasing her brood. As she pumps her lower body, thousands of tiny larvae are released and drift away in the current.

At Thailand’s Boonsung wreck, a crucifix crab (Charybdis (Charybdis) feriata) tries to appear as large and intimidating as possible by spreading its claws, before escaping into the shelter of the wreck, while at Western Rocky Island we see a tiny bull crab (Naxioides taurus) crawling across a gorgonian sea fan.

The flat rock crab, Percnon planissimum, is a common sight in the Andaman Sea, as is the swimming crab, Charybdis sp., which we see defending its territory by fighting off a passing common decorator crab (Schizophrys aspera). This decorator crab has large claws and covers itself with other marine organisms such as stinging hydroids for camouflage and defence. The horrid elbow crab (Daldorfia horrida) becomes completely encrusted with growth, while the spider decorator crab (Camposcia retusa) covers itself with sponges which continue to grow while on the crab, and enable it to blend in with the reef. The sponge crab, Dromia dormia, carries a large spone with its rearmost legs. We see one fling itself off the edge of the reef in an attempt to escape our lights.

Hermit crabs live inside empty snail shells in order to protect their soft abdomen. We see white-spotted hermit crabs (Dardanus megistos) in a variety of different shells. Anemone hermit crabs (Dardanus pedunculatus) carry live sea anemones on its shell as an extra defence. At Honeymoon Bay we a pair of them, perhaps in a dispute over territory.

Part 26 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Night...

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 22:41:48 +0700

Part 26 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Night dive.

Night diving offers a different type of experience to the scuba diver, as a different array of marine critters venture out while others rest.

Cephalopods can be successful hunters by night. In Burma’s Mergui Archipelago we see a bigfin reef squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana) feasting on an Indo-Pacific sergeant (Abudefduf vaigiensis) and a pharao cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis) feeding on a spinefoot.

Pretty moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) drift over Thailand’s Boonsung wreck. A great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) passes by the camera at Koh Doc Mai near Phuket. An orange cup coral’s pretty polyps are extended. Amongst a group of red lionfish on the Boonsung wreck, a goldband fusilier (Pterocaesio chrysozona), displaying its night coloration, is pounced on and swallowed whole by a a honeycomb moray (Gymnothorax favagineus).

Many reef fishes use the night time to sleep. We see a blackspotted puffer (Arothron nigropunctatus) and a spotted sharpnose (Canthigaster solandri) resting on the reef at Koh Tachai, north of the Similan Islands.

At night, parrotfish surround themselves in a scent-proof cocoon of secreted mucous to avoid detection by sharks. We see ember parrotfish (Scarus rubroviolaceus) and blue-barred parrotfish (Scarus ghobban) using this technique.

It’s very difficult for scuba divers to observe fishes at night without disturbing them. We encounter a scrawled filefish (Aluterus scriptus), moorish idol (Zanclus cornutus), humpback turretfish (Tetrosomus gibbosus), emperor angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator), snake moray (Uropterygius sp.), blue triggerfish (Pseudobalistes fuscus) and ornate ghost pipefish (Solenostomus paradoxus) all apparently disorientated or upset by the bright lights.

Part 25 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Octopus...

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 22:41:46 +0700

Part 25 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Octopus fight.

In this video we encounter a day octopus, Octopus cyanea, attacking another that he unearths from the sea bed at Western Rocky Island in the Mergui Archipelago in Burma (Myanmar). It’s hard to be sure whether the ensuing fight represents a territorial dispute between the two octopuses, or the aggressive mating behaviour of a determined male in pursuit of a female. If you have an opinion either way, please leave a comment.

At Richelieu Rock, north of the Similan Islands in Thailand, we see an adult domino damsel, Dascyllus trimaculatus, biting a day octopus. At first it might appear that the damselfish is feeding on the flesh of the octopus, but it is far more likely that the damsel is aggressively defending its nest.

Besides “day octopus”, Octopus cyanea is also known commonly known as the “big blue octopus”, “Cyane’s octopus”, and “common reef octopus”.

After the scuba divers surface, we witness a small pod of rough-toothed dolphins, Steno bredanensis, cruising in the dive boat’s bow wave in Phang Nga Bay.

Part 24 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Sex on...

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:14:19 +0700

Part 24 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Sex on the reef.

In this video we look at how some marine species breed underwater.

First we look at broadcast spawning, whereby marine animals release sperm or eggs, collectively known as “gametes”, into the water. Large amounts of spawn are released to maximise the chances of successful fertilisation in the open water.

