BNSullivan.jpg "Gray Angelfish (Pomacanthus arcuatus, Caribbean Sea")
Marine Mammals in The Right Blue
BNSullivan.jpg "New Zealand Fur Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri)")
Marine mammals are warm-blooded animals that either live all or most of their lives in the sea, or make their living in the sea. Marine mammals we have had the pleasure to observe up close, and in some cases to dive with, include several species of Cetaceans -- i.e., whales, dolphins and porpoises -- and some Pinnipeds, such as seals.Here is a directory of articles about marine mammals on The Right Blue:
Sunbathing at Kaikoura - Dec. 10, 2007
Male Fur Seals at Taiaroa Head - December 17, 2007
Tales of Whales: Humpbacks in Hawaii - January 20, 2008
Tales of Whales: Vocal Visitations - January 21, 2008
Tales of Whales: Close Encounters with Humpbacks in Hawaii - January 24, 2008
Humpback whales returning to Hawaii for the winter season - October 31, 2009
Dolphins -- the most intelligent animals in the sea - January 18, 2010
PHOTOS - Cetaceans:
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), photo by Lou Herman - Pacific: Hawaii
PHOTOS - Pinnipeds:
New Zealand Fur Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri), female, basking on the rocks - Pacific: New Zealand
New Zealand Fur Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri), 3 photos, male, swimming on the surface near shore - Pacific: New Zealand
VIDEOS
Dolphin Bubble Rings - Dolphins at Orlando's Sea World
Allya, a captive Beluga whale that blows bubble-rings - whales at a Japanese aquarium
Friendly Humpback Whales - whale-watching with the Oceanic Society near the Farallon Islands
Sipadan Turtle Cave: The Video
The story I wrote last month about The Cave Where Turtles Die, at Pulau Sipadan, has turned out to be the most popular story ever published on The Right Blue. I guess it just captured people's imagination.
Now a reader has alerted us to a video of the Sipadan Turtle Cave, produced and posted to YouTube by Dutch diver Paul Vermeulen. It looks to us as though the diver only visited the first chamber of the cave -- or at least that is all he filmed. Watch for shots of the entrance to the cave, shot from inside. Spooky!
(If the video does not play or display properly above, click here to view it on YouTube.)
Now a reader has alerted us to a video of the Sipadan Turtle Cave, produced and posted to YouTube by Dutch diver Paul Vermeulen. It looks to us as though the diver only visited the first chamber of the cave -- or at least that is all he filmed. Watch for shots of the entrance to the cave, shot from inside. Spooky!
(If the video does not play or display properly above, click here to view it on YouTube.)
WW #43 - Scenes from The Right Blue's first year
Not-Quite-Wordless, Special Tuesday/Wednesday Edition
This is Part 2 of our year-end blog birthday review here on The Right Blue. Last week we displayed some of our favorite underwater photos of creatures that live in the sea. This week we are featuring some of our favorite underwater scenery shots from the past year. All of these have appeared as illustrations to our articles over the past year, but have not appeared before as Wordless Wednesday images.
We know that some Wordless Wednesday visitors only come to see the images, not the articles, but just in case you'd like to read the stories, too, we're including a link to the article where each photo first appeared. We hope you enjoy these photos -- all of which are Bobbie's original work.
This is Part 2 of our year-end blog birthday review here on The Right Blue. Last week we displayed some of our favorite underwater photos of creatures that live in the sea. This week we are featuring some of our favorite underwater scenery shots from the past year. All of these have appeared as illustrations to our articles over the past year, but have not appeared before as Wordless Wednesday images.
We know that some Wordless Wednesday visitors only come to see the images, not the articles, but just in case you'd like to read the stories, too, we're including a link to the article where each photo first appeared. We hope you enjoy these photos -- all of which are Bobbie's original work.
Please leave a comment to tell us which one you like the best.
(Hover over a photo to read the caption.)
