between the individuals? Who
was related to who? A truly
fascinating place.
Returning back to fringing
reefs reveals underwater
‘landscapes’ as diverse as they
are numerous. Categorising
them is near impossible, but
there are some features that are
commonplace. Take bommies
for example. I really enjoy
exploring a series of bommies,
especially those amidst sand.
In the sandy areas, you can fi nd
Garden Eels, Shrimp gobies and
larger stuff like rays and on the
same dive you can focus on the
bommies to enjoy the smaller
stuff within the coral. For me,
this is ideal, with a macro lens
mounted on my camera I can
spend an awful lot of time
circling a bommie a few metres
across, shooting away.
On one bommie I fi nally found
a juvenile Emperor Angel. I’ve
plenty of photos of the adults,
but I’ve never yet managed to
fi nd a juvenile fi sh to capture
them in their childhood
colouration. On the same dive,
I came across a tiny Yellow box
fi sh and the endemic Collar
Blenny (Ecsenius minutus). I also
found a pipefi sh (Corythoichthys
nigripectus) looking at me
whilst I waited for the Emperor
Angel to pluck up courage to
emerge from its hideaway.
Farther out from the beach,
and indeed a little deeper, you
come across zones where fi sh
life seems to really increase
Amphiprion nigripes
This Emperor Angel is just beginning to transition, note the yellowing of the dorsal region.
Corythoichthys nigripectus
Ecsenius minutus
40 http://www.ultramarinemagazine.co.uk
