Diving at the Boonsong wreck, next to Similan islands

 

It is always simply amazing how much underwater life a sunken ship may attract. The Boonsong wreck, a tin mining boat  sank in a storm in the 1980s. Since evolved into a fully inhabited coral reef habitat..

To be able to imagine the abundance of fishes, have a look at the video too:-)

Similan Islands from underwater: part 2, underwater temple and more

At the end of 2012 I would love to take you one more time underwater between colours and funny/ cute/ weird looking creatures...On one of our dives around Similan islands we found this stone underwater temple at around 10 meters. Some other fantastic finds were the big white nudibranch, the sea urchin known as "jewel urchin" and the crab recycling rests of other inhabitant as his home....
Wishing you all a good end of the old year and a very good start in the new one! 

Underwater colours in les Saintes

 

While waiting for the spring colours (+ all flowers in the Netherlands) I would love to take you on a dive today with me in underwater colours of the island group les Saintes...I have written earlier about this paradise place (part of the French Caribbean, under Guadeloupe), but now I would like to elaborate on all the hidden beauties: the ones under the water surface...

 

Before one goes underwater one may not imagine all the huge diversity of colours, shapes and inhabitants. Next to colourful rocks and caves (see first picture), one should also watch out for the tiny and shiny locals. The famous "crabe tour Eiffel" (second picture) and the cleaning shrimps (last picture) need a closer look before one may enjoy them...

The underwater world in Sardinia: fishes and stars

...and after the crustaceans and the nudibranches, today I will present you some charming and some scary fishes:-) Some of them were enjoying being photographed...not the moray eel though!

The sea stars, also know as star fishes, are actually echinoderms and show a wide range of colours.

The underwater world in Sardinia: nudibranches

A nudibranch is a soft-bodied mollusk (= invertebrate animal) which leaves their shell after their larval stage. They are famous and loved for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms. There are more than 3,000 described species of nudibranches. The word "nudibranch" comes from the Latin nudus, naked, and the Greek brankhia, gills.

While in Sardinia we were told that nudibranches in the Mediterranean sea love cold water and when the summer start they are more rarely sighed, but we were still lucky enough to discover and see different ones:-) The biggest one is the so called in Italian "vaccheta di mare" (the white with the balk dots, literally the "sea cow"). It can reach up to 10 cm.

Most of the them are however really tiny, from 0,5 to 2-3cm. The bright and impressive colours are signal for predators that the soft body contains venom. This is also their only protection...

Diving with "polpi"/octopuses next to Tavolara, Sardinia

The emerald sea around the three islands Tavolara, Molara and Molaretto (in the North of Sardinia) is an amazing nature reserve, called "Tavolara and Capo Coda Cavallo Marine Park". Laura, our friendly diving master from Sardinia, had this very funny dry suit, with the ears on the head...

The underwater world in the park is very beautiful. During only one day we met/ saw 7 octopuses! Some of them were sleeping in their holes. One could see just their eyes and the breathing opening next to the eyes. One "polpo" was not afraid at all and made a big show by stretching slowly all his 8 tentacles.

Reserve Cousteau, des merveilles sous-marines/ The underwater paradise called Reserve Cousteau, Guadeloupe

One year after I have discovered the underwater paradise called Reserve Cousteau in Guadeloupe, I had the pleasure to dive back in the colourful gardens and meet the enormous amount of local inhabitants and beauties....

On the picture of the brain coral below look for the tiny blue-grey fish with the yellow eyes....

 

Sponges in different colours decorate the underwater world at different depths.

Amazing clams in Mayotte...

I have never seen so impressive and different shells underwater as in Mayotte. Here I would like to share with you my best of selection. For sure one of the most interesting (and at the same time the most difficult to photographe) is the thorny oyster, on the first picture. It is big around 30 cm and close itself when you approach it.

A bit smaller but not at all less magnificent is the shell on the second picture. The colours of the coral oyster look almost surreal and they shine in the water and when the sunshine passes through the water too...

The giant clam (most of the time purple, brown or green) are the one on the fourth and fifth pictures. They can reach from 20 up to 100-150cm...