I’ve been extremely hectic lately and haven’t managed to keep up with my Ocean Realm Images blog too well. On the plus side, I have been blogging for lots of other people, mostly about my amazing trip aboard Wakatobi Dive Resort‘s live-aboard Pelagian which I made in September. I was aboard Pelagian for the first time, despite having spent six months at the resort conducting my PhD fieldwork on the biology and conservation of pygmy seahorses.
I won’t say too much more about the trip, as you will be able to gather most of what went on from the various links below. There are several magazine articles in the pipeline too so keep checking back for more on those!
• Dive Photo Guide – An Underwater Photographer’s Guide to Wakatobi
– Beyond Wakatobi with the Pelagian
• Wakatobi Dive Resort – Facebook Album ‘Marine Biologist in Paradise’
(this album had almost 1,400 ‘Likes’ which was pretty amazing!)
• Underwater Journal – Facebook Album ‘Postcards from the Reef’
In other news, I was really pleased to be announced as the runner-up in the Underwater Festival Shoot out competition ‘Issues’ category (as well as two others placed in the top 100). The image was a velvetfish I found at Anilao in the Philippines that was choking on some plastic. I originally thought it was eating a juvenile lionfish but when I realised, I was able to remove the plastic from the fish’s mouth. More than any other, I am pleased to be placed in the category as I hope the image can help raise awareness of the marine plastics which blight our oceans! You can check out the image here.