(Hover over a photo to read the caption.)
BNSullivan.jpg "Divers on the Salem Express wreck, Safaga, Egypt")
BNSullivan.jpg "Reef scene, Cayman Islands")
BNSullivan.jpg "Sunny reef scene, Cayman Brac")
BNSullivan.jpg "Sea Fan, Bunaken Island, Indonesia")
BNSullivan.jpg "Fire Coral (Millepora dichotoma) in the Red Sea")
BNSullivan.jpg "Bushy Sea Whips, Turks and Caicos Islands")
* * * * *
Sea Birds in The Right Blue
BNSullivan.jpg "A young girl watches a Little Blue Penguin at New Zealand's Antarctic Center")
The young girl in the photo at right is watching a Little Blue Penguin (Eudyptula minor). The little bird, which had been injured, now lives in a managed colony of rescued penguins at the Antarctic Center, Christchurch, New Zealand. We visited the Antarctic Center in December of 2007.We sometimes forget that sea birds are classified as marine life, and that they play important roles in marine ecosystems. We don't have too many photos and stories about sea birds on The Right Blue, but here they are:
New Zealand's Little Blue Penguins - December 8, 2007
Taiaroa Head on the Otago Peninsula - December 13, 2007
PHOTOS:
Little Blue Penguins (Eudyptula minor) - Oamaru, New Zealand
White-faced Heron (Ardea novaehollandiae) - Kaikoura, New Zealand
Royal Albatross (Diomedea sanfordi) - Taiaroa Head, New Zealand
Sea Turtles in The Right Blue
BNSullivan.jpg "Green Sea Turtle")
We have noticed that our readers really seem to like stories and photos of sea turtles. In fact, the story called The Cave Where Turtles Die, which we published in June of 2008, has received more traffic than any other single story on The Right Blue since the blog's inception! (Fortunately, most of our turtle stories are not so grim as that one was.)Here is a directory of articles about sea turtles in The Right Blue:
- Puako's shoreline: Tidepools and turtles - September 25, 2007
- Meet Myrtle the turtle - October 5, 2007
- Myrtle's special spot on the Puako reef - October 6, 2007
- Loggerhead sea turtles need further protection - November 15, 2007
- The Cave Where Turtles Die - June 16, 2008
- Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles - May 22, 2009
- A Hawksbill at Honaunau - October 20, 2009
- Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle at Honaunau Bay, Hawaii - October 27, 2009
Here is a directory of sea turtle photos in The Right Blue:
- Loggerhead Turtles (Caretta caretta), three photos - Atlantic: France
- Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas), basking on the rocks - Pacific: Hawaii
- Myrtle, the Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), close-ups - Pacific: Hawaii
- Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), swimming with diver, and resting on the reef - Pacific: Hawaii
- Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), close-up, on the coral - Pacific: Hawaii
- Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), swimming just under the water's surface - Pacific: Hawaii
- Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), gliding through deep offshore water - Pacific: Hawaii
- Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), survivor of a shark attack - Celebes Sea: Pulau Sipadan
- Sleepy Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), napping on a reef - Celebes Sea: Pulau Sipadan
- Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), with divers in the background - Celebes Sea: Pulau Sipadan
- Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), turtle humor *wink, wink* - Celebes Sea: Pulau Sipadan
- Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), swimming underwater - Pacific: Hawaii
- Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), swimming underwater - Red Sea: Tiran Straits
- Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), resting on a reef - Celebes Sea: Pulau Sipadan
- Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), diving - Pacific: Hawaii
Sea turtle videos on The Right Blue:
- Sipadan Turtle Cave: The Video - June 24, 2008
- Video: Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles - Aug. 10, 2009
- Video: Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) at a cleaning station in Hawaii - Sep. 9, 2009
- Video: Turtle-watching at Puako, Hawaii - Feb. 10, 2010
Wreck Diving in The Right Blue
BNSullivan.jpg "Jerry near the bow of the Salem Express in Egypt")
Some of the most popular stories on The Right Blue have been those about our wreck diving adventures. Those stories and photos not only got good response when we first published them, they have continued to draw a lot of search traffic ever since. (In fact, our series on the wreck of the Salem Express, first published in September of 2007, still gets traffic nearly every single day!)As a part of our review of The Right Blue's first year, we thought we'd assemble links to all of the wreck diving photos and stories on one page, as a permanent archive. Later, when we publish new wreck diving stories, we'll add them to the list on this page.
