Monthly Archives: August 2025

Blennies

Posted on by under fish, Macro, mzuiko60mm, snorkeling
A trip to one of my favourite spots on the North Coast, Booby’s Bay, two weekends back led to a fun rockpool photography sesh. The pools here are quite different than in Falmouth: deeper, more exposed and with fewer seaweeds (see here for impressions). Shannies (Common Blennies) and Montagu’s Blennies are abundant here and I chose not to seach for things ‘more special’ but take pics of these characterful fish. Shannies are greyish and common, but actually very beautiful as you can see above. Their mottled, slimy (scale-less) skin also makes them very well-camouflaged as is clear from the photo below.
Below a few more pics, including of Montagu’s Blennies, which have a ‘quiff’. Some of these fish have hatched not too long ago and are tiny (<1 cm)! When I took these pics the weather was great (and I ditched the wetsuit) but as I am writing this post it is raining and blowing outside. My snorkel outings will be less frequent from now on unfortunately, but on the plus side my blogging will pick up….

Back to Silver Steps

Posted on by under diving, fish, Macro, molluscs, nudibranchs, Silver Steps, worms

With the camera housing back, I have been in the water again lately, taking quite a few photos. I am lagging behind with posting quite a bit (this will allow me to post when I cannot get in the water later in the year) but should occasionally maintain the blog over summer, so here is! My local haunt Silver Steps provided during two dives with the macro lens. Above a Twin Fan Worm (Bispira volutacornis). These are quite shy (i.e. they retract into their parchment-like tube when their composite eyes detect a curious diver) but also are attached to cluttered rock walls. To blur this unappealing background, I used a very shallow depth of field (f 2.8); this also has the advantage of letting a lot of light in so ISO can be decreased to 100 – sorry non-photographers!). Below a collage of other ‘usual suspects’ (names under the photos) but ALSO I SPOTTED AN OCTOPUS! Crouched in a crevice and with only a macro lens I could not do it justice but it was still a very nice encounter.