We see a Graeffe’s sea cucumber, Pearsonothuria graeffei, broadcast spawning at Racha Yai near Phuket in Thailand, as well as a pizza anemone, Cryptodendrum adhaesivum, and a cock’s comb oyster, Lopha cristagalli, in Burma’s Mergui Archipelago.

Pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, are one of the most intelligent marine creatures. They copulate face to face, using their ten tentacles to embrace. The male cuttlefish passes spermatophores into a pouch beneath the female’s mouth. He may first use a jet of water to flush out the spermatophores of any previous mates. Scuba divers may approach closely while the couple are engrossed in mating. After copulation the female cuttlefish passes her eggs over the sperm and into a crevice in the rocks. The male is extremely protective over the female and aggressively fends off other male suitors.

Finally, at Shark Cave, we see a male bigfin reef squid, Sepioteuthis lessoniana, escorting a female as she deposits her eggs in the coral reef.

Part 23 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”....

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 21:07:52 +0700

Part 23 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Polychate worms and sea cucumbers.

First we look at a feather duster worm, Sabellastarte sp., at Shark Cave in the Burma’s Mergui Archipelago, and a hard tube coco worm, Protula bispiralis, at Richelieu Rock, north of the Similan Islands in Thailand. These polychate worms are rooted statically to the reef and feed by filtering plankton from the water with their tentacles and passing it into the central mouth.

Colorful Christmas tree worms, Spirobranchus giganteus, are common at many dive sites throughout the Andaman Sea. They embed themselves into porous stony corals and are highly sensitive to disturbances. At the slightest sign of danger, the worm retracts into the coral and seals the opening.

Also seen in the Mergui Archipelago, the large burrowing sea cucumber, Neothyonidium magnum, a type of Echinoderm, is another filter feeder. It roots itself into the substrate and holds its outer tentacles in the current. When it has captured sufficient plankton the tentacles reach down toward the centre, allowing the smaller inner tentacles to scoop the food into the mouth.

The Graeffe’s sea cucumber, Pearsonothuria graeffei, is common at shallow depths in the Andaman Sea, for example at dive sites around Racha Yai. Its mouth contains 25 adhesive black tentacles which it uses to walk over the reef and to pick up food from the substrate.

The mouth of the amberfish sea cucumber, Thelenota anax, contains 18 tentacles and is underneath the body. After digesting what it can from the material it has ingested from the seabed, the waste products are expelled at the anus. The sea cucumber also breathes through the anus by sucking water in and out.

Part 22 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”....

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 20:50:01 +0700

Part 22 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Remoras, cobias and rainbow runners.

In this video we look at more fish that form symbiotic relationships with larger marine life.

Live sharksuckers (Echeneis naucrates), a type of remora, attach themselves to sharks and other marine animals using their first dorsal fin which has evolved into a sucker. The sharksucker gets a free ride and feeds off food scraps left by the host, which also gives it protection. This is known as a commensal relationship, whereby the suckerfish benefits but the host derives neither significant benefit nor harm. Some scientists believe that the remora removes parasites etc. from the host, making the relationship a form of mutualism rather than commensalism. At various dive sites in Thailand and the Mergui Archipelago of Burma (Myanmar) we see live sharksuckers attached to zebra sharks, a whale shark, a spot-fin porcupinefish, a bridled parrotfish, and even a couple of scuba divers.

In another example of commensal symbiosis, the cobia (Rachycentron canadum) is similarly usually found accompanying larger marine animals. We see them following manta rays, blotched fantail rays, and a grey reef shark. The cobia gains some protection from the larger host, and often feeds on its faeces.

Rainbow runners (Elagatis bipinnulata), members of the jack family, are also often seen accompanying larger marine life, but for a different reason. They rub themselves against the skin of the host in order to remove parasites etc. from their own bodies. We see rainbow runners rubbing against a grey reef shark, a whitetip reef shark, and a hawksbill turtle.

Part 21 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Shrimps...

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 22:51:00 +0700

Part 21 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Shrimps and symbiotic cleaners.

In this video we look at how different types of shrimp feed, and how some shrimp and fish clean a host fish in a mutually-beneficial symbiotic relationship.

First we see a pair of harlequin shrimp, Hymenocera picta, feeding on a velvety sea star, Leiaster speciosus, at Koh Ha in Thailand’s southern islands. The small shrimps feed exclusively on starfish.

We then encounter a peacock mantis shrimp, Odontodactylus scyllarus, attempting to smash an oyster with its claws which have evolved into powerful clubs.

