DIVE LOG DECEMBER 25 ISSUE 415

beautiful to discover - a surprise pelagic, a clownfish or a male cardinal fish nursing eggs, a new clutch laid on a sea whip by yellow damselfish...’ The inhabitants of the reefs around Savusavu and Fiji’s North have become recognisable and it isn’t without affection that she hangs next to communities of green chromis, clownfish laying a new egg clutch under the corner of their anemone, hoping a resident arc eye hawkish, moray or blenny has managed to grab a meal. With over 1,450 fish species documented in the Fiji Islands and around 400 species of soft and hard coral there is an abundance to explore. Fiji is blessed with the 6th largest coral reef concentration in the world covering an estimated surface area of 10, 000 km² ‘The South Pacific island’s reefs are most spectacular around Taveuni Island, Bligh Water and the Koro Sea as a result of a large volcanic fissure between the islands of Vanua Levu and Viti Levu creating conveyor belts of fast-flowing nutrient rich cool waters which delivers plankton to the filter feeding soft coral forests. Beqa Lagoon is also worth a visit for the bull shark and tiger shark dives. The number of species on Fiji’s coral reefs is jaw dropping. You can see a dazzling display of specialism at every level, of colouration and pattern, swimming methods, social community interaction, reproduction technique and eating.

Squid Ink

I have a particular penchant for commensal shrimp - they’re easy to study and photograph as they live in one area in the protection of a cnidarian such as a an anemone or a coral. These tiny macro critters may be diminutive in size but definitely not in terms of evolutionary sophistication. Shrimp have some of the most complex eyes on the planet enjoying colour and a 360 degree vision and half an hour or so watching a colony of shrimp through a macro lens reveals an incredible array of symbiotic behaviour, camouflage, feeding and mating. These highly diverse decapods are also the dentists and doctors of the reef - preening off parasites, cleaning the teeth and gills or other reef dwellers. The health of the reef would deteriorate greatly without a full compliment of benthic shrimp’

Big Momma - a large tiger shark, usually with pups at Beqa Lagoon Resort's 'Cathedral' dive'

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DIVE LOG Australasia #415 - December’ 25

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