Do you know the difference between a shoal or school of fish? While in the water we see plenty of fish that group together. There are certain behaviours and characteristics to look out for to determine if the group is a shoal or school. Shoaling All social groupings of fish are considered a shoal, but…
Surrounding most islands in the Maldives are shallow lagoons, getting onto the island is often difficult without a jetty. On resort or tourist islands there are usually a few jetties over these lagoons, used for water villas, arrival/departure jetties, and even supply jetties. Jetties allow us to view the oceans from above. They are great…
Squid or Cuttlefish …wait calamar? What is a sepia then? … This is something our dive crew was thinking about recently, after watching a pair of squid from our jetty. Squid can also be known as calamar in some countries (think calamari). Cuttlefish are sometimes referred to as sepia. Sepia is the name of the…
2022 Manta Season – we had brilliant seven months! We are now saying goodbye to the last mantas of this year. Everyone knows you can never predict wildlife, but we found this season to be particularly unique. What we thought we knew We know our manta season runs from May to November, during the southwest…
Just recently the depths of the Maldives were explored for the very first time! What they found was pretty cool! An area/ecosystem first of its kind. They are referring to it as “the trapping zone”, creating as oasis of life at around 500 meters depth. Scientists from all over came to take part in The Nekton…
Harlequin shrimp and snapping shrimp for one are very hard to take photos of but we are lucky to have snapped one or two for you. Here is what else you should now about them. Harlequin Shrimp They are definitely one of the most beautiful marine invertebrates in the world – just look at them.…
Mantis shrimp and squat shrimp are the first two shrimp we would like to introduce to you in more detail. Mantis Shrimp They are carnivores that grow to up to 10cm in length while a few can reach 38cm. There are fish stabbing, grasping and smasher versions of mantis shrimp. The smasher feeds on snails and hermit…
About 1000 species of shrimp live in the tropical seas. To name just a few here we go: Harlequin shrimp Banded Boxer shrimp Hinge-beak shrimp Anemone shrimp Imperial shrimp Sea star shrimp Whipcoral shrimp Thin armed shrimp Cleaner shrimp Tapestry marble shrimp Snapping shrimp Squat shrimp Featherstar shrimp They can be herbivores, plantivores, carnivores or…
Do fish sleep? This is an interesting question. There is still so much study to be done on this topic, not a whole lot is known about fish sleep. Fish do not sleep in the same way as us humans. Firstly, fish do not have eye lids so there is no way they can close…
Finding the Bite They just wouldn’t bite! It didn’t matter what the variables were: bait-type, time of day, nor the location. The Blacktip Reef Sharks in the Maldives were simply not interested. Watching these sharks constantly turn away from me, I became despondent. It felt like “la mar” (the sea), was withholding her favour from…
