^^The incredibly gorgeous Flabellina nudibranch
This is what diver dreams are made of: Ten days diving the Andaman Sea off the coast of Thailand, aboard the beautiful Phinisi.
If you’ve spent more than five minutes with me, you are aware of my nudibranch fixation – I don’t even have to be underwater to bore other people with this topic. And, holy naked gills, did Thailand deliver. So. Many. Nudibranchs.
I’ve been trying to capture their personalities, and for this reason I love the following shot – a Goniobranchus fidelis – poised as if testing the currents.
But my true underwater love is very, very small things. Like, what is a superlative for tiny things? A diminulative?
At any rate, Thailand was full of tiny delights, such as the below species, a Costasiella, which clocks in at less than 1/8″ long. In fact, I did not know what it was when the guide pointed it out. Even under my magnifying glass, I could only make out a miniscule blob, so I did what I do: took a few shots and then looked later, on the laptop. My exact words at that point – “Fuckin A, it’s Shaun the Sheep!”
Shaun has been a bucket list item of mine for years. I’d have taken better care had I known what it was. And probably more shots. Isn’t that face adorable?
The next cool fella is another member of the diminutive nudi club, a Samla bicolor, about 1/8″ long. The yellow bands on its cerrata were invisible to me until I had the shot up on my laptop. What a beauty!
And, finally, the wee-est of them all, a flabellina found by the guide. I can’t even believe I got any kind of shot, let alone one I’m willing to share. It’s not the best ever, but day-um, he was so diminulative!
Lots more in the following gallery – my true loves:
