Dives at Cathedral and Coral Garden off Moalboal Island, last two dives of the trip, pr dives 885, 886 July 4, 2025

The final two dives of our trip, we get off the boat back where we started, at Atlantis Dumaguete resort, in the morning at 7:30 am. Below are some photos from these final dives, to see the rest, go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/bumgfFrbac7JBSCE7 Phillip made all three of the final day's dives, these two, plus earlier, the Sardine Dive. Below: Phillip checks out a large Frogfish perfectly matching the color of the sponge he/she is parked on. Can you see it? Followed by a closeup of the Frogfish on the sponge.

Below: See it?

Phillip with a school of 3 inch Striped Coral Catfish, below:

A Scorpionfish welll camouflaged on a sponge. See it? Below:

White Eyed Moraly, below:

Another Banded Sea Kraite, below:

Cian in another boxing match with a feisty Anemonefish. His fist didn't intimidate the Anemonefish. Below:

A beautiful curious (they are usually quite shy) Midnight Snapper, about a foot long. Below:

Another sponge on the wall, infested with White Sea Cucumbers, with Cian in the background. Below:

Another Scorpionfish, below:

Beautiful Seascapes with colorful soft coral, below:

Below: Cian, with the line up to his smb while we make our safety stop on our last dive of the trip, does one final demonstration of launching bubble rings which travel surprising distances before collapsing.

I plan to do one more blog from this trip with my favorite photos from the trip. Great trip, great boat, crew, food, and fellow divers.

Three Macro Photography Dives at Malapascua Island, p.r. dives 881,2,3 July 3, 2025

Another excellent three macro photography dives using my 60 mm Canon lens. Thanks to the keen eyed Cian there were lots of great subjects. Below are some photos from these dives, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/o13o4TT2fC1s87aC6 Another new fish for me, it may be a "Flasher", it was certainly flashy. Below:

Another new fish species for me. It was swimming through the spines of a Long Spined Sea Urchin. Based on the shape of its snout, it may be a type of Pipefish. I couldn't identify it after looking for it in "Tropical Pacific Fishes" so I submitted its photo to a Facebook group, "All Fish Species Identification", and it was identified as an Urchin Clingfish, aka Long-snout Clingfish. Adult length about 2 inches. Below:

I'm very pleased with these pictures of a Many Spotted Sweetlips, aka Harlequin Sweetlips, juvenile. These are always in rapid motion fluttering about. Strobe flash successfully gave stopped motion pictures. Maybe 3 inches long. Below:

An interesting nudibranch, below:

This was the only Cuttlefish that was cooperative enough for me to photograph on this trip. Don't know the species, though I've seen it before. Around 5-6 inches long. Below:

I finally, after many, many, failed attempts, got a couple of successful photos of a Flame Scallop, below:

Below: A beautiful Cowfish followed by a really cool tbd nudibranch.

Some kind of Sandperch with a beautiful face, about 8 inches long. Below:

Above: A tiny transparent shrimp with blue tipped claws and tail. Below: A bold, confident predator, a Mantis Shrimp.

A Pegasus Fish aka Seamoth, a couple inches long. Below:

I've seen Striped Coral Catfish many times, but here I saw juveniles about 4 inches long, tiny young ones maybe 2 inches long, and hiding under coral, adults about 6 inches long. Below:

A pretty 2 inch Porcelain Crab sheltering in its Sea Anemone. Below: