Searching for Oliver the froggie…

diving, Travels, underwater

Today Chris and I decided to have a late afternoon dive on Swisscare house reef. Sarah precisely explained us where to look for Oliver the newly discovered freckled frog fish. We both headed to the coral block when we saw two mating reef octopi sitting on top of it. Apparently Chris got too close because one of the two left his beloved one and headed straight out to Chris’ strobe, wrapping all its arms around it and his arm! The other octopus left behind changed colour and really seemed pissed off! It followed its unfaithful lover and eventually took him back to the coral block and pursued what they had started…
We were both laughing and continued then the search for Oliver… suddenly I saw Chris waving at me! Did he find the froggie? No…he was shooting something tiny in a hole…when I came closer I couldn’t believe what I saw! A couple of Harlequin Shrimps sat there and showed off their beautiful claws in every possible pose!

Harlequin shrimp

The harlequin shrimp (Hymenocera Elegans) is found throughout the Indo-Pacific, including the Red Sea. They mostly occur in couples and feed on sea stars. It’s not easy to spot them and for most underwater photographers count in the famous Top Ten or Holy Grail List.
So you can imagine our surprise!
….Ah yes, did I mention that we never found Oliver 🙂 ….maybe next time….

About diving and watching…

diving, My Point of View

Most of you must think now while reading the title : well there’s nothing new! We know that you love diving and watching the underwater world! True! I do! But sometimes it’s good to be reminded…
We arrived last Thursday here in Nuweiba, Egypt to have 2 weeks of diving with Sarah and Daniel at African Divers. I left home with a big cold which didn’t seem to surrender. Having my 2 ears and the sinuses completely blocked I stayed on the beach the first 2 days reading and rising my score in “Angry Birds”…
Yesterday I was already sunburnt and decided to give it a try with my “Mickey Mouse Mask” also known as “ProEar mask”.
All dives around Nuweiba are shore dives so the entry is smooth and you can easily control your depth.
The dive spot was ” Sinkers”. A buoy dropped by the Israelis long ago, but with the chain being too short of about 15m. So the top of the buoy supposed to be out of water hovers at -9m in the blue. It’s all beautifully grown with soft corals and fishes around.

Sinkers

I’ve dived this spot a couple of times already but was never really happy with my out coming shots.
Yesterday I left my camera home as I was not sure at all to be able to get deeper than 2 m.
At my surprise I ended up at Sinkers at -26m and slowly followed the 2 big chains. I took my time, watched all the way up and spent lots of time at the buoy itself. The diver’s bubbles fill it up from below which creates a wonderful mirror effect. On top you’ll find numerous anthias and a huge barracuda cruising around.
At that moment I realised that I never really took the time to watch this buoy calmly before. I saw things and details I’ve missed out before!
I can’t wait to get back there with my camera in hands now…

Nuweiba Photo Workshop goes to an end..

diving, Travels, underwater

This week here in Nuweiba passed really fast. We had 6 amazing days of diving with 15 to 17 dives. Water temperatures were at a comfortable 27-29C which allowed some of us to dive in shorts and T-Shirts or for me with a 0,5mm skin suit.

The group came up with some great shots as well in macro as in wide-angle. One of the advantages of Nuweiba is that you don’t have to share a dive site with other divers.

Ras Mamlach south of Nuweiba has beautiful soft corals and great drop-offs