Like A Moth To The Flame.

Hi Folks,

had a great dive the other night at my fave local spot and finally spotted a Seamoth after years of wanting to see one.

These beautiful fish are Syngnathids, that is relatives of Seahorses and Seadragons. They have a flat body and after a

pelagic larval and early juvenile stage settle down for a benthic life. This time of year they come in to the shallows to

spawn so I was hoping for a sighting and asked my buddies to alert me if they spotted one. As luck would have it my

buddy Lincoln found a mature male and managed to catch my attention It was a busy little fish always on the move

flitting here and there catching tiny Mysid Shrimps attracted by my lights so getting good shots was very challenging

but I'm glad to say I managed a couple of decent images.

Sculptured Seamoth, Pegasus lancifer, male.

And a rear view showing the coloured markings on the pectoral fins that the male uses to dislay to the female during courting.

The Seamoths weren't the only Syngnathids about, this site is

full of the lovely Short-head Seahorse, Hippocampus breviceps.

Scored a couple of nice shots of the ever cute

Dumpling Squids, Euprymna tasmanica.

So glad to be able to share these finds and hope you've enjoyed them.

Cheers,

Jim

Congrats on the seamoth Jim! The squid are great shots. Hope you bought Lincoln a beverage.

Have fun,

Steve

All very lovely pics. Thanks for sharing.

The more I view this site and the pics, the more I wonder why I live so far from the ocean and diving.

My creditors would likely be glad to remind me, if I forgot for too long.

Hi James,

"So glad to be able to share these finds and hope you've enjoyed them.

Cheers,

Jim"...,

I absolutely love your pics from down on the Mornington side of the Bay. It is amazing that we don't get to see these little critters over on the Bellarine side.

If I hadn't seen your pics, I wouldn't have known that we had Seamoths down here. . . . amazing !!!

When I look at your images, I am always drawn to your lighting, it is certainly a great effort with the single strobe. It makes me feel like ditching one of mine. . . . .hehehe

Looking closely at your images, I am assuming that your favorite 'night-dive' is Rye Pier? Certainly looks like Rye's vegetation.

Congratulations on a great effort, a truly great find !! I still can't believe that we have Seamoths....way cool, woohoo.

Bruce...

WOW!!!!

you finally found it. Jim has been talking about finding one of these for probably a year now!

congrats dude, the patience payed off

super good shots as well

I really like the first dumpling squid action shot

congrats again

Cal - who is itching for a dive

Greta shots, thanks for sharing

Thanks for the comments everyone it's great to be able to share such a find as this, especially with like minded folks as you.

Bruce thanks for your feedback about my lighting. I spent my first year banging away on auto and concentrating on framing

and lighting, over the past 6+ months I've concentrated on learning to adjust exposure manually and feel now I'm really getting

close to the best results I can with what I have. It's good but the consequence is I'm more aware of the limitations of my rig.

Starting to very seriously eye off the current crop of DSLRs.

Cheers,

Jim

PS- Bruce these were taken a little further West at Blairgowrie although Seamoths are found at Rye too.

Thanks for the comments everyone it's great to be able to share such a find as this, especially with like minded folks as you.

 

Bruce thanks for your feedback about my lighting. I spent my first year banging away on auto and concentrating on framing

and lighting, over the past 6+ months I've concentrated on learning to adjust exposure manually and feel now I'm really getting

close to the best results I can with what I have. It's good but the consequence is I'm more aware of the limitations of my rig.

Starting to very seriously eye off the current crop of DSLRs.

 

Cheers,

Jim

 

 

PS- Bruce these were taken a little further West at Blairgowrie although Seamoths are found at Rye too.

Hey James,

I switched to DSLR about four years ago and I'm still nowhere near where I would like to be with results!

I often think about going back to a P&S and a Gallery the quality of yours makes my decision a lot harder.

I am actually waiting to see what the next Canon 'G' series release is like; that might tempt me... hehehe.

IMHO, u/w photography becomes too 'serious' with a DSLR and a lot of the pleasure is taken out of the dive.

I find that I somehow have to justify the existence of all my equipment with outstanding results. . . . you become more 'driven' towards the end result.

I dunno mate . . . . . just the ramblings of an individual entering the twilight zone of the 50's...

BTW, I love Blaigowrie but haven't got anyone over that side to swim with anymore.

I had many fantastic dives under the pier when 'NUDIDIVER' was fit and healthy.

Bruce...

Awesome work Jim - I never even knew about the Seamoths!

The sea is full of hidden miracles Jim- and its nice to know that such miracles are there in your own backyard....and even nicer to bring back a pic to proove that they are in your own backyard.......................thanks for sharing!