Wet Blue Diary

Çok  değer verdiğim, kendisi güzel bir insan olan MURAT DRAMAN’IN kitabı.

Görmeyenlere duyurulur, mükemmel fotoğraflar, haritalar ve bilgilerle süslü olan ve içerisinde latince isimlerden log book’a kadar birçok bölüm bulunan bu kitabı almayı unutmayın ! Şiddetle tavsiye edilir………….

Kitaba aşağıdaki linkleri kullanarak ulaşabilirsiniz.

www.thedivingguidekas.com

www.dragoman-turkey-com

I would like to share some of the macro pictures from my trip to Thailand. I will try to share them and give information about the species as much as I could.

Please click on the figure in order to enlarge them

We have spent 40 days in Thailand and Cambodia and I had a chance to dive in different locations in Thailand. The first one was Beautiful Simillan Islands. These pictures were from East of Eden dive sight (night dive).

Simillan Islands is northwest of Phuket. You can either go there from Phuket with daily tours (which I don’t recommend as it takes long time to get there) or you can go up north to the town where they take you to the Islands. Spending some time there, is a better way to experience the place.

I wish I had some more chances for night diving as I have encountered many nocturnal animals (night time lovers).Night diving gives great opportunities for photography and better light.

We spent one night and 2 days of diving in Simillan Islands (5 dives), great place and rich marine life.

The only dissapontment for me was not seeing any sharks or other big guys except for turtles but the richness of the marine life is stunning indeed.

İstanbul çok karlı çıktı proje çekimleri için gittiğimde. Daha önce hiç dalmamıştım Marmara Denizinde ve hayran oldum. O bulanık tabakanın altında rengarenk bir zemin, bir sürü anemon, sünger tunikat, mercan ve eklembacaklı  türü bekliyormuş meğer. Birsürü ilave yapma fırsatını bulduk oluşturduğum veritabanına.

Rhizostoma pulmo

Özellikle Sivri Adaya bayıldım. Burada 35 metre derinliğe kadar indim ve fotograllarını çekebildiğim türleri yavaş yavaş paylaşacağım sizlerle. Sivri Adanın yanısıra Kalamış Marina içerisinde de  dalış yaptım dayımın teknesinin altında biriken kekomozları ve pervaneyi temizlemek için. Temizlik sonunda pontonların etrafında biraz dolaştım ve filtrasyon yoluyla ve mikroroganizmalarla beslenen canlı çeşitliliği inanılmaz şaşırttı beni.

Güzelcede bir fotoğraf ortaya çıktı A. aurita deniz anası önde dayımın teknesi arkada. Baya sevdim ben bu kareyi

Aurelia aurita

Sivri Adadan sonra dalış yaptığım Yandros Büyük Adanın arkasında bir kayalık. Burdada 26 metre kadar bir derinliğe indim ve kum zeminde birçok deniz kalemi, sünger ve tunikatla karşılaştım. O sırada geniş açı lens olduğu için (Sivri adada makroydu) bu tarz çekimler yapabildim ama makroda aklımda kalmadı değil. Burda karşılaştığım deniz anası türü R. pulmo harika fotoğraflar verdi ve çok güzel bir girdi oldu veritabanına.

Geçmiş yıllarda karşılaştığım bu deniz anasınıda paylaşmak istiyorum yeri gelmişken. Yazın Akdeniz’de görülebilen bu deniz anasının en ilginç özelliği yakıcı tentikülleri arasında koruma bulan yavru balıklar. Bunlar çeşitli olabilmekte ama burdakiler akya yavrusu. S. dumerili

Cotylorhiza tuberculata-Fried Egg Jellyfish

Bu yıl Mayıs ayında istanbula gelince yine dalışlar yapmayı planlıyorum. 4-5 dalış yapabilirsem oldukça fazla sayıda yeni türü fotoğraflama dırsatı bulabileceğimi düşünüyorum. Marmara Denizi çok farklı bir ekosistem ve düzelmek üzere okuduğum kadarıyla. Bakalım neler çıkıcak Mayısta…..

mert

Flabellina affinis

During the search for new species for my project, this beautiful seaslug was dancing on the fishing line as I saw it. Its movents was beautiful changing shape every second with the current. It was trying to find his way receiving chemical signals from the water probably and eating his lunch,  the algae on the fishing line

Question: Guess where it was trying to reach?

 Answer: Tring to reach to another one which is waiting on the Eudendrium hydroid species full off Flabellina eggs at the background

Yaban TV’deki Gizli Derinlikler için çekilen sualtı video görüntüleri. Enchelycore anatina
(Sivridişli muren) 25 metrelerde duvarda bir çatlakta dinlenmekte.

Turgutreis Çatal Ada Ağustos 2009

Yaban TV’dekiGizli Derinlikler için çekilen sualtı video görüntüleri.
Labrus mixtus (Benekli lapin-cuckoo wrasse) 20 metrelerde kaya altında Ircinia türü bir süngerin üzerinde dinlenmekte.
Turgutreis Çatal Ada Ağustos 2009

SPECIES HUNT IN KAS SCORE OF 7 DAYS

As the followers of WETBLUEDIARY and friends know I went to beautiful town KAŞ for photographing new species for the database project. Kaş turned out to be a very productive trip to me as I photographed around 20 new species for the project and many good photographs of the species I didn’t have high quality pictures in 7 days.

Here are the first group of fishes. I had some pictures of the rare sharp teeth murena Enchelycore anatina but it was taken with wide angle lens so I think this one sharper and has action inside with the teeth open (Its teeth is visible all the time because of its jaw shape). I had a chance to photograph some jack species and a small tuna species. The pictures of the fish in order is: 1-Seriola dumerili known as leerfish swimming on top of a wreck 2-Caranx crysos known as Blue runner caught while are hunting. They darken while hunting. 3- Auxis rochei photograped while hunting together with the blue runners

Sphyranea sphyranea under the both at shallow depth and I couldn’t help myself not to post the last picture of this big European barracuda posing nicely just at the perfect time If I had only know my buddy had something like that. We laughed looking at this picture for some time! The third species is beautiful Balistes carolinensis. The fourth picture is a very big specimen of Pagrus pagrus.

The third set of pictures belongs to a very important 4 species as I was looking for these guys for sometime. As you might guess it made me very happy, a smiley face for sometime (you must be thinking that I am a freak!) I looked so many places for the first two species until I found them; 1- Dactylopterus volitans-Gurnard-Kanatlı Kırlangıc, It was a huge one, Its always amazing to see this fish again. 2- Anthias anthias-Mediterranean fairy beasslet, At last! I found two colonies, they costed me 30 minutes of deco time (they were at 50 meters depth! ) 3-Pteromylaeus bovinus-Duckbill ray 4- Dentex gibbosus Lump headed bream, Although you can find this species in some places I didn’t had a chace to photograph it before.

And the last group of fishes. The first species, Serranus cabrilla-Comber.  I had this one before but this shot is a hit so I found it well worth to upload it here.  The second species is a new one for me,Vanderhorstia mertensi-Snapping prawn goby. It has a very interesting symbiotic relationship with the prawn where it shares its burrow with. The third one s also a new species called Striped remora-Echeneis naucrates. This one likes to live with big animals like green turtle Chelonia mydas or the duckbill ray above. This remora was lovely as it was trying to get protection from us. It was on my leg for 5 minute and Murat Draman carried it on his tank for 10 minutes without knowing that it was there.

I would like to thank here MURAT DRAMAN and GOKHAN TÜRE and all archipel staff for supporting me on my project and inviting me to KAŞ that allowed me to be able to take this wonderful pictures. Please go and visit their dive center ARCHIPEL in KAŞ. they have a wonderful crew and can offer many many outdoor sports like canooeing, hiking, biking and etc. apart from diving.

http://www.dragoman-turkey.com

New Grouper Species From KAŞ

Earlier I didn’t posted here about my dives in Gokova, Knidos and Datca where I get to find new species for this project. In Gokova One of  fish the species which I encountered there was this juvanile grouper species.

I highly suspect that it is young individual for the species Mycteroperca rubra.

The patterns on the fish and its shape just makes me think this way. But one cannot be sure and need further identification resources before a conclusion.

There was yet another species I encountered in Gokova a big adult gruper where I didn’t have a chance to photograp as I had my macro lens with me. Epinephelus sp. (the white grouper). Also in Datca I encountered a rare spieces of grouper Epinephelus caninus during a night dive which I didn’t have any picture of it before.

I already had some low quality shots of  Epinephelus costae female from Bodrum but  Iwasnt happy with the quality of them. So in Kaş some of the gave me very nice poses. Here is the result! The other species as I explained above are new for the database project: Mycteroperca rubra and Epinephelus sp.

http://www.dragoman-turkey.com

Day 2 In Kaş

Hippocampus hippocampus Deniz Atı

I was dying to capture a sea horse. Amazingly so many hours and years underwater I wasn’t able to see one before.  Third day of our dives in Kaş. I was so happy to watch one of my diving buddies making the horse sign (race horse jockey movement). They told me if I had seen one and we searched for it for 5 minutes and then suddently there it was. What an amazing creature. It is a very interesting creature and probably one of the most beautiful one in mediterranean sea.

Chelonia mydas Yeşil Kaplumbağa

Kaş is very close to major turtle nesting areas like Patara beach. As a reason of this fact you can see many turtles during your dives. One of this was at 35 meters approaching directly to me. We had ony 15 cm’s between us but then I was worried about my camera port had to back up. So calm and elegant creature these turtles. These ones are green turtles both.

The first turtle was ascending for getting some air into its lungs.

http://www.dragoman-turkey.com