klausi
Contributor
I had the opportunity to participate in the survey of reef fishes in Tubbataha on invitation of the Tubbataha Management Office. We were on the last trip of the season, in late June. There was some rain, but generally the diving conditions were excellent, even though this is considered late for Tubbataha.
We dived with Infiniti liveaboard, which is an excellent operation (and I don't dish out praise like that easily), impressing with smoothly organized and safety-conscious diving operations.
A few things really stood out on the reef: I had never seen oceanic triggerfish breed. They build nests by crushing a significant area, a few m2, of coral. Gladly they are not as aggressive as Titan triggerfish. Here is a video:
This second video shows an overview over many of the fishes we observed. There is a focus on smaller species. I found several gobies new to me. Also, we had the chance to dive in the lagoon of the north atoll (off-limits for tourists). The ecosystem there was very intact, with a healthy coral cover and interesting fishes (including Napoleon wrasses) but the viz was murky, as expected (also in the video).
I saw not a single sea urchin, likely due to competition with the many herbivorous fishes (surgeonfish).
Best Fishes,
Klaus
We dived with Infiniti liveaboard, which is an excellent operation (and I don't dish out praise like that easily), impressing with smoothly organized and safety-conscious diving operations.
A few things really stood out on the reef: I had never seen oceanic triggerfish breed. They build nests by crushing a significant area, a few m2, of coral. Gladly they are not as aggressive as Titan triggerfish. Here is a video:
This second video shows an overview over many of the fishes we observed. There is a focus on smaller species. I found several gobies new to me. Also, we had the chance to dive in the lagoon of the north atoll (off-limits for tourists). The ecosystem there was very intact, with a healthy coral cover and interesting fishes (including Napoleon wrasses) but the viz was murky, as expected (also in the video).
I saw not a single sea urchin, likely due to competition with the many herbivorous fishes (surgeonfish).
Best Fishes,
Klaus