Author Archives: Judy G Diver

About Judy G Diver

Born and raised on the west coast of Canada, I have always felt a strong connection to the sea. But for many years, I stayed on the surface, afraid of what lurked down deep. When I was in my early 30's, with three young children (aka the P's), my husband (aka Mr G) signed us up for a SCUBA certification course, as a surprise. Although I had my fears, my stubbornness prevailed, and somehow I made it through four murky, frigid, cold water dives in Vancouver to successfully pass the course. Soon after we went diving off the west coast of Mexico, in the Sea of Cortez, where my eyes were opened to the beauty and other-worldliness of the life down under. And the rest, as they say, is history. I currently have well over 2000 dives under the belt, and I have been fortunate to travel and dive in Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Fiji, Palau, Philippines, Galapagos, Costa Rica, Hawaii, California, Egypt, Mexico, several islands in the Caribbean, and here in British Columbia. In addition to this blog and my personal website (Awoosh.com/Directory), which is linked at the top of the blog, my stuff has been published in a variety of magazines and websites, including a regular monthly feature for Scubadiving Magazine for several years. All links to this work can be found in this blog.

Missing

I am home again, after a visit to Berlin last week. There is glorious early summer weather here in Vancouver, and in my absence the garden exploded into riotous colour – everything blooming in one huge exhale after a long, … Continue reading

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Sport Diver Magazine Feature

Today’s blog bit is just a heads up – a new photo essay I did on diving in the Phi Phi islands of Thailand is now on Sport Diver’s online magazine. They’ve given me a new by-line for my monthly … Continue reading

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War & Remembrance

So here I am, once again leaving Berlin, after Mr G conducts some business here. I have been fortunate to be able to visit this beautiful city, albeit with a very dark history, several times over the past eight years … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Free Swimming Flatworm

Yesterday, we were looking more to the big picture, with imagery from Stingray City in Grand Cayman. Today’s pic is back to something quite small, and I think a bit unusual – a free swimming flatworm, that I captured in … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Stingray City

Here is an image from an iconic dive site in Grand Cayman. This is yet another of many trips where I never got around to writing up a trip report. My bad. I was fortunate enough to be invited to … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Things that make you say Ahhhh…

Fiji is the home of outrageously colourful and lively reefs. This is a wide angle view of the top of a coral bommie – a vertical, slim pinnacle that rises up from the sea floor. In parts of Fiji, these … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Red-Lipped Batfish

Friday flew by, and I didn’t find an opportunity to share a funny fish face. So here it is, a day late. And what a very strange fish this is. This species of batfish is specific to the Galapagos Islands. … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Soft Coral Crab

Back to the Crabfest, again. There are a lot of strange crustaceans out there, and this is yet another. This little beauty is a Soft Coral Crab (Hoplophrys oatesti). Like its name suggests, it is commonly found on soft corals, … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Redline Flabellina Nudibranch

  Yesterday, I opened wide and showed some images of a healthy coral reef grown over a recent lava flow. Today, I am zooming back into something quite teeny – about an inch long. This redline Flabellina Nudibranch (Flabellina rubrolineata) is … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Lava Flow

Out of destruction, there is sometimes beauty. This image was captured at Banda Api, in the Banda Sea area of Indonesia. This dive site is aptly named “Lava Flow”. In May 1988, Bandi Api volcano (elevation 640 metres/2100 feet) explosively … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Flying Gunard

So I’ll take a break today from the crabby parade, and instead offer up a Friday funny fish face. This creature is a Flying Gunard (Dactyloptena orientalis). It is one of several strange “creeping” fish that can be found in … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Orangutan Crab

So by now you might be thinking – whassup with the roll call of crustaceans? Is this chick crabby or what? There is something you might not know about me – I get on a thing (Words With Friends, the … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Coral Hermit Crab

Okay, so I am feeling crabby again, even though the biblical rain storm that we woke up to this morning has blown through (literally – huge, gusty winds right now), and the sun has made an appearance. I am crabby … Continue reading

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Toot, Toot :^)

I have been approached by Sport Diver Magazine to do a series of photocentric features for them. The first piece was on Raja Ampat, in Indonesia, and appeared last month. This most recently published piece is on diving in Thailand … Continue reading

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The Komodo Chronicles – Part 9 – Current City, Man

It’s been a while since I added a chapter to the Komodo Chronicles. Sorry about that. My last entry was about the final few dives we did in the Gili islands, in Northern Komodo. At this point in our trip … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Stonycoral Ghostgoby

So I seem to be on bit of a macro run ;^) I captured this little goby on a trip to the Banda Sea, in Indonesia. When trying to identify it, I had to wade through pages and pages (and … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Feeling Crabby

I will admit that I am feeling a bit crabby today. The rains have returned after a blissful stretch of warm and sunny weather here in Vancouver. In the span of a few lovely days, during which our garden literally … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Hairy Squat Lobster

Yesterday, I featured an image of a large barrel sponge. Today I share an image of a Hairy Squat Lobster (Lauriea siagiani). These things are quite tiny – about 3/4 inch across its carapace. They are pink in colour, and … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Spongeworthy?

Today’s pic is a bigass barrel sponge, taken in the Banda Sea of Indonesia. Sponges are cool things – they grow big (this one was at least four feet tall), and fast, and are host to several little reef critters, … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Canoodling Cuttlefish

It’s no secret, I love cuttlefish. I could watch them all day. Inquisitive, seemingly intelligent, quick to colour and pattern change – these are fascinating animals to encounter on a dive. Cuttlefish belong to the same family as octopus and … Continue reading

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