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Marty’s photo of the day #4943: While reef fish are often wary around people, three-striped whiptails are more of an in-your-face kind of fish: “Hi! What are you? Whatcha doin’?” (Photographed in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea.)
Marty’s photo of the day #4942: I don’t have a positive ID for this butterfly. Many of my ID sources featured butterflies with markings close to this one, but not an exact match. (Photographed in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea.)
Marty’s photo of the day #4941: One thing posting all these photos from the Raja Ampat has done is make me very good at ocean species identification. This juvenile black damselfish was particularly difficult to ID because the adults are either solid black or dark blue. (Photographed in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea.)
Marty’s photo of the day #4940: These are feather stars. Despite their plant-like appearance, they are a free-swimming animals related to sea stars and sea urchins. They use their feathery arms to filter food from ocean currents and can crawl or swim by undulating their arms. (Photographed in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea.)
Marty’s photo of the day #4939: This is an orange-lined triggerfish. (Photographed in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea.)
Marty’s photo of the day #4938: This is an underwater scene. You are looking at green barrel sea squirts. Cool, eh? (Photographed in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea.)
Marty’s photo of the day #4937: Thinking about Minneapolis, my former hometown and favorite large city. If I was there today, I’d be out on the streets with a whistle. Today’s photo is of a torch ginger in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea.
Marty’s photo of the day #4936: A while back, I posted a mediocre photo of a royal angelfish, explaining my failed efforts to capture a quality image of a species that seemed determined to thwart me. Then, while going one more time through the thousands of photos I took last year in the Raja Ampat, […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4935: I went through all my identification books and couldn’t find a sea cucumber that matched this one. Eventually, I concluded that it must be a blue variation of the “black tarzan sea cucumber.” But if that’s the case, why not just call it a “blue tarzan sea cucumber”? (Photographed […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4934: This brown tang has found the end of the rainbow! Above the water, it was a beautiful sunny day. This rainbow was an underwater phenomenon only. (Photographed in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea.)
Marty’s photo of the day #4932: This is a coconut crab. Listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN, they are the largest terrestrial arthropods on Earth, reaching a weight of nine pounds. One wild theory for why Amelia Earhart’s body was never found was because it was dragged away and eaten by coconut crabs. […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4931: While visiting the Raja Ampat, Deb and I saw multiple species of rabbitfish. The ones in this photo are masked rabbitfish, and, like all rabbitfish, they possess venomous spines in their dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins. The venom is painful to humans, but not deadly. Rabbitfish are shy herbivorous […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4930: I found this on a wall snorkel. When I photographed it, I thought it was a nudibranch (sea slug). After all, it was less than two inches high. Later, I combed through my identification books and learned it was a robust sea cucumber. (Photographed in the Raja Ampat of […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4929-C: Today is sea star day. Here’s the third of four. All photographed last November in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea.
Marty’s photo of the day #4929-B: Today is sea star day. Here’s the second of four. All photographed last November in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea.
Marty’s photo of the day #4929-A: Today is sea star day. Here’s the first of four. All photographed last November in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea.
I love the challenge of underwater photography—even when some challenges ultimately fail. I’ve been an above-water wildlife photographer for most of my life, but an underwater photographer for only nine years. Those nine years include about seventy times in the water and three different cameras. Each time, I feel like I’m getting better at my […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4927: You are looking at what might be my favorite place on Earth. Last November, while sailing on the Katharina in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea, we dropped anchor and took a dinghy to an island with a narrow sandy beach. On the side of the beach to […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4926: Let’s start this year off with one of my favorite photos from last year’s trip to the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea. This is one of many varieties of anemonefish (also called a clownfish).
For what is likely my last post of 2025, here’s an underwater scenic shot of a beautiful reef in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea. That’s a bluespotted ribbontail ray near the center.
