Off beaten track

When a person sits down to a fish curry or a portion of fish and chips, they rarely think of where that fish comes from. We rarely realize that when we consume fish, we are eating the last truly wild caught meat on the planet, our ancient role as hunters reprised in the role of modern day fishermen. Of course the new age fishermen are a far cry from what they were centuries or even decades ago. With engines, mechanization, longlines that stretch for kilometers with thousands of hooks and nets that could engulf the Empire State Building, the fisheries industry has become almost unrecognizable as has sadly our oceans, rapidly depleted and overfished what we see in our seas now appears to be but a sad remnant of the abundance that was there decades ago. Our surface interval chats with Uncle Sumathi used to really bring this home, 56 years old, he had seen foreign trawlers come and rape the seas off Colombo, taking so much fish that the numbers have never recovered. Apparently the local f...

One of my favourite spectacles underwater are the �bait balls,� conglomerations of small fish grouping together, tightly packed for protection from predators. These are especially common on the Cargo Wreck where thousands of fusiliers (Caesionidae) can be seen often in amorphous fluidity. Not exactly a bait ball, but a shoal of fusiliers heading past. Close up they are quite a beautiful fish They are especially prolific when there�s a bit of a current and some plankton in the water and while fascinating to watch by themselves, the action really starts when a few Bonito show up. These medium size tuna hunt in small packs of five to eight fish and are capable of simply jaw-dropping bursts of speed. There is nothing that can compare to the adrenaline rush you get watching these in action. I�d only seen these fish dead on a block of ice at a supermarket before I started diving so the speed and agility which these fish displayed was mind-blowing (I�m of course rapidly running out of super...

Most definitely the clowns of the underwater world. Wikipedia rather boringly describes them as 'strictly tropical, perciform marine fish of the family Cirrhitidae.' Well yes that does explain their taxonomy but rest assured Hawkfish are fish with attitude. Who are you looking at? Hawkfish don't back down easily   There is one species that we come across (I think, as I am no expert in identifying fish) on our dives off Colombo and that is the Pixy Hawfish (Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus). This also appears to come in two flavours, the usual spotted kind and a more solid colour morph which is sort of orange with faint spots to be seen sometimes. You will often see them perched amongst corals or a parts of a ship, looking out like a lord looking over its domain. Apparently this habit of superciliously peering around is what inspired their common name, 'hawkfish.' The spotted version of the Pixy Hawkfish doing what it does best, hawking I used to see these fish quite freq...

It is a bit shocking to me that I've let this slide so much. My sidebar indicates that for the whole of 2011 I've had one post. I guess in the end that is an indication of how busy a year it has been, personal stuff and a new job with the usual steep learning curve on top of a crazy dive schedule has meant zero updates. Well here's a commitment to blogging a bit more. The flavour of things are probably going to change a bit as well, especially since I now have underwater photography gear and I avoid Yala because of the overcrowding. So in short order expect: 1) Some wildlife snippets from yonks ago 2) Shorter dive posts with more images 3) More commentary and links on going on's in the conservation/environmental field in Sri Lanka (I will try to avoid ranting) 4) Possibly some information with pictures of the denizens of the deep. Sadly I'm one of the few people in the world obsessed with nudibranchs so expect geeky posts on that. Stay posted. ..

It was an unlikely place to be, the little shanty in Dehiwala by the sea, bidding goodbye to a most unlikely friend. Lights flickering and a baby kitten mewling as we sat quietly in a group with a shared sense of loss. He was almost unrecognizable out of his constant, characteristic red t-shirt. I�m going to miss the early morning rides out, the old man�s shrewd eyes slightly milky with age but with a sharp tongue. His ribbing about my weight was an integral part of our dives as were the stilted chats during the surface interval, the old days of fishing and the scarcity of modern times, a grassroots view of the current dire straits the country�s marine resources are in. One of my favourite memories was the mischievous glint in his eyes  when he happily informed Asha and me that while we were obliviously coming up from a dive, our bubbles had tickled a Whale Shark over our heads. I think Ajja put it best. ?"Up the road, in his shack, the old man was sleeping again. He was still sle...

Have you noticed the litter around our beautiful homeland while you travel here? The plastic bags flapping on trees and floating in the wevas? Come join us at Clean Up Sri Lanka and help us spread the word on how to stop this: NO to Litter NO to Plastic Bags (Please use Reusable bags) NO to Plastic water bottles Clean up a mess if you see one! Clean Up Sri Lanka Promote Your Page Too Our Kick off event is at Independence Square on Saturday 25th from 8.30am to 6.30pm. Come down and see how you can help keep our country beautiful.

Did you do it! Everybody who has spent time in the rural parts of Sri Lanka is accustomed to the Red-Wattled Lapwing�s accusatory call which you can hear at all times of the day and even night. Of course the rather bewildered juvenile Brahminy Kite still looked a bit taken aback as the screaming Lapwing couple thundered in as he sat somnambulant on a branch by the tank we had parked at. We hadn�t seen any of the drama that had unfolded before. Perhaps the innocent look the Kite had on was a ruse and he had been busted trying to raid the Lapwing�s nest a few moments ago. But the Lapwings certainly were giving it to the Kite, dive-bombing him fearlessly. The Kite responded with his best Kung Fu moves before eventually deciding discretion was the better part of valour and departing post haste.