Ghost pipefishes are masters of disguise.  In fact they may have some of the best disguises in the sea, which range from uncanny mimicry of leaves, crinoids, algae to sponges and seagrass.  It is quite a challenge to find some of these little gems but well worth the hours scrutinising every little thing that moves on the reef.  The range of colours and body shapes can make even the seasoned critter hunter surprised by this amazing group.

Are ghost pipefishes really pipefishes?

I have written a few articles for UltraMarine Magazine over the past year or so and am pleased to have my first cover image with them this issue (Issue 33: April/May 2012).  The cover shot is a pink anemonefish that I took at Wakatobi Dive Resort in Indonesia a few years ago.  I've always had a soft spot for the image which I took with a very short depth of field, giving it an ethereal feel with soft pastel colours of the pale blue sky, purple mantle of the anemone and pinks of the fish. 

I'm excited to have the cover image and a feature article in the spring issue of Marine Conservation Society's magazine.  MCS is a UK based charity that does great work throughout the British Isles, protecting our amazing marine life. 

I sit writing this blog from Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos surrounded by frolicking sealions, sunbaking marine iguanas, bathing pelicans and feeding sally lightfoot crabs.  This really is a land of plenty, largely fed by the nutritious waters suddenly brought to the surface around the archipelago and immediately exploited by planktonic life.  Obviously the islands are most well known for providing Darwin with the raw materials that culminated in his theory of evolution and the origin of species by natural selection.  Visiting them today is like stepping into a world whe

I am pleased to announce that this issue (Volume 2: Issue 1) I have the cover image and a feature article 'The Sex Life of Seahorses' in 72 & Rising Magazine, which is a magazine focusing on marine and freshwater environments and their conservation. 

Check out the article here:

The Sex Life of Seahorses by Richard Smith (© Richard Smith 2012)

I am extremely pleased to announce that my image of mating Denise’s pygmy seahorses (Hippocampus denise) taken at Wakatobi Dive Resort is the ‘Parting Shot’ in the new issue (Winter 2012) of Alert Diver magazine (see attachment below).

My final trip aboard Dewi Nusantara started in full force.

I'm really pleased to have my third cover shot in a row for the magazine 'Sport Diving' in issue 150, which is available throughout Australia and Asia.  With this issue, my shots will have graced the cover of Sport Diving for the past six months!  The shot of a nudibranch, Phidiana indica, crawling over a tunicate, Polycarpa sp., was taken aboard Dewi Nusantara last year in the Raja Ampat region of Indonesia. 

You might be interested to know that I am on Facebook.  You can go to my page and if you hit the 'Like' button you'll be kept up to date with new images and other news as they're posted.  My Facebook page is: www.facebook.com/OceanRealmImages

In other news, you can also find me on Twitter:

www.twitter.com/Rich_Underwater