blogie88-blog

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I ❤️ my new pawikan keychain! Made out of recycled plastic by the women of Tawi-Tawi, thanks to the help of the Turtle Conservation Society of the Philippines. Holler if you want one! #sayNOtoplastic

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In Tawi-Tawi with my friend Ramon Tañgon, a dive master and fisheries researcher. Mon is doing research on sea bass production for MSU-TCTO. I dove with him around Bongao Island back in 2011 and again this year.

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One of the PNP-Maritime Special Ops Unit officers who kept us company in Tawi-Tawi