Skunk cleaner shrimps, Lysmata amboinensis, form mutual symbiotic relationships with marine creatures such as giant morays. The shrimps clean the larger host so the so the shrimp keeps itself fed while the host keeps itself clean and healthy. We even see a skunk cleaner shrimp cleaning a scuba diver’s teeth!

Cleaner wrasse perform a similar role. We see bluestreak cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, cleaning the mouths of variable-lined fusiliers, Caesio varilineata, at Koh Bon and Koh Tachai, and cleaning inside the gill of a starry puffer, Arothron stellatus, at Staghorn Reef on Racha Yai island. We also see bicolor cleaner wrasse, Labroides bicolor, cleaning a teira batfish, a yellowspotted trevally and a giant moray eel.

Finally we examine how the cleaner’s attentions are not always welcome. A honeycomb moray, Gymnothorax favagenius, is irritated by a rock cleaner shrimp, and a blackspotted puffer, Arothron nigropunctatus, is annoyed by cleaner wrasse. One even bites a pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis. It could be that these fish are false cleanerfish, Aspidontus taeniatus, a sabre-toothed blenny which has evolved to mimic the bluestreak cleaner wrasse, but actually feeds off the flesh of its hosts.

Part 20 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Sea...

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 21:11:00 +0700

Part 20 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Sea snakes and sea turtles.

In this video we look at the 3 most common marine reptiles in the Andaman Sea. First we meet the banded sea krait, Laticauda colubrina, a type of sea snake, hunting for prey at Shark Cave in the Mergui Archipelago in Burma (Myanmar), and in and around the Similan Islands in the Andaman Sea of Thailand. The banded sea krait’s venom is extremely poisonous but they usually ignore scuba divers and their mouths are very small.

There are two common types of sea turtle to be found in the Andaman Sea. First we encounter the Pacific hawsbill turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata bissa, which can be found on many dive sites in Thailand and Burma. Then in the Similan Islands we find the green turtle, Chelonia mydas. Turtles have a wide-ranging diet that includes cnidarians such as jellyfish and coral polyps. Sadly many sea turtles die by choking on or being poisoned by man-made debris such as plastic bags which they mistake as food.

At Donald Duck Bay in the Similan Islands, we witness snorkellers hand-feeding one of the green turtles which hang around moored boats in search of food.

As reptiles, both sea snakes and sea turtles must surface to breathe regularly before returning to the sea bed to hunt or rest.

Part 19 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Fishes...

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:49:40 +0700

Part 19 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Fishes feeding.

In this video we look at ways that fish hunt and feed, mostly by collaborating in schools. At Richelieu Rock we first see a rhizostome jellyfish, Versuriga anadyomene, under attack from a scrawled filefish at Richelieu Rock in Thailand and then see a school of streaked spinefoots (Java rabbitfish, Siganus javus) preying on a jellyfish as rainbow runners, Elagatis bipinnulata, dart by.

We then encounter streaked spinefoots joining Singapore parrotfish, Scarus prasiognathus, feeding on algae on the coral reef at Staghorn Reef on Racha Yai near Phuket, and a school of blue-barred parrotfish, Scarus ghobban, feeding at Koh Bon.

At East of Eden in the Similan Islands, we find different types of fish collaborating in their hunt for prey. Goldsaddle goatfish (Parupeneus cyclostomus), bluefin trevally (Caranx melampygus) and smalltooth emperors (Lethrinus microdon) make a spectacular sight as they gang up in their hunt for small fishes.

Fringelip mullet, Crenimugil crenilabis, are occasionally spotted in a school at Racha Noi, feeding by filtering organic matter from the sand.

At Koh Tachai, north of the Similan Islands, we see a variety of tropical fish that would do any aquarium proud, all gathered around a titan triggerfish, Balistoides viridescens, as it feeds.

We then meet the blackspotted puffer, Arothron nigropunctatus, standing by at another feeding frenzy at Anemone Reef, then feeding alone at Richelieu Rock.

Finally we encounter a yellow trumpetfish, Aulostomus chinensis, firstly, riding, above a porcupinefish, and then hiding within a school of yellowfin goatfish so that it can more easily approach its prey.

Part 18 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”....

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 22:00:29 +0700

Part 18 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Symbiosis.

In this video we see how fishes form symbiotic relationships with other marine life in order to defend themselves. First we find sea urchin cardinalfish, Siphamia versicolor, protecting themselves amongst the spines of sea urchins and crown-of-thorns starfish at Koh Bon, near the Similan Islands, and in the Mergui Archipelago. This is known as a “commensal” relationship, whereby one partner in the relationship benefits while the other receives neither benefit nor harm.

