Off beaten track

I could almost feel the fish�s pain as it flailed along sideways, jerking spasmodically above the Medhafaru�s deck. The fusilier had perhaps been the victim of a tuna or seerfish strike into a shoal and mortally injured but still alive had drifted down to the ship.   To add insult to injury the poor fish was being pursued mercilessly by two well meaning cleaner wrasses. It is a common site to see the fusiliers taking turns at a cleaning station to get picked clean by these helpful fish but in this case the �client� seemed less than happy, swimming away in stuttering, sideways spurts to try and evade the cleaner wrasses to no avail. Underwater life is tough indeed.

To be fair it is not only natural landscapes that are breathtaking as there are a number of man made vistas that to the beholder are quite beautiful. What you don't see however is the urban blight, the concrete, the emissions and the gridlock that makes some cities, in this case Los Angeles a nightmare to live in and for the environment . So here's your ambiguous photo of the week, taken a couple of years ago from the Griffith Park Observatory.  

I rarely enter photo competitions (i.e. I'm quite lazy) but this one I did and it was quite gratifying to get published and win the 'Best Shot' competition over at Popular Photography with my Baitball on the Cargo image!

A visit to the Negombo fish market is eye opening, if somewhat of an assault on the olfactory senses. For those who want a taste (figuratively speaking of course) of where their seafood comes from, a walk through the market is a must. It is not a pretty sight, especially for those who like rays and sharks (more to come of those) and the glassy eyed fish staring at you is quite eerie. It is hard to pass judgement on the people making a living off this, but it certainly is a good introduction to one sector that is impacting the ocean environment immensely.

At night the Cargo wreck glows. What looks like slightly boring, if colourful, stubs of coral during the daytime come alive at night. Known as Tubastrea coral, these are non-reef building coral which do not host photosynthetic algae within them like the coral we are most familiar with. These are usually found in deeper waters and in areas where they are exposed to currents. The polyps extend tentacles into the water during the night and feed. The effect is quite startling with entire sections of the wreck appearing to wave to and fro, shimmering in the torchlight as the corals feed. It is an unforgettable experience night diving with these corals.

It could mean the difference between life and death. No, I�m not talking about the breakfast accessory but what we divers call a Safety Sausage or more technically a Surface Marker Buoy ( SMB ).  Basically a brightly coloured, balloon made of a thick canvas to withstand some punishment which is clipped to your BCD or in a BCD pocket. This is an essential piece of gear, no matter where you dive and should be something you have even for resort diving. The ocean is a fickle mistress and unpredictability is something we come to accept as part and parcel of being so intimate with the sea. What you can see above water is only half the picture with currents being unknowns in diving. Currents can pick up during a dive or switch direction even in locations where there are generally well known prevailing currents. If you are not careful with navigation and air management you might not have enough to get back to a line, assuming there is one. On drift dives you could get separated from the main g