Blue-ringed Octopus

Something I never expected to see in the wild, and one of the high pionts of the trip! With a body only about the size of your thumb, and short little legs, this rare little fellow didn't seem the least afraid of me. For good reason; this is one of the most deadly creatures in the ocean. His venom is so powerful that one bite can kill a human within 15 minutes.

Look but don't touch!

As deadly as the bite of a blue-ringed octopus can be, a woman in our group (a very experienced diver, but the only one of the 5 of us who saw it who didn't recognize it) just thought it was a cute little octopus, and "pet" it. Fortunately, before she had a chance to pick it up (where it might have bitten her with the "beak" on its underside), the divemaster noticed and stopped her.

Rhinopeas Scorpionfish

This guy is difficult to make out because he is so well camouflaged (waiting for unsuspecting little fish to swim close enough to be gulped down). With poisonous dorsal spines like other scorpionfish, he is in little danger from bigger fish (or humans!). Here, he is facing the camera but "leaning" on his fanned left pectoral fin. This is only the second one of these exotic fish I've seen.

Pygmy seahorse

Unknown until relatively recently, when discovered by accident by someone studying corals, these tiny creatures are amazingly delicate. (The finger is for perspective.)

Pygmy Seahorse camouflage

Although his belly looks like a white dot in this photo, you can also see how well camouflaged these little guys are!

Where's Waldo?

It's easy to see why pygmy seahorses were undiscovered for so long. They only live on certain types of coral, and they're easy to miss!

Pygmy Seahorse close-up

Trevally Jacks

This is a huge school of thousands of jacks. Trying to capture the feeling of diving with them -- as Alex, a professional photographer, is doing here -- requires a VERY wide angle lens. Note how far apart his strobes are set (and pointing straight forward!).

Part of the school

Drifting in among these huge schools of fish is a wonderful experience, and all of us spent time doing so.

Watching the school

These schools of jacks tend to stay pretty close together; big dog-toothed tuna periodically crash into the school for a meal, and instinct dictates that you (if you're a jack) don't want to be "caught" (literally) out on your own.

Dog-toothed Tuna

Constantly cruising around the jack schools (and occasionally dashing in for a "jack snack"), these big 3-5 foot tuna have a sort of "road warrior" armoured look to them.

Barracuda school

In addition to schools of jacks, we also saw huge schools (hundreds) of 3-foot barracuda. Like a gang of thugs, these fish stayed in tight formation, delighting us with ballet-like movement.

Rising into the circle

As this school of barracuda swims in a circle, Dean slowly rises into the center. This was one of those times I REALLY wished I had a better camera!

Barracuda closeup

Although these schooling barracuda are as large and look as intimidating, they are not generally dangerous, and you can approach them more readily (without worrying) than their cousins, the Great Barracuda, which tend to be solitary and unpredictable loners.

Hang on!

Part of what makes the sea life so abundant is current, which brings plankton that support the entire food chain. Generally, we dove at slack tides and/or places without too strong a current But a few dives were like this, where people either had to hang onto the mooring rope (background) or find a dead piece of reef to grip. Note how "NOT straight up" the bubbles are going?

Silvertip Shark

Most of the sharks we saw were either silvertips, blacktips, or grey reef sharks. Although it looks as big as a house compared to the diver in the background, this silvertip is "only" about 8 feet long.

Silvertip up close & personal

And no, this wasn't taken with a telephoto lens.

Silvertip feeding

No, he's not feeding on divers, but rather some fish "remains" from the boat. Note, however the downward-pointing pectoral fins? This is NOT a pose you normally want to see on a shark. It signifies aggression or attack. Fortunately, he was only interested in attacking those fish remains.

