Hard shots – the many many misses

I love butterflyfishes but I find them very hard to photograph. They are very shy indeed!

Butterflyfish has disc-like body. So if you are facing them from the front or from tail, then you will only see one very thin line HAHAHAHA very effective survival strategy!!

That’s how most of my photos are….. loads of misses. Here are some fail to pass shots that I took.

Ya the last photo there is not a butterflyfish... moorish idol. But they have same thin body bah.

The trick is to follow the fish slowly and get the rhythm of its movement. Do not make sudden movement as it will spook the poor fellow. Start clicking (furiously) when it is starting to move with its side facing you. Pray that your shot is focused :) well that’s it… simple huh!

Still not good enough... sigh.

Snorkel Sapi Island – Much better than Manukan

View of Pulau Gaya from Pulau Sapi. Sal's photo.

I thought the reef in Sapi is going to disappoint me because a long long time ago (more than 10 yrs) I thought that the reef in Manukan was so much better (it was my fave island). And when I discovered that Manukan reef is not as good as I remembered it to be, I figured Sapi will be much worse.

I put on my snorkeling gear and head out to sea. The first thing that came to my mind was “Damn, the water is so murky I can’t see more than 1m ahead of me.” Well of course its murky la, I was still in shallow water and wave action is stirring up the sand. A few fin kicks later, the water was clearer and I could see a lot of algae growing on dead corals. Hmm….

Razorfish spotted by Lan. Sal's photo

Then all of a sudden Lan and I was attacked by a school of piranha!! Yes yes they are freshwater fish but i swear these guys are just as bad. Seargentfish (mostly) and other herbivorous reef fishes attacked us. This is the effect of fish feeding. This is why Sabah Parks should stop this activity. Anyway,......

The piranha!! See how vicious they are??? Sal's photo

A few more kicks, and the bottom went down to a sudden steep slope and revealed to me an underwater paradise. Wow! This is what I have been looking for. The treasure he he he. The reef was smallish but it was covered with a variety of colorful corals. Some soft, some hard. I also saw some artificial reefs! (Sabah Parks effort to rehabilitate the reef… kudos guys :)

The artificial reef .... the piranhas were still swarming me. Sal's photo

The busy cleaners. Sal's photo

Lots of cool fishes living here and I love observing the fish cleaning stations. Those cleaner wrasse are cute when they are busy cleaning. I usually wonder if they have conversation with their customers much like a hair dresser talking to a client.

Moorish Idol. Sal's photo

Lan being the expert in discovering marine creatures in hiding, pointed out to me a boxfish :) Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to take a good photo of it. Only got the tail….. This time I saw more butterflyfishes. The common 8 banded butterflyfish were abundant and there were 3 other different species as well.

Boxfish's tail.... at least you can see from here why its called boxfish :) Sal's photo

The humbugs hiding in coral branches. Sal's photo

I was disappointed when I had to go back to shore…. 1 hour exploring this reef was not enough!!

On the down side, I think there were lots of debris floating around the water. I think there is some improvement that Sabah Parks can do to better manage our marine resources for our future.

Sal’s tip: We all should also play our part in this effort. Use less plastic and throw trash in proper bin. Remember, do not step on corals.

There is a part of the island that is all sandy bottom. Perfect for beginners learning to swim or snorkel. No corals to step on here… just watch out for stingrays hiding in the sand ;)

Overall, I give Sapi Island 2 thumbs up!!

Play Music Underwater

Want to listen to music while swimming or doing water sports?

Speedo mp3 in cool colors

The new NU Dolphin MP3 player is tailored for swimmers and water sports enthusiasts as it can be operated under water. This underwater device is waterproof on every part of its unit, from the headphones to the device itself. The device has a minimalist design – cylindrical in shape with all the buttons and the headphone jack located on the sides. The headphone jack comes with a special screw-in system that prevents water from seeping into the player. The headphones itself is also wrapped with a special non-woven fabric membrane to keep the speaker vibration plate dry. The capacity of the device can up to 2GB and its operating time is approximately eight hours on a single charge.

Playing musical instrument underwater is another matter. Here's a unique music show after the annual Underwater Music Festival in Florida... Chinese pop singer Huang Zheng (center) wearing a water-proof helmet with acoustic links leads other divers during an underwater music show in Dalian Sun Asia Ocean World in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province, July 14, 2007. Huang is also a qualified underwater instructor.