After the deluge of posts about a trip to India, and then the rant about BC real estate, I’ve taken a little down time to take care of some stuff on the home front. But as I am now on deadline for my next photo essay for Scuba Diving Magazine, I once again find myself diving into the archives to cull out images.
This month I will be writing about Muck Diving – and trying to explain why, despite its descriptive name, many underwater photogs go nuts for it. I’ll also be sharing some images of the very weird and wonderful critters that tend to live in the muck.
While culling, I dug up this shot which I don’t think I have previously shared. It is a pair of Flamboyant (yes really!) Cuttlefish that I shot (with the camera) in the Philippines. These little beauties are just a couple of inches long. They tend to motate along the bottom, and occasionally zap yummy bits with a long, specialized (and lightening fast!) tentacle.
I love all cephalopods – octos, cuttles and squid. These are such fascinating, seemingly intelligent animals. All have the ability to change their appearance instantaneously to blend into their environment, or, conversely, can flash bright colours that may be intended as a warning to others to keep away.
These little Flamboyant cuttles are often found in pairs like, this, with one tailgating the other. All that junk out front is their tentacles, including the two that go up over their ‘foreheads’ (for lack of better term). And I am pretty sure this pair had a little romantic moment while I was watching (it was either that or a spat ;^) – but I was not fast enough with the camera to capture it.