Here is a directory of wreck diving stories and photos in The Right Blue, arranged alphabetically by the name of the wreck:
- The Dunraven - (Sinai, Egypt)
- History of the Dunraven, a Shipwreck in the Red Sea
- Diving the Wreck of the Dunraven in the Red Sea
- Photos: The Dunraven, a 19th Century Shipwreck
- The Jolanda - Red Sea (Ras Mohammed, Egypt)
- The Salem Express - Red Sea (Safaga, Egypt)
- What a Wreck!
- A dream trip, a storm, a mutiny, and a consolation prize
- Ninja divers: First dive on the Salem Express
- Inside the wreck of the Salem Express
- The Salem Express wreck -- a human tragedy
- The Zenobia - Mediterranean - (Larnaca, Cyprus)
- Diving the Wreck of the Zenobia - Introduction
- The Wreck of the Zenobia - A Brief History
- First dives on the wreck of the Zenobia
- Bottom Time on the Wreck of the Zenobia
- Diving Inside the Zenobia's Parking Deck
- Final Dives on the Wreck of the Zenobia
- Photo: Our friend Joe photographs Jerry on the wreck
- Photo: Diving on the Wreck of the Zenobia
WW #42 - The Right Blue's 1st Birthday Review
Not-Quite-Wordless, Special Tuesday/Wednesday Edition
The Right Blue celebrates its first birthday on July 15, 2008. To mark the occasion, we thought we'd post some of our favorite underwater photos this week and next, as a review. All of these have appeared as illustrations to our articles over the past year, but have not appeared before as Wordless Wednesday images.
We know that some Wordless Wednesday visitors only come to see the images, not the articles, but just in case you'd like to read the stories, too, we're including a link to the article where each photo first appeared. We hope you enjoy these photos -- all of which are Bobbie's original work.
The Right Blue celebrates its first birthday on July 15, 2008. To mark the occasion, we thought we'd post some of our favorite underwater photos this week and next, as a review. All of these have appeared as illustrations to our articles over the past year, but have not appeared before as Wordless Wednesday images.
We know that some Wordless Wednesday visitors only come to see the images, not the articles, but just in case you'd like to read the stories, too, we're including a link to the article where each photo first appeared. We hope you enjoy these photos -- all of which are Bobbie's original work.
Please leave a comment to tell us which one you like the best.
BNSullivan.jpg "Milk Conch (Strombus costatus), Little Cayman Island")
BNSullivan.jpg "Hermit crab with hairy legs and turquoise eyes, Cyprus")
BNSullivan.jpg "Mediterranean cone shell (Conus mediterraneus), Cape Greco, Cyprus")
BNSullivan.jpg "Leather coral with tiny fish, Celebes sea")
BNSullivan.jpg "Macro of a Caribbean Reef Octopus (Octopus briareus), Cayman Brac")
BNSullivan.jpg "Jerry with a Comb Jelly, at Puako, Hawaii")
* * * * *
The Right Blue's First Birthday
BNSullivan.jpg "Social Feather Dusters (Bispira brunnea), West Caicos")
The Right Blue has a birthday coming up this week. Launched on July 15, 2007, The Right Blue is now one year old. To celebrate the blog's first year, we thought it would be fun to present a review of some highlights of the past 12 months, which we will do during the coming week.By the way, we chose the photo at right for this birthday post because we thought it looked festive -- like a party favor. [Click on the photo to enlarge.]