Silvertip eye

These were the biggest sharks I've been this close to, and I have to admit it made me a little nervous. Even though I was comfortable that I was NOT part of their normal food chain, they looked so powerful that it was a little unnerving. I kept hoping they didn't decide the fish remains from the boat were just an appetizer! ;-)

Color coordinated

This oriental sweetlip snapper and yellow trumpetfish make a dashing couple! It is not unusual for two species to hang out together, with one (in this case the trumpetfish) hoping for scraps from the other's next "catch."

Scrawled Filefish

The fish in the background is a clown triggerfish. Note how this filefish's tail is been pulled tight in this shot.

Scrawled Filefish Closeup

Named for the fluorescent lavendar "scrawling" on their sides, these are oddly exotic looking fish, and very difficult to get close to. I spent about 20 minutes to get these few "close" photos. (note that his tail is now flared.)

Hawksbill Turtle

Turtles often spend time resting under ledges, as this one is doing.

Spiny Lobster "family"

Lobster don't seem to care if they're upside down or rightside up! The one thing that's consistent is their desire to stay tucked away in holes or crevices. Note that spiny lobsters do not have big claws Americans are used to seeing on Maine Lobsters in the supermarket.

Octopus on black sand

You're getting sleeeepy

Elsie, our great divemaster, is trying to coax this octopus out of his hole. She spent about 10 minutes in this endeavor, gently waving her hand in front of him. He seemed intrigued, and came out this far, but in the end, we ran out of air before he ran out of stubbornness.

Barrel Sponge with worms

This big (5 ft high) barrel sponge was covered in white worms, as well as some crinoids.

Crinoid

Crinoids, which look like plants but are actually (like almost everything in tropical waters) animal, crawls around the reef on spiny little legs. When it finds a nice spot, its feathery arms filter plankton out of the water for food. This is quite an unusually colored crinoid.

Crinoid shrimp

If you look closely, you can see a tiny elongated crinoid shrimp just left of the white center of this crinoid. Perfectly camouflaged, he lives on bits of plankton that his host filters from the water.

Coral cone

Only about half and inch long, this tiny creature spends its life on a branch of coral. It's a good idea not to pick up cones (of any size) because some of them pack a nasty bite that can seriously hurt you.

Cucumber Crab

On the underside of a sea cucumber, this tiny (the size of your smallest fingernail) crab makes its home.

Ghost Pipefish

Although backscatter (kicked up by divers) made this a mediocre picture, you can still see that this brown ghost pipefish looks so much like a leaf that most people (and potential predators) wouldn't give it a second glance. Its head down, it spends its time swaying like a leaf.

Leaf Scorpionfish

Also swaying like a leaf is the demure little leaf scorpionfish (approx 4 inches long). His leaflike dorsal fin, which comes clear up over his head, makes him the Elvis impersonator of the ocean!

Longnose Hawkfish

Well camouflaged, these little guys live among branches of coral (especially black coral).

Whip Goby

Trying hard to blend into this whip coral stalk (which is itself only about the thickness of a pencil), these little fellow are like squirrels -- whichever side of the stalk you're on, they zip around to the other side.

Pipefish

A relative of the seahorse, these delicate little snakelike creatures (about the size of a pipecleaner) have oddly intelligent mannerisms.

No bright lights please!

The instant my light hit him (on a night dive) this fellow started burrowing back under the sand.

Gone in a flash!

Within thirty seconds, he had completely disappeared "underground"!

Anthias

PNG has millions of fish, and we were regularly greeted by swarms of colorful anthias.

Mark

Watching either the anthias or me, Mark pauses for a moment.

PNG "Big Wheel"

This child, typical of the lovely children of PNG, maneuvered his little outrigger canoe like a pro! Kids learn to pilot these boats the way American kids learn to ride "Big Wheel" tricycles. Note the blondish "Melanesian" appearance, which is more common in many the islands of PNG than the darker appearance of the mainland/highlands.

BMW K1200LT "herding" jacks

Although it may seem out of place, my motorcycle was actually quite at home herding this school of jacks. Like them, it is sleek, fast, and (being from Seattle) used to being in the water! ;-)