Off beaten track

Since I alluded to the feeding action on my last Photo of the Week post about the stoned octopus, I figured I would post an image of the action. The Wall, a dive site which was ridiculously convenient to get to from Vinnie�s dive center in the Andamans was full of life and amazing action. The top was home to shoals of bait fish and shoals of blue fin trevally would come charging in and in a flash hit the bait balls. The focus lag on the DX-2G makes action photography a bit of a challenge but I managed to get some shots off. More to follow at a later date!

It was a typically hot surface interval in mid April. The water had been a beautiful blue on the Degalmeda reef and we were getting rid of our excess nitrogen in preparation for heading back down in a bit. Nilanga and I were at the bow while Daniel and Nishan were at the stern having our respective conversations. Our fearless boatman, Nilanga It was during a lull in our conversation that I heard what sounded like a set of hydraulic brakes going off in the distance, Nilanga heard it too and we paused and looked northward from where the sound had come. There was nothing but the sunlight glinting off the waves as Colombo wavered in the heat haze. Shrugging our shoulders we returned to our conversation when the sound came again, this time loud enough to draw Nishan and Daniel�s attention as well. We stared northwards again shading our eyes against the harsh sun. The sound was repeated a third time and this time we saw the spout and gleaming black as the sperm whale spouted about 200 meters

A long, long overdue photo of the week. Octopi in Sri Lanka are generally quite skittish so I did a double take when I saw this octopus sitting serenely on a rock a few feet away from me at the Wall while diving in the Andamans. Getting closer to the fellow, I realized why it was so oblivious to me as I could see a cleaner wrasse diligently working it over. The octopus was so obviously enjoying himself that he didn't even budge the closer and closer I got. In the end I got bored first as with the feeding action on the other side of the rock, there was only so much time I was willing to devote to a tripped out octopus.

Big fish are rare nowadays. Even in the times of Arthur C. Clarke�s early ocean explorations, the big groupers were getting hit with unsporting (not to mention illegal) spear fishermen donning tanks and hunting these gentle giants out of existence. Every now and then I see a grouper that�s a couple of feet long and I get inordinately excited. It is sobering to think that 30-40 years ago these would not have been of much note. For a big fish to survive now, it has to be canny and clever. It is literally survival of the fittest to ensure it doesn�t end up with a spear from the likes of Kalu Mahathaya and Ikkiya amidships. There is such a fish on a wreck in Colombo and a sighting of it is a rare treasure. I have seen him a few times, most memorably on a night dive (more to come on that later) but the majority of the handful of sightings had been from a great distance and for a fleeting moment. The closest I got to him in 2011 was one day towards the latter of the season. It was one of my