Bobbie shot this macro photo of Social Feather Dusters (Bispira brunnea) off West Caicos, in the Turks and Caicos Islands. In case you are wondering about these creatures, they are annelid worms. They live inside those calcareous tubes, which they secrete, and they feed by extending those fluffy 'feather duster' parts to catch particles. You can see that some of the worms have retracted their 'feathers' into their tubes. (They're going to miss the birthday party!)
So then, back to the year-end review. Some of our regular readers have been with us since The Right Blue began, but we know we have acquired many new readers along the way, too. Some of those newer readers may not know much of the background about who we are, and how The Right Blue came to be. As a review, here are a few links to articles that will serve to explain some things about us, and about the project that came to be called The Right Blue:
About 'The Right Blue' - July 15, 2007
Prologue: How 'The Right Blue' project came about - July 16, 2007
Prologue: Our training as divers - July 20, 2007
Prologue: The supporting cast - August 1, 2007
Learning underwater photography -- The easy parts - August 5, 2007
Since you've asked: Answers to readers' questions - November 1, 2007
More to follow - including a collection of some of our favorite photos from The Right Blue, which we will post for Wordless Wednesday, this week and next.
BNSullivan.jpg "A Moorish Idol swims above a colorful reef")
Sipadan Island - Being there, Part 3
by B. N. Sullivan
BNSullivan.jpg "Fishermen at Pulau Sipadan")
This is the third in a multi-article series about Pulau Sipadan, a magical dive destination off the coast of Borneo. If you have read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, you know that the accommodations at the 'resorts' on Pulau Sipadan in 1993 were rather spartan. One thing that was not lacking, however, was excellent food.
There are trade-offs inherent in traveling to remote locations such as Pulau Sipadan to dive. The more remote the destination, the more likely it is that the underwater environment will be relatively unspoiled. At the same time, less developed destinations are likely to entail certain privations. In the previous articles, for example, I described the lodging and bathing facilities at Sipadan Island, which were rather spare.
Facilities for traveling divers usually offer all-inclusive packages -- lodging, diving, and meals. In fact, at more remote spots like Pulau Sipadan, there is no other option. There are no off-site restaurants or snack bars. It's a case of eat whatever they provide, or don't eat at all.
Traveling divers tend to be a hungry lot. During stays at dedicated dive resorts, and on live-aboard dive boats, it is not unusual to make five dives every day. All that physical activity can really work up an appetite! God forbid you are stuck at a place that has lousy or insufficient food when there is no alternative place to eat.
Like many other traveling divers, we learned to take along some food items on these trips -- peanut butter, canned tuna, packets of dried soups, etc. It's impossible to haul enough food to live on for ten days, but there were times when we dipped into those supplies to supplement for sparse meals, or when the food offered was, erm, unappetizing. (Don't get me started on some of the weird things we have eaten while ensconced at some of these places!)
Fortunately food was not a problem at Sipadan. In fact, the daily mealtime offerings at Pulau Sipadan Resort (PSR) were nothing short of amazing, especially in light of the fact that every tidbit had to be imported, and the kitchen facilities were as basic as the rest of the accommodations.
A highlight of each day was the dinner buffet, although I should note that it helped if you liked fish and other seafood. Each day, local fishermen paddling open canoes would arrive at the beach to sell their catch. (See photo at the top of this page.) The cooks would go down to the water's edge to bargain with the fishermen, and soon we would see them carrying fresh fish -- often still flapping -- back to the kitchen to prepare for what we all called The Catch of the Day Buffet.
Depending on which kind of fish the cooks bought from the fishermen, we had baked fish, poached fish, fried fish, fish with sauce, fish curry -- you get the idea -- and it was all very good. Along with the fish dish, the buffet always had homemade soup, big bowls of rice and steamed vegetables, and lots of fresh fruit. We never, ever went to bed hungry.
