
Balloon Fish – Diodon holocanthus
Here’s a cutie for a funny Friday fish face. The image of this Balloon Fish (Diodon holocanthus) was captured in Ambon Harbour, Indonesia. A member of the porcupine fish family, these guys and gals can inflate themselves up into a really round ball as a defense when threatened. This fish was about a foot long.
I have never made a puffer fish puff up, but have seen a few in my travels, and they are for sure a pretty hilarious vision – a round spiky bumbling ball of a thing, with flimsy little fins trying (ineffectively) to steer a course for such a momentarily big fish.
I was hoping to have another chapter of the Komodo Chronicles ready to share for the weekend, but alas, life has got in the way. Hopefully soon…
PS Thanks to everyone who has been taking the time to “like” or comment on my blog posts. Your ‘likes’ help share my stuff with your Facebook friends. I really appreciate the gesture, and the kind feedback.
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 extensively in Asia, Australia, Fiji, Galapagos, Costa Rica, California, the Caribbean, Mexico and here in British Columbia.
After shooting hefty DSLRs for many years, I just switched over to a groovy Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera, in a Nauticam housing, with dual Sea & Sea strobes and a bag full of lenses. 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 widely published in a variety of magazines and websites, including an ongoing regular monthly feature on Scubadiving.com. All links to this work can be found in this blog.