Anemonefish form symbiotic relationships with sea anemones. This is a mutually-beneficial symbiotic relationship. While the fish are protected, their faeces provide food for the anemone and they help keep it free of parasites. We see skunk clownfish, Clark’s anemonefish, saddle anemonefish and the well-known ocellaris clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) finding their home in various species of sea anemone such as the magnificent anemone, Heteractis magnifica.

Porcelain anemone crabs, Neopetrolisthes maculatus, are found in sea anemones in the Similan Islands, while a magnificent shrimp, Ancylomenes magnificus, shelters under the stinging tentacles of a tube anemone at Burma’s Shark Cave, itself covered in phoronid worms.

Finally we see how small and juvenile fish “hitchhike” in jellyfish to protect themself from predators.

Part 17 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”.In this...

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 04:47:26 +0700

Part 17 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”.

In this video we take a look at marine life from Thailand and Burma that uses venomous spines as a form of defence.

Of the lionfish family, the red lionfish, Pterois volitans, is most common across the Andaman Sea, but it is possible that some or all of these are actually the similar Devil Firefish, Pterois miles. Both species are very similar and possess venomous spines along their fins. We meet specimens across various dive sites near Phuket, at Richelieu Rock, and at Black Rock in the Mergui Archipelago.

Other species that are included are the zebra lionfish, Dendrochirus zebra, the rare frillfin turkeyfish, Pterois mombasae, and the spotfin lionfish, Pteroid antennata.

We then look at the crown-of-thorns starfish, or crown-of-thorns sea star, Acanthaster planci, which also has stinging, venomous spines on its body that contain a neuro-toxin intended to cause paralysis. This starfish feeds on hard corals and human intervention has been required in some parts of the world where these starfish threatened to destroy enitre reef systems.

Finally we examine sea urchins, specifically the black longspine urchin, Diadema setosum, which is prevalent across the Andaman Sea. We see a large colony of them at Racha Yai Island, near Phuket in Thailand.

Part 16 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”.In this...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 22:48:00 +0700

Part 16 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”.

In this video we look at how fishes and other marine life avoid detection by predators and prey by using camouflage, mimicry or by simply hiding.

First we see how the pastel tilefish, Hoplolatilus fronticinctus, hides by diving into enormous piles of rubble that it has built at dive sites in the depths of the Mergui Archipelago in Burma (Myanmar).

Then we look at how the dwarf whipray, Himantura walga, and bluespotted stingray, Neotrygon kuhlii, camouflage themselves under sand on the seabed at various locations in Thailand including the Similan Islands.

The day octopus, Octopous cyanea, shows us how it ejects ink as a decoy so it can make its escape.

Mimicry is a clever way that marine life hides its presence. We see how the straightstick pipefish, Trachyrhamphus longirostris, mimics sea whips to avoid detection, and how the ornate ghost pipefish, Solenostomus paradoxus, can change its body coloration and orientation to mimic its surroundings.

The giant frogfish, Antennarius commerson, is an ambush predator. They mimic sponges and their slender dorsal spine, the illicium, is waved around like a tiny fishing rod. Bypassers attracted to the lure at the end of the illicium are engulfed by the huge mouth in a fraction of a second. They are also known as anglerfish.

Scorpionfish and stonefish are also ambush predators. They blend in perfectly with their environment so they can pounce on their unsuspecting prey, but have venomous spines as an extra defence. We see a moray eel colliding with a stonefish at Thailand’s Boonsung wreck.

Part 15 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”....

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 01:07:00 +0700

Part 15 of my weekly series, “Reef Life of the Andaman”. Schooling fish.

In this video we see how marine fishes form shoals and schools. Fish form these aggregations primarily for defence from predators. First we see huge shoals and schools of cardinalfishes at dive sites in Thailand, including various locations around Phuket, Racha Yai, Racha Noi and the Similan Islands. Later we observe various species of fusiliers and snappers schooling in Burma’s Mergui Archipelago.

We then encounter various species of barracuda forming impressive schools at Racha Yai, Black Rock and Koh Tachai. At Western Rocky Island we see an impressive school of sawtooth barracuda forming a huge vortex.

We encounter a school of dogtooth tuna at Koh Tachai, a rare sight these days, and finally we meet schools of bigeye trevally, Caranx sexfasciatus, a common sight at Richelieu Rock, north of the Similan Islands.