BNSullivan.jpg "Jerry, with the Sipadan catch of the day")
One day in particular, we all felt like we had hit the jackpot. The fishermen arrived with a very large billfish lashed to the side of their (nearly swamped) canoe. Considering that these fishermen had no tackle except hand lines, it seemed inconceivable that they could have caught such a fish, but they had. That's Jerry posing with the fish in the photo at left. To give you an idea of just how big that fish was, I should mention that Jerry is six feet tall.
I'm sure that such a prize fish must have fetched quite a sum for the fishermen, but the guests and staff at PSR were the real winners. With limited refrigeration (run on a portable generator), it was necessary to eat as much of the fish as we could, as soon as we could. What a feast we all had that evening and the next.
As a main course, we had grilled steaks from that big fish. There was so much of it that everyone was encouraged to have second and third helpings: better to eat it than to let it spoil for lack of refrigerated storage. Some of the choicest flesh of the big fish was sliced up for sashimi.
About two thirds of the divers staying at PSR at the time were Westerners -- mostly Europeans, plus the two of us Americans. The rest were Asian nationalities, as were most of the staff. When one of the cooks brought out a huge, heaping platter of sashimi, Jerry's eyes lit up. One of the British divers, a new arrival on the island, asked, "What the &$%@ is that??"
"Sashimi," Jerry told him. "You know, raw fish." The Brit made an awful face, shuddered, and walked away muttering something about cat food.
None of the other Europeans seemed interested in the sashimi either, but we lined up with all of the Asians to take our turn at the sashimi platter. When we got to the table and held out our plates, the server asked us, "Aren't you guys Americans?" We nodded yes. "Americans like sashimi??" he asked with raised eyebrows -- and then added, "I don't think so."
"We're from Hawaii," Jerry told him, as if that explained everything. Turned out it did.
"Oh, I see," said the server with a knowing grin. "So you're used to Asian food then." He heaped big slabs of the glistening sashimi onto our plates, while another server handed each of us a small bowl of shoyu and wasabi. It was a heavenly treat. We went back for seconds and thirds of that!
It turned out that the poor Brit who apparently found the thought of sashimi so distasteful didn't much like fish to begin with, much less raw fish. The servers noticed that he took none of the fish -- only rice and vegetables and fruit. One of them sprinted back to the kitchen, and returned about 15 minutes later with a plate. On the plate sat a grilled pork chop. He set it down in front of the Englishman, announcing, "Special for you."
For the rest of his stay at Sipadan, the non-fish eating diver was served a pork chop or a sausage every day. How can you quibble with hospitality like that?
BNSullivan.jpg "Fishermen at Pulau Sipadan")
This is the third in a multi-article series about Pulau Sipadan, a magical dive destination off the coast of Borneo. If you have read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, you know that the accommodations at the 'resorts' on Pulau Sipadan in 1993 were rather spartan. One thing that was not lacking, however, was excellent food.There are trade-offs inherent in traveling to remote locations such as Pulau Sipadan to dive. The more remote the destination, the more likely it is that the underwater environment will be relatively unspoiled. At the same time, less developed destinations are likely to entail certain privations. In the previous articles, for example, I described the lodging and bathing facilities at Sipadan Island, which were rather spare.
Facilities for traveling divers usually offer all-inclusive packages -- lodging, diving, and meals. In fact, at more remote spots like Pulau Sipadan, there is no other option. There are no off-site restaurants or snack bars. It's a case of eat whatever they provide, or don't eat at all.
Traveling divers tend to be a hungry lot. During stays at dedicated dive resorts, and on live-aboard dive boats, it is not unusual to make five dives every day. All that physical activity can really work up an appetite! God forbid you are stuck at a place that has lousy or insufficient food when there is no alternative place to eat.
