snappers, jacks, trevally and the
odd Grey Reef or Whitetip Reef
shark are easily spotted as are
batfi sh that often come close
and investigate new arrivals.
Amidst the corals, butterfl yfi sh
graze and there’s always a few
Moorish Idols that I have yet to
photograph well.
Looking more closely reveals
every photographers’ favourite,
the hawkfi sh. These sedentary
predators are easy to approach
and always worth shooting.
This was the fi rst time I
managed to shoot the Arc-eye
Hawkfi sh, a fi sh which can be
anything from russet to a pale
salmon. On the same dive, I
‘bagged’ Oxycirrhites typus and
Cirrhitichthys oxycxephalus.
Diving on a night reveals an
entirely diff erent world of
course and its truly amazing
to see the black Tubastraea
micrantha come alive. I should
mention that this coral can
be found in large tree-like
structures on some sites,
though the best I found was
growing on the superstructure
of a shipwreck.
So that’s it, a very brief
tour of some of the
highlights of the Maldives
and a quick overview of
the reef structures. with
some of my images.
Five-line snapper
Longnose Hawkfi sh Oxycirrhites typus Black Sun Coral Tubastraea micrantha
Arc-eye or Monocle Hawkfi sh Paracirrhites arcuatus An amazing ‘spray’ of T. micrantha
42 http://www.ultramarinemagazine.co.uk
