Solomon Islands

A collection of 25 posts

Solomon Islands

Feeding Time

Time to post an underwater image! To be honest, I am not sure how exactly I feel about shark feeds. In general, shark feeding can change shark behaviour—making them reliant on being fed at a certain time and certain place, and perhaps on food stuff they wouldn’t normally

UW Photography

Dekudekuru Split

Dekudekuru is a reef close to Uepi Island Resort in the Solomon Islands. It is an ideal place for both over and under shots and images made from underwater shooting the nearby jungle canopy. This is due to the protected shallow waters of the reef inside a reef, and the

Solomon Islands

Red On Blue

One of the beautiful flowers growing around the gardens of Uepi Island Resort, located in the remote and spectacular Marovo Lagoon in the Solomon Islands. I loved the colours of the flowering bushes, with the saturated reds and greens, and the blue sky really enhanced the overall scene. Just a

Travel

Chromodoris lochi and Passenger

This image was made at North Log, one of the brilliant dive sites near Uepi in the Solomon Islands. The nudibranch is Chromodoris lochi, a reasonably common nudibranch in tropical Indo Pacific waters. I liked the side on profile of this individual, and the blurred background really sharpens the nudibranch.

Solomon Islands

The Seghe P38 and Dive Boat Silhouette

Just off the end of the runway of the Seghe airstrip in Marovo Lagoon (near Uepi) there is a P38 lying in about 10m of water. Following a day trip to dive Penguin Reef and the Babata Sinkhole, we made a short stop at Seghe to dive the wreck. Although

Solomon Islands

The Elbow of the Wall

The wall dropoff at Elbow Point (near Uepi in the Solomon Islands) is a magical spot with rich coral growth, anemones, colourful fish and clear blue water. Pelagics are often seen here, but what captured my attention was the colours contrasting with the blue water

Solomon Islands

Who Me?

This little fish was found at the Uepi dive site called North Log. He doesn’t seem to pleased to see me! I like the left to right composition of this image, as well as the colours and the use of the rule of thirds. PS. Sorry about the interruptions

Solomon Islands

Forlorn Crocodile Fish

I stumbled across this rather forlorn looking crocodile fish at a divesite called Binusa, near Uepi in the Solomon Islands. With my 60mm macro setup, I used the opportunity to focus in on the fish’s eyes and mouth, composing left-to-right, and using a diagonal composition.

UW Photography

Kurukuru Wall at Uepi

Kurukuru is one of the amazing wall dives at Uepi. With the wall dropping from the surface to over 2000m, it is covered in fantastic corals, such as the picturesque sea whips. The blue waters are generally very, very clear, and as can be seen, are full of small anf

Solomon Islands

Uepi Shark Feed

Shark Feeds, like this one at Uepi in the Solomon Islands, are an interesting affair. In the blue waters of the channel leading from the ocean into Marovo Lagoon, the Uepi people conduct occasional feeds. This is an efficient way to get rid of some waste, as well as an

Solomon Islands

Moorish Idol on the Bottom Of The Channel

I’ve always loved these beautiful fish that are generally seen in pairs on tropical reefs, and occasionally in warmer months on temperate reefs around Sydney. They are a graceful fish that are a little timid. Made at the divesite called BOTCH (Bottom Of The CHannel) at Uepi in September

Solomon Islands

Ornate Ghost Pipefish at Uepi

After my first visit to Uepi back in 1997, I always throught of it as a destination for big stuff – mantas, sharks, walls, gorgonians, and so forth. But on our return in 2009, I was blown away by the quantity and variety of small life. We’d heard rumours of

UW Photography

Diver and Sea Fan

As with most of the dive sites at Uepi in the Solomon Islands, Kurukuru features wall diving. The walls here start at the surface, and drop down to 2000m and deeper. Coral growth along the walls is spectacular, with gorgonian fans all around. The saturated reds of this fan complemented

Solomon Islands

Regal Angelfish

The Regal Angelfish, this one found at the Uepi dive site called BOTCH (Bottom Of The CHannel) is a fish I’ve been wanting to get a decent photo of for a long time. It has beautiful colouring, and is not uncommon on coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific, but is

UW Photography

Chromodoris lochi on the Move

This small nudibranch (Chromodoris lochi) was found crawling along the finger of a sponge on a dive trip to Tawali in PNG. Nudibranchs are perhaps the most photographed creature in the sea, due to the fact that stay still for photographers, and that they can be very attractive subjects. The

UW Photography

Diver & Elephant Ear Coral

At Tawali in PNG’s Milne Bay Province, some of the dive sites featured some huge coral. These elephant ear corals were so huge that I wanted to put a diver in the picture just to give a sense of scale. Of course the wide angle lens I was using

Solomon Islands

The Eyes Have It

The variety of Macro Life around Billy Ghizo Point, near Uepi, is amazing. On this dive site we found a variety of nudibranchs, pygmy seahorses, clingfish, and tiny, translucent shrimp like this. I love the way the eyes are looking right at the camera!

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Billy Ghizo's Gorgonian Gardens

Brilliant growth of gorgonian fans and other soft and hard coral at Billy Ghizo Point, near Uepi. I love the gorgonian growth at Uepi – its simply the best I’ve seen anywhere. In fact, to date, I’d say Uepi represents the best all round coral reef diving I’ve

Solomon Islands

Swooping Manta Rays

Manta-sizing in Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands. An early morning boat from Uepi takes you into Marovo Lagoon where Manta Rays, true gentle giants, feed and frollick in the mornings. On snorkel, you quietly enter the water when the boat driver advises and wait patiently for the mantas. To get photos

UW Photography

Nudi Feasting

Today’s photo of the day was made at Billy Ghizo Point, near Uepi Island in September 2009. This image features the gorgeous little nudibranch, Hypselodoris bullocki, with its soft body, vivid rhinopores and gills, eating something. The mouth is clearly extended. In underwater photography, our biggest challenge is that

Solomon Islands

Calm Beside the Storm

Today’s photo the day is another image I made during our holiday to Uepi Island Resort in September 2009. From time to time they have a shark feed hear, at the “Welcome Jetty”. As someone who believes in protecting sharks, and also creating an appropriate understanding of them and

Solomon Islands

Mite on Nudi Action

Today’s image was also made at Uepi in September 2009, and features a nudibranch (Phyllidia varicosa) that is quite common in tropical Pacific waters. It was captured at a dive site called BOTCH (Bottom Of The CHannel), which lies in the channel between Uepi Island and the adjacent island.

Solomon Islands

Vertical Wreck

My photo of the day today is a picture of the Taiyo wreck in Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands. A Taiwanese fishing vessel on its maiden voyage ran aground on the adjacent reef. The sheer wall of the reef drops down to several thousand metres! During the salvage, the vessel slipped

UW Photography

Gorgonians at Uepi Point

This image was made at a magical dive site called Uepi Point. Literally 2 minutes from the pier at Uepi Island, this site is at a point where a channel between Uepi and the adjacent island meets “The Slot” – a 3000m drop off into the open ocean. At this site

Travel

Uepi Island Palms

Starting today, my goal is to publish 1 new photo per day to my Flickr photostream and to this blog. This image was made at Uepi Island Resort in September 2009 during a wonderful week of diving and relaxing we had there. Its the first HDR image I’ve published,