wild SPS corals, Marshall Islands

[slapshot]

Nice, in the last video, how deep we're you when you ran into the lobos? How was the current? Thanks!!

[r-balljunkie]

Originally Posted by spawn2

Kick A** thread man & job location. My wife & I plan on falling off in about 2 years from now. Can't wait..... & no unfortunately no video.

its been refreshing to tune out a bit from normal society. i dont think my weekend expectations will ever be the same, especially after having diving access right at my backdoor year around

Originally Posted by Turbo snail

I need to stop reading these dive threads, I always go to bed feeling jealous haha. Wonderful pictures and great tank!!

thanks...i think. glad you enjoy the pics

Originally Posted by ziyaadb

seeing as i have a 384k line here i aint gona bother trying to view the vids today.
Weather here in Joberg is Awesome chuck, well today is terrible i hate the overcast dull weather but we in the heart of summer so great days ahead, will enjoy the videos when i have access to a faster line

ish, 384K.........try 8k down, 5k up. were supposed to be getting high speed here soon. ironic, you can go over to the neighboring island of Ebeye, they have high speed...go over to pohnpei, they have high speed, but not here.

Originally Posted by slapshot

Nice, in the last video, how deep we're you when you ran into the lobos? How was the current? Thanks!!

that was a wreck dive, the Prinz Eugen, hence the funky angle going down the side of the ship, as its laying on its side. thats was probably at 60'. lobo's are quite common out here, tons of stunning variation in coloring, mountains of reef formed on lobo's, some 50' tall. currents are easy on the lagoon side, they'll shoot you along pretty good on the ocean side closer to the tide changes. you generally feel safe with the currents. if it gets too bad, go lower and it will stop.





Here's some pics from 4 different wrecks from yesterday/day before. most of the pictures are from edges of recreational limits, 130' or so. the wildlife covering the wrecks is amazing to me.

Enjoy.

[r-balljunkie]

[r-balljunkie]

[Gangous]

Sooo cool thanks so much keep em comming

[markie mark]

Well bro,I cant see these videos and being one of your biggest followers i'm deeply saddened...Just keep the pics coming please,please.please....

[jbonez]

man i would have loaded up lol great pics...

[ziyaadb]

aaarrgggg videos not there, anyhoo keep the pics up

[OkStudent]

This is sooooo cool! Please keep the pics coming or even the descrips! You r 1 luckky fella!

[boo-v]

I just want you to know that I am extremly jealous while overly joyed of your chance to live in such a beautiful place, I have now started my plan to "convince" my wife to move out of the country after I retire, (starts evil laugh)...........

[Allmost]

amazing pics, nice grow out tank u have there

thanks agian for sharing

[allsps40]

Originally Posted by r-balljunkie

another shot of the starfish.

That is a Crown of Thorns, a coral eater. These things have almost completely destroyed the Great Barrier Reef. If it was me I would remove all that I find and leave on the beach to die. There are measures being taken to control and remove these from the reefs due to a large population increase.

[vwwanksta69]

Originally Posted by allsps40

That is a Crown of Thorns, a coral eater. These things have almost completely destroyed the Great Barrier Reef. If it was me I would remove all that I find and leave on the beach to die. There are measures being taken to control and remove these from the reefs due to a large population increase.

Ya I would def. try to remove them.

[supervdl]

Originally Posted by allsps40

That is a Crown of Thorns, a coral eater. These things have almost completely destroyed the Great Barrier Reef. If it was me I would remove all that I find and leave on the beach to die. There are measures being taken to control and remove these from the reefs due to a large population increase.

Any idea why the population is growing so much? Any natural predators?

Great tank and nice pics!!!

[Allmost]

info on crown of thorns, lets see if it works

Crown of thorns

[r-balljunkie]

Originally Posted by Gangous

Sooo cool thanks so much keep em comming

Sure, will have a nice update in a week or so

Originally Posted by markie mark

Well bro,I cant see these videos and being one of your biggest followers i'm deeply saddened...Just keep the pics coming please,please.please....

Originally Posted by ziyaadb

aaarrgggg videos not there, anyhoo keep the pics up

These are crappy photobucket videos. I think they will play. Hoover over the picture, and see if it lets you click on one of them. Youtube is blocked at work, and we STILL don’t have high speed option at home.

Originally Posted by jbonez

man i would have loaded up lol great pics...

JB, you learn not to be the fat kid in the candy store, and the novelty wears off. My aquarium is only half stocked at this point.

Originally Posted by OkStudent

This is sooooo cool! Please keep the pics coming or even the descrips! You r 1 luckky fella!

Ive been called lucky my whole life…..am i?

Originally Posted by boo-v

I just want you to know that I am extremly jealous while overly joyed of your chance to live in such a beautiful place, I have now started my plan to "convince" my wife to move out of the country after I retire, (starts evil laugh)...........

Why wait till you retire? This place is like a retirement home, geriatrics with sail boats and jobs

No disrespect to my 55+ audience, just the truth out here. We just had a ‘retread’ (someone who has been out here before) come back in my group. He is 73 friggin years old. He is drawing SS, two pensions and working.

