Connect with us
background

Marine Life & Conservation

Pipefish amaze in Mauritius

Published

on

Mauritius continues to reveal new and exciting macro marine life.

I have looked through all my fish books and three of these four pipefish species are not described. It’s all the doing of Thomas Vignaud, who sees things that ordinary mortals completely ignore. We have the most amazing pipefish here.

I spotted a pale banded pipefish, heavily pregnant with two others interacting and perhaps fighting over the food supply, and I filmed them. The video below shows something that almost looks like a pipefish baby shower.

Hiding in caves were the flagtail pipefish, ferocious predators and hunters, nailing every little benthic invertebrate microbe in sight while his mate hid behind him egging him on to greater daring. And his landlord, a golden Moray, watched in awe.

Beautiful but elusive are the blue streaked and gold streaked flag tailed pipefish that we find hiding out in the sea urchin spikes. Superbly posed for photographs, you really need to really know your manual focus to catch a shot of these guys as the urchin spikes and can create huge difficulties with focus.

And most romantic of all, the only familiar species, hanging head down and swaying like seaweed the pairs of ghost pipefish, dancing romantically in the current while they wait for their food to arrive. Macro Magic.


Jill Holloway lives in Mauritius and at Sodwana Bay Isimangaliso Wetland Park in South Africa. A PADI qualified Nitrox diver with over 1,500 dives, she is a passionate observer and preserver of the marine environment, and has a database of over 35,000 fish pics and hundreds of Gopro videos on fish behaviour, which she shares with her readers.

Marine Life & Conservation

Go Diving Show 2025 UK Stage Speaker: Lloyd Rees-Jones

Published

on

Go Diving Show 2025

Sharks dwell off the UK coastline, but did you know there is one that glows in the dark? Join Lloyd Rees-Jones at this year’s GO Diving Show in March when he takes to the UK Stage to showcase a very different side of our marine life when viewed in a different light (no pun intended!).

Lloyd Rees-Jones is a HSE Part 4 Media Diver, PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, underwater videographer and seasoned volunteer with Neptunes Army of Rubbish Cleaners (NARC). For almost 20 years he has been completely captivated by three shore diving locations in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, and every year he discovers something new that fills him with excitement for the season ahead and keeps him going back year after year.

Ultraviolet night diving in Pembrokeshire

Lloyd’s talk on the UK Stage will be about marine fluorescence and the nocturnal activities of our favourite coastal species, and will give a glimpse on how ultraviolet night diving has the potential to rekindle our passion for night diving – and also the hidden benefits it can bring to our UK diving adventures.

Go Diving Show 2025 takes place at the NAEC Stoneleigh Park, Coventry, on the 1st -2nd March.

BUY GO DIVING SHOW TICKETS HERE

www.godivingshow.com

Continue Reading

Marine Life & Conservation

Go Diving Show 2025 UK Stage Speaker: Roisin Maddison

Published

on

go diving show

Underwater photogapher and avid UK diver Roisin Maddison will be taking to the UK Stage at the GO Diving Show in March to discuss why she loves diving off our coastline.

Roisin will be talking about her passion for our native species, UK diving and why it isn’t just deep, dark and cold.

Go Diving Show 2025 takes place at the NAEC Stoneleigh Park, Coventry, on the 1st -2nd March.

BUY GO DIVING SHOW TICKETS HERE

www.godivingshow.com

Continue Reading

E-Newsletter Sign up!

Instagram Feed

Shortcode field is empty!Shortcode field is empty!

Popular