Cayman Islands 2010

Photos taken aboard Cayman Aggressor IV from May 29 - June 5, 2010. All photos taken with Canon 5D Mark II camera in Aquatica housing with Inon Z-240 strobes.

Stingray City offered a chance to get up close and personal with wild (albeit well acclimated to humans) Southern Stingrays.
2010 4358 Mark 14mm
2010 4418 Mark 14mm
Rick and Traci wrangle a couple of big female stingrays.
2010 4426 Mark 14mm
2010 4470 Mark 14mm
2010 4494 Mark 14mm
2010 4514 Mark 14mm
Yellow-headed jawfish are beautiful, almost ethereal little fish (only a few inches long). They dig holes in the sand, and spend their lives hovering above their holes, snatching bits of food that pass by and "backing in" to their holes when they spot danger. They've always been one of my favorite fish!
2010 4897 Mark 100mm
2010 4920 Mark 100mm
2010 4903 Mark 100mm
My primary photo goal for this trip was to get a male jawfish carrying eggs in its mouth (the males protect eggs this way until hatching). After spending several dives going from one fish to another to see if they had eggs (say "Ahhh" please!), I finally found ONE. I spent nearly half an hour to get these shots.
2010 5072 Mark 100mm
2010 5047 Mark 100mm
2010 5041 Mark 100mm
Periodically, the father spits out and "turns" the eggs to give them all plenty of oxygen. This shot was at one such moment.
2010 5066 Mark 100mm
Most of my time on this trip (when I wasn't searching for jawfish) was spent on wide angle photography. This wreck of a Russian destroyer on Cayman Brac offered a perfect subject.
2010 5108 Mark 15mm
2010 5131 Mark 15mm
A Southern Stingray and "companion jack" (a tag-along hoping to get a morsel when the stingray finds something in the sand to eat) swim along the sand near the wreck.
2010 5100 Mark 15mm
2010 5080 Mark 15mm
Rick contemplates his camera, while Traci contemplates Rick.
2010 5136 Mark 15mm
2010 5090 Mark 15mm
2010 5139 Mark 15mm
2010 5182 Mark 15mm
2010 5104 Mark 15mm
The walls of Little Cayman offered the healthiest and lushest reefs I've seen anywhere in the Caribbean, with sponges and corals providing excellent wide angle subjects.
2010 4963 Mark 15mm
2010 4960 Mark 15mm
2010 4625 Mark 14mm
2010 062928 5348 Mark 15mm
A huge coral crab (more than three foot "claw-span"!) puts on his most menacing pose!
2010 4644 Mark 15mm
2010 4591 Mark 14mm
2010 4758 Mark 15mm
Still life with sponge.
2010 115055 5445 Mark 15mm
2010 4748 Mark 15mm
Two French Angelfish shadow a small Hawksbill turtle as it forages on the reef. They hope to grab tasty bits the turtle breaks loose.
2010 112839 5415 Mark 15mm
2010 113242 5423 Mark 15mm
2010 5018 Mark 100mm
2010 5255 Mark 100mm
2010 5253 Mark 100mm
2010 5245 Mark 100mm
2010 5259 Mark 100mm
2010 5258 Mark 100mm
2010 5257 Mark 100mm
2010 4859 Mark 100mm
2010 4828 Mark 100mm
2010 4597 Mark 14mm
2010 5256 Mark 100mm
2010 5285 Mark 100mm
2010 4772 Mark 15mm
2010 4785 Mark 15mm
2010 4893 Mark 100mm

Cayman Islands 2010

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