Like many other traveling divers, we learned to take along some food items on these trips -- peanut butter, canned tuna, packets of dried soups, etc. It's impossible to haul enough food to live on for ten days, but there were times when we dipped into those supplies to supplement for sparse meals, or when the food offered was, erm, unappetizing. (Don't get me started on some of the weird things we have eaten while ensconced at some of these places!)
Fortunately food was not a problem at Sipadan. In fact, the daily mealtime offerings at Pulau Sipadan Resort (PSR) were nothing short of amazing, especially in light of the fact that every tidbit had to be imported, and the kitchen facilities were as basic as the rest of the accommodations.
A highlight of each day was the dinner buffet, although I should note that it helped if you liked fish and other seafood. Each day, local fishermen paddling open canoes would arrive at the beach to sell their catch. (See photo at the top of this page.) The cooks would go down to the water's edge to bargain with the fishermen, and soon we would see them carrying fresh fish -- often still flapping -- back to the kitchen to prepare for what we all called The Catch of the Day Buffet.
Depending on which kind of fish the cooks bought from the fishermen, we had baked fish, poached fish, fried fish, fish with sauce, fish curry -- you get the idea -- and it was all very good. Along with the fish dish, the buffet always had homemade soup, big bowls of rice and steamed vegetables, and lots of fresh fruit. We never, ever went to bed hungry.
BNSullivan.jpg "Jerry, with the Sipadan catch of the day")
One day in particular, we all felt like we had hit the jackpot. The fishermen arrived with a very large billfish lashed to the side of their (nearly swamped) canoe. Considering that these fishermen had no tackle except hand lines, it seemed inconceivable that they could have caught such a fish, but they had. That's Jerry posing with the fish in the photo at left. To give you an idea of just how big that fish was, I should mention that Jerry is six feet tall.I'm sure that such a prize fish must have fetched quite a sum for the fishermen, but the guests and staff at PSR were the real winners. With limited refrigeration (run on a portable generator), it was necessary to eat as much of the fish as we could, as soon as we could. What a feast we all had that evening and the next.
As a main course, we had grilled steaks from that big fish. There was so much of it that everyone was encouraged to have second and third helpings: better to eat it than to let it spoil for lack of refrigerated storage. Some of the choicest flesh of the big fish was sliced up for sashimi.
About two thirds of the divers staying at PSR at the time were Westerners -- mostly Europeans, plus the two of us Americans. The rest were Asian nationalities, as were most of the staff. When one of the cooks brought out a huge, heaping platter of sashimi, Jerry's eyes lit up. One of the British divers, a new arrival on the island, asked, "What the &$%@ is that??"
"Sashimi," Jerry told him. "You know, raw fish." The Brit made an awful face, shuddered, and walked away muttering something about cat food.
None of the other Europeans seemed interested in the sashimi either, but we lined up with all of the Asians to take our turn at the sashimi platter. When we got to the table and held out our plates, the server asked us, "Aren't you guys Americans?" We nodded yes. "Americans like sashimi??" he asked with raised eyebrows -- and then added, "I don't think so."
"We're from Hawaii," Jerry told him, as if that explained everything. Turned out it did.
"Oh, I see," said the server with a knowing grin. "So you're used to Asian food then." He heaped big slabs of the glistening sashimi onto our plates, while another server handed each of us a small bowl of shoyu and wasabi. It was a heavenly treat. We went back for seconds and thirds of that!
It turned out that the poor Brit who apparently found the thought of sashimi so distasteful didn't much like fish to begin with, much less raw fish. The servers noticed that he took none of the fish -- only rice and vegetables and fruit. One of them sprinted back to the kitchen, and returned about 15 minutes later with a plate. On the plate sat a grilled pork chop. He set it down in front of the Englishman, announcing, "Special for you."
For the rest of his stay at Sipadan, the non-fish eating diver was served a pork chop or a sausage every day. How can you quibble with hospitality like that?
BNSullivan.jpg "Blue Spotted Stingray (Taeniura lymma) at Pulau Sipadan")
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