Humpback happiness

This Humpback Whale calf is just a few weeks old and we would have been some of the first human beings that it had ever seen, so it stopped by to check us out. For scale, a humpback calf at birth is between 3 - 5 meters long and weighs in at almost a tonne. Her mother however, will be four times this size and can weigh as much as 30 tonnes. It's the difference between a campervan driving past vs. a full sized bus. Humpback mothers migrate from the cold but nutrient-dense waters of antarctica up to the warm waters of Tonga to give birth to their young. During this migration they stop feeding and live entirely off stored fat, even while providing all the nutrients necessary to nourish their calves. By the time they return South they can have between 25 and 50% of their body mass. Talk about the sacrifices of parenting!

Sea Urchin - Tonga

Bubbles of life

We seldom see the results of plants photosynthesising, but if we could we'd see a steady stream of oxygen escaping from their leaves. Similarly underwater, algae produce oxygen as they photosynthesise and this gets released as tiny little bubbles, producing beautiful little reflections of the sky above them.

Freediving the Arch

This underwater archway in Vava'u, Tonga is around 24m deep. I was with a group of freedivers who enjoyed the challenge of swimming under the arch, though I must admit that I didn't have the confidence to attempt it myself!

Sunset over the water

I was at the end of a long snorkel session in Tonga when I popped my head up and saw this beautiful sunset.

Freediving into the blue - Tonga

Slack Jawed Mackerel - Fiji

A bed fit for a king

This anemone fish family is having a hard time fitting in amongst the tentacles of their chosen anemone home. The anemones themselves can either spread out their tentacles to catch food or ball up like this one is, either to protect itself from predators or simply to digest a larger meal. However, when balled up there isn't as much space left for their resident anemone fish! The large anemone fish in the centre of the picture prompty wriggled its way deep amongst the tentacles where it was safe and sound, but you can see two smaller anemone fish peaking out from the bottom of the anemone where they're not getting much protection at all.

Kingdom of Sand

Like sharks, stingrays are able to sense electric signals produced by other living creatures, so are able to detect crustaceans burrowed into the sand and dig them out. This stingray had just about had enough of my presenence at this point. You can see how he's raised his body up off the sand and has his tail flared up behind him reminding me of the barb on its end. Stingrays only use these barbs in self-defence, but I didn't want to disturb him any further and so left him alone to return to his hunting.

Manta Ray Spiral - Fiji

We were lucky enough to be taken out on an early morning swim with Manta Rays at Barefoot Manta resort in Fiji. Mantas are filter feeders, and these ones regularly come into a fast-flowing channel between two islands to feed. They often do this in small groups, looping and gliding around each other to find the tastiest currents in the channel.

Anemone Fish - Fiji

Manta Sunrise - Fiji

Underwater Explorers - Great Barrier Reef

Life in the shallows

This was taken right at the beach of Barefoot Manta Resort in Fiji. The dappled light and the corrugations of the sand blended together to produce a beautiful ever-shifting light show.

Eye in disguise

Scorpion fish are ambush predators, camouflaging themselves to blend in to their surroundings before gulping down unsuspecting prey. This one must have seen his reflection in my lens and become territorial, because he walked on his fins right up to the camera and stared me down!

Christmas Tree Worm

Sea Lion fly-by

Coral Canyons - Great Barrier Reef

Peacock Tailed Anemone Shimp - Fiji

This little guy ruled the roost in his chosen anemone. He'd scuttle all over the show picking off debris from the anemone's tentacles. This is a symbiotic relationship, as the shrimp gets a meal while the anemone is kept clean. This anemone was in about 2m of water, which meant I took this shot on breath hold. The hardest part of this shot was timing the shrimp's erratic movements with my breathing!

Silver Trevally - South Australia

This shot was taken in the Neptune Islands off South Australia while in a shark cage. The Trevally schooled around our cage all day long, both for protection and to get a bite of the chum that was being thrown out to attract the sharks.