Banda Sea Pics

[Peter_C]

Thanks for sharing your photos! Makes me long for warm water.

 

[mintaka]

Thank you all for your comments-- It was such a great trip and the photographic opportunities far exceeded my abilities as a photographer, but did provide great practice. I have seen some images from the other photographers on our trip and they are really top notch.

The Ambon Frogfish ( Psychedellic frogfish in my pics) was a bit of a holy grail. On our boat was a very nice British couple that had been diving in Ambon prior to the trip and had taken some video of this "rare" frogfish. We dove in Ambon at the end of the trip and the plan was that if we found this fish each photographer would only get three shots and we better not kick up any sand ! Well, the fish was found and I was a little nervous about disturbing it, so I just quickly shot my three from pretty high up off the bottom. Unbeknown to me at the time, was that the frogfish was wrapped around some eggs that were clearly visible on its other side !! My friend got a phenomenal shot of egg side that is really incredible; frogfish with eggs containing little identifiable baby frogfish.

 

[xariatay]

Wow, mintaka! Can you please get your friend's to post the photo or post the link to his/her friend's photo of the Ambon frogfish with eggs?? Lucky people you...
Tony Wu went to Ambon in 2008 & videoed (or his friend videoed) a "jumping" Ambon frogfish, it was so cute!

 

[mintaka]

Wow, mintaka! Can you please get your friend's to post the photo or post the link to his/her friend's photo of the Ambon frogfish with eggs?? Lucky people you...
Tony Wu went to Ambon in 2008 & videoed (or his friend videoed) a "jumping" Ambon frogfish, it was so cute!

I'll talk to him this week and see if he'll do it. It's a great photo !

 

[grahamcasden]

The all-elusive psychedelic frogfish. Check out the eggs it's incubating. If you look closely, you can see tiny frogfish faces. These eggs hatched two days later!

 

[xariatay]

Thanks!!! The eggs look as strange as the mum... Do you have another photo - more close-up please?

 

[mintaka]

The all-elusive psychedelic frogfish. Check out the eggs it's incubating. If you look closely, you can see tiny frogfish faces. These eggs hatched two days later!

Thanks Graham, awesome picture !!

 

[Sully3]

AWESOME photos

matt

 

[treb]

Great shots Mintaka and Graham, thanks heaps for sharing. Reinforces why I choose to keep living in Indonesia. I am heading up there for 15 days live aboard in 2 weeks time, hope I am as lucky and get to see the Ambon frogfish. The trip starts in Ambon, down to Banda and back up to Misool and Raja Ampat, finish in Sorong. The Banda Sea is an awesome area.

Treb

 

[mintaka]

Thanks Treb-- Sounds like a great trip !