Tag: Scorpionfish

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Pemba Island Diving: Day 6, last day of diving and disaster averted

I’m still not entirely sure how it happened, but somehow saltwater found its way into the battery compartment of my strobe. I only discovered it the previous afternoon while preparing my camera gear for the next day’s shoot. Thankfully, Mudy stepped in to help me carefully clean it out. After that, I left it to dry overnight and checked it again first thing in the morning. The moment I inserted the batteries and the strobe powered up normally, I let out an enormous sigh of relief.

After this the morning initially proceeded in the usual way, until we got on the dive boat and one of the engines refused to start. Since it was our final day of diving, Michael had planned to take us to a more distant and rewarding site. With the large boat fully loaded with divers, however, running on a single engine made the longer trip impractical. After a quick discussion, we transferred to the smaller boat for the extended journey, while the rest of the group remained on the larger vessel and headed to a nearer site.

The longer journey proved more than worthwhile. We were rewarded with some breathtaking corals —vivid, intricate, and almost impossible to capture fully in still photographs, especially with a macro setup. Liana’s video (watch in 4K if possible) comes closer to conveying the sheer spectacle, yet even it falls short of the experience in person. With stronger video lighting, perhaps one could come nearer to revealing the true magnificence of that underwater world in full colour. **

The experience was further enhanced by an abundance of fish life.

We saw several geometric moray eels, apparently very common, although I can’t remember having seen one before.

Another bright pink Leaf scorpionfish was lying in ambush, waiting for prey to appear.

A Freckled Hawkfish and an Arc Eye Hawkfish were also perching on the corals, waiting to pounce on passing prey.

At a distance the Variable Thorny Oyster looked like some gap-toothed monster.

Nudibranchs and flatworms, despite their vibrant colours, can be difficult to spot due to their small size.

The shrimp seemed almost as curious about us as we were about them and I had do keep backing away to get one in focus.

After another afternoon of photo and video processing in the comfort of our air conditioned room, we sat down to another superb dinner to end our time at Afro Divers .

**Just a little footnote for the non-divers: colours disappear quickly as you dive deeper, red being first to go, until eventually only blue remains. The only way to see the true colours of the corals at depth, is to use a strong torch, video light, or for photos a strobe.

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Pemba Island Diving: Day 5, getting better with the cameras

As our confidence in underwater photography and videography grew, we increasingly looked forward to each day’s dives. The morning routine—early coffee, breakfast, and gearing up—had become second nature.

This day, the dive center was noticeably busier than before, dispatching two boats full of divers. For our first dive, Mudy guided us once again. On the second, Michael suggested we dive with him so he could provide more hands-on help with my camera settings.

Both dives were outstanding, filled with incredible sights and encounters. We spotted some impressive large fish in deeper water, though I didn’t attempt to photograph them—I’d opted for the macro lens that day, having found it delivered far better results than the wide-angle.

Almost immediately after descending, we came across a stunning leaf fish.

This was soon followed by a frogfish, so well camouflaged that I would definitely not have seen it if Mudy had not pointed it out.

We were entertained by damselfish swimming around in the coral.

We saw several lionfish on both dives,

as well as a few nudibranchs.

A mature male ribbon eel, recognisable by its bright blue colour, poked its head out at us as we were passing its burrow.

A red scorpionfish was closely followed by a Tasseled scorpionfish, which I struggeld to see initially, even after it was pointed out to me.

Toward the end of the second dive we saw multiple Black spotted pufferfish, more Sailor’s eyeballs and finally some anemonefish nestled within their host sea anemone.

During our second dive, an especially feisty little damselfish decided to harass Liana and her GoPro, repeatedly charging in with surprising bravado. It was a perfect reminder of those tiny dogs that bark fiercely at the world, utterly convinced they’re far bigger than they actually are.

That afternoon was devoted to sorting through a wealth of photos and videos from the dives, editing them in the welcome comfort of our air-conditioned room at Afro Divers Lodge.

The internet connection proved frustratingly inconsistent—strong and reliable one moment, vanishing entirely the next—which forced me to delay posting my blog update until the following morning.

Dinner, however, more than made up for any earlier frustrations: a special Saturday barbecue featuring perfectly grilled marlin, tender octopus, and succulent chicken, accompanied by an array of delicious side dishes. It ranks among the finest meals we’ve enjoyed at any of the diving and wildlife lodges we’ve visited in recent years.