Just For Fun

"We feel privileged to be allowed into the world of sea creatures, a habitat covering seven-tenths of our planet, immense in its variety and yet still relatively little explored. This page is simply about us sharing our joy and fascination with the ocean environment."

Turtles breathe air like us.

Hawksbill turtle Hopalong seems to do just fine without the missing flipper. Turtles’ primary natural predators are sharks, although it is also possible that survivor Hopalong met with an accident or even hatched without the limb. It’s not that uncommon to spot turtles with injured or missing flippers – boat strikes are also to blame for many shell injuries.

Steaming from the ears? Not quite. Southern Stingray ejecting sand through its spiracles as its digs for shellfish

Damselfish are territorial and will dart out bravely to warn you off their patch. They are a harmless reef fish and usually shy just short of actually ‘ramming’ into a curious diver. However, one agitated character in Curacao darted out from its coral home so rapidly that it ‘pecked’ the back of Helen’s hand and drew blood – a cause for laughter back on board the dive boat! This one is posturing at Steve’s camera in Dominica.

Eagle rays are a breathtaking sight when viewed from above or behind, gliding effortlessly across a grassy bay, bright white hoops and spots contrasting with their broad black backs. Their faces are not quite so pretty! Designed for digging and scooping up sand, they have a flattened snout-like face, evolved for function, not form. This one was so busy digging amongst the sea grasses that it didn’t spot Steve’s approach until they were almost face to face.

Water babies

See the sand diver’s many tiny sharp teeth. These help to ensure that this predator, which lies camouflaged against the sand and strikes rapidly, keeps a firm grip on its prey.

This sand diver possibly bit off more than it could chew!

Couldn’t resist including this one of a parrot fish’s gnashers! Wouldn’t you be proud to take those to the dentist?! Parrotfish are responsible for a huge amount of the sand on tropical beaches as they crunch up the coral then, err, discharge the ground up remains. Now you know what you’re laying your towel on!