dial-up beware: cozumel diving reef photos

[Krux]

i posted these in my club forum, but i think actual shots of reefs might really help out those folks who are not able to go diving... i know that every time i hit the reef it gives me new inspiration for my hobby.

please enjoy, comment if you like.

I finally finished scanning in everything, these were the pics that were interesting or decent looking and worth posting. next time i go I am getting a red filter lens for the camera!

Instead of trying to put these in any order, I am just going to put them up in alpha order and then describe them a bit.

For those of you not familiar with Cozumel diving, these were all taken at various spots along Palancar reef, ranging from 20 feet to 110 feet.



nothing much here, but was unsure of the species, so I took a shot to try to id later



nice pipefish (steve's was better though)



this was one of the 3 corals I considered poaching, nice blue brain.



these were everywhere, little blue damsels, this is a crop from a pic about 6 times this size... you can get an idea of the damsel colony population.



the real gems of the reef here were the fish and the sponges... the corals were for the most part brown and grey and white... this was a nice blue one



deepwater brain, unsure of the color, as the light wasn't true at 80 feet... at any rate, nice growth form.

[Krux]

this sponge was almost phosphorescent (glowing) down at 110 feet, everything else was a deep blue but this was like a glow stick... very cool



nice school of jacks swimming by



there were gorgonians everywhere, and there were some fantastic photo ops through the holes in the reefs on one particular site, Palancar Caves. This was right at the entrance to one of the tubes



juvenile french angel hiding under a rock... small school of barracuda out in the open (moving too fast to get a shot of) which probably explains his need for shelter



this king crab was at least 4 feet across, a resident of the reef, the dive master told me everyone pays him a visit



huge lobster, I used to hunt bugs every year, this one has to be at least 7-8 lbs.

[Krux]

spotted box fish (i know you love these steve, took this one for you)



curious queen angel, wanted to be in a pic so bad that i gave in and took one of it (these things are the dominant fish on the reefs here, you get bored with them after the first couple hours).



with his/her friends (so many there they practically school)



this was a 3' parrotfish, beach-builder!

[Krux]

here is a series of general reef photos, getting inspiration for the 300 i am planning, wanted to look at rock forms and coral growth in general... nothing really to explain

[Krux]

and finally a couple more sponges, these were mid depth, 50-60 feet



this was about 8 feet across... never seen a sponge so big, i wanted to get a few divers inside it for a photo, but i couldnt figure out the hand signals, and my buddy was german anyway, how do you translate hand signals?



and here is a nice yellow, and a piece of an orange sponge.



the dominant acro was white with white polyps, very cool up close, even cooler in thickets the size of half a basketball court

thanks for looking and for your patience, it takes a long time to scan all these and then filter through to find the decent stuff (i hate film!).

[Adam]

sweet pics, I need a housing for my camera

[drsyme]

Is that acro in the last pic bleached? Or is it supposed to be that white?

[yardboy]

Cool photos Krux, looks like you got lots of inspiration for your tank! Wouldn't a $1000 flash be nice?

[tims]

Wondeful Pics! thanks for sharing..i may never get down in the water so thank you!

[Krux]

that acro is actually that color, white onwhite, there were fields of it.

yeah next time i go i am taking a few grand in camera to get some better shots.... i have never shot at depth before, so the whole experience was new for me.