Back!

If you are seeing this, that means you are still following after the summer break. You are awesome! We spent some time diving in the Red Sea off the coast of Marsa Alam for our honeymoon, and I wish we had more time! Although the season was great, we did not get lucky with any dolphins or sharks. That being said, the reef there was spectacular with giant coral heads looking superb and healthy. I wanted to let you know that I did take photos, but I am a bit busy with my next adventure in life... I am currently doing a postgraduate study in order to become a secondary science/biology teacher. I have been having an amazing time running summer camps and inspiring youth with my experiences, so it feels right going into the next chapter of my life. Don’t worry the posts will continue, just know I am a busy lady, but I will keep answering any questions you may have! Keep on being awesome and protecting our oceans!

-Meg

Awesome.

Time to get my feet wet! I have been out of the water for awhile. but now that summer is here we are going to do some underwater exploration of the Red Sea and see what we can photograph!  Photos to come in a couple months!

That is it! I have run out of photos! So I leave you to enjoy your summer, and hopefully, I have time to get my feet wet someplace new over this break. Enjoy this beautiful clownfish, shot somewhere in the Indo-Pacific.

- Meg

Up close and personal with a yellow leaf fish, somewhere in the Indo-Pacific.

The most amazing alien creatures of the sea. Octopus are the best! Last one from Ono Island, Fiji.

Sometimes you don’t have a beautiful reef full of colour.Sometimes you have a sandy, mucky bottom with poor visibility. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find something cool! Frogfish walking the seafloor at one of the ugliest dive sites I have seen off of El Nido, Palawan, Philippines. 

Narwhals. The majestic unicorns of the sea with their unique sensing tooth. What’s not to love? In this article, they have recordings of different sounds so we can hear how these creatures communicate! Why are they talking about this now? As pressure for deep sea artic drilling increases, it is important to identify how much stress this is causing them. A great way to see this is to listen to what they are saying to each other! Read about it.

Sneaking up on Crocodile fish somewhere in Malaysia. That eye looks ELECTRIC!

This big green Napoleon Wrasse adds another splash of colour to a sea of orange on a Komodo National Park Reef in Flores, Indonesia.

Checking out the egg cluster inside this shrimpette.

I have been trying to figure out what these little crustaceans are for awhile, and I didn’t want to post until I had an idea. But I have no clue and I haven’t found anything close! Not sure if its some sort of parasite infestation, a newly hatched cluster of something completely normal on the reef, or a species I haven’t come across yet. Maybe you have an idea?

Dive slow and look closely. You never know what tiny creatures you may find hiding in the reef.

I saw this article with the perspective of supporting aquariums. While I tend to not support such things like SeaWorld, I can respect some of the writer’s points. Mostly that,

We protect what we love; we love what we know, and we know what we are taught. There is plenty of media that can induce a love for wildlife, such as Blue Planet, but nothing is quite the same as seeing something for yourself. Aquariums can offer that to a greater population than those who can afford to travel the world and visit the natural habitats of those creatures. That also brings another point of increased tourism having a negative effect on a species and its environment.  I feel that Aquariums can be positive when it is treated more of a rehabilitation for animals and/or a sanctuary- and this should only apply to species with a small migratory range or a larger animal with such a handicap it cannot survive in the wild. This of course coupled with strict animal rights laws to ensure their proper care. I think when a child goes into a marine sanctuary and see a dolphin that was maybe sick or injured, and now it's getting stronger to be released back into its home, it inspires them to help or make a change, not a show of them performing tricks. I cannot agree with the point they make that the species will be safer in an aquarium, because of things like overfishing or plastic pollution. These problems we can’t ignore by putting our favourite animals in a glass bubble. We need to protect those environments, especially as there are species which will never survive in a captive environment. It is a tough discussion, that is for sure. What do you think?