Originally Posted by Allmost

amazing pics, nice grow out tank u have there
thanks agian for sharing

Yes, bountiful frag tank

Originally Posted by allsps40

That is a Crown of Thorns, a coral eater. These things have almost completely destroyed the Great Barrier Reef. If it was me I would remove all that I find and leave on the beach to die. There are measures being taken to control and remove these from the reefs due to a large population increase.

Originally Posted by vwwanksta69

Ya I would def. try to remove them.

Originally Posted by supervdl

Any idea why the population is growing so much? Any natural predators?

Great tank and nice pics!!!

Thanks, more to come later

Originally Posted by Allmost

info on crown of thorns, lets see if it works

Crown of thorns

All crown of thorn comments…we really don’t see them often. When we do see them, we will flip them over and stack rocks on top of them, let the fishes have at. When your down at 75’, geared up with collecting nets or photo gear, last thing on your mind is dragging a crown of thorns around with you…especially if your only 10 minutes into your dive. I have only seen 2-3 of them here. The photo shown has em deep in crevice on the reef, and I have a rule about sticking my hands into places I cannot see even though their reputation precedes them, they are strikingly beautiful creatures.

The reef is very balanced out here, with the exception of sharks. You will still see sharks, but from what im told, not in the same numbers especially on the lagoon side.
With that said, I won’t take out a parrot fish, even though I see a couple dozen of em chomping down on SPS like lawnmowers in july, same with angels or any other polyp eating fish…..they are integral to the reef like any other creature here. All the natural predators of the crown of thorns are thriving here, so the checks and balance is in place.


Hope to have some new photos soon. I’ve been honing my fish catching skills, slacking on the photog whereas you can’t do both. I caught 5 last week on one dive, which is a personal best for myself.

Only kept two of them, others were coral nipping smaller angels…..long nose butterfly and a gorgeous ornamental wrasse with ‘gold’ markings…..I’m still researching what type it is.

happy reefing!

[ziyaadb]

Originally Posted by r-balljunkie

All crown of thorn comments…we really don’t see them often.
All the natural predators of the crown of thorns are thriving here, so the checks and balance is in place.

Thank you!
I was gona say exactly that, the crown of thorns also has his place in the chain when everything is in order there are no issues its only when we as humans mess about that issues occur, i would not even suggest that you mess with the few that are there as they are there for a reason.

[MNfish84]

So Awesome. I wish I had the ocean in my backyard. I need a vacation.

[allsps40]

Originally Posted by supervdl

Any idea why the population is growing so much? Any natural predators?

Great tank and nice pics!!!

It is human caused. All the run off from fields using fertilizer ends up in the ocean causing increased plankton blooms from the increase in phosphates in the water. The Crown of Thorns in larval state feeds on plankton. With increased food sources the population was able to increase due to more larva surviving to adult size. With the added pressure of warming ocean temps causing mass bleaching on reefs and the Crown of Thorns reefs world wide are in real danger. I worry that one day the only reef building corals left will be the ones we keep in our reef tanks. There is hope though with reserves being set aside to protect reefs, changing laws and regulations on what farmers can use to fertilize their fields, to reef rebuilding projects that are growing coral frags into mini colonies to be placed back on the reef.

[allsps40]

That is very good to here that there is a proper balance for the reef predators. From what I see in your pics I see a healthy reef complete with corals, fish and top predators.

[r-balljunkie]

Originally Posted by allsps40

That is very good to here that there is a proper balance for the reef predators. From what I see in your pics I see a healthy reef complete with corals, fish and top predators.

Yes,

No shortage on top predators.....having a school of barracudas swim thru you out in the open ocean can have a 'come to Jesus’ moment when you see the toothy smiles they all possess. I got caught up in a shark feeding frenzy last month….on snorkel gear.....let me tell you....you'll be a quick study in the art of swimming backwards while training your eyes on the all of the darting going on.

If you see something big that can eat you on the reef, you can always hug the bottom and keep an eye out. On snorkel, you’re kinda stuck bobbing in the water.

C

[supervdl]

It a lot of places the natural balance is no longer there due to overfishing of large predators or the environmental impact of agriculture and population growth. Glad to see that you have a healthy reef right in front of your door.

[Bongo Shrimp]

This is so cool! Thanks for posting all the pics!

[r-balljunkie]

its been awhile since i have updated this thread. it didnt help out when i dropped my camera at my kids birthday party, the lense wouldnt retract. its on its way back from olympus (awesome service), so i should be back in business.

my fish collecting skills have greatly improved. i caught a long nose butterfly, as well as some nifty new wrasses. A couple of new corals as well.

the tank is hitting on all cylinders, starting to get great growth, and the corals are starting to attach themselves to the rockwork.

its not all about my reefing obsessions living here. i thought i would break the monotony of blued out pics. here's some land shots.

enjoy the long weekend. i have two dives scheduled, should be a fun one.

[r-balljunkie]