Back from a suitably spectacular liveaboard. Dodged a very nasty storm that had ripped its way across from the Philippines and over the Gulf Of Thailand – it looked like there was going to be some rather unpleasant 4 metre waves turning up, but thankfully the storm blew itself out by the time it got to the Andaman Sea.
This was the first time I made a concerted attempt to take some underwater photos. I got some surprisingly good results. I use Picasa as my image organiser and its one-click Enhance function works a treat on cleaning up most pictures.
A cuttlefish at Boon Sung wreck. Getting him on the edge of the wreck with the extra depth below makes a great contrast. Just after I took this, he gathered his tentacles, streamlined his body and shot off with amazing speed. Would be brilliant to capture on video. Cuttlefish are one of my favourite creatures underwater – they just look so completely alien. And they do a nice line in pulsing psychedelic colour changes too.
The very pretty and extremely venomous lionfish. These are non-existent in the waters around Koh Tao but incredibly common over on the other side of Thailand. Often seen in schools of six or more. My favourites are the black ones, but the one time I saw one I didn’t have my camera. Typical.
My dive buddy Tilo showing off his bubblering blowing skills. A pleasant way to pass the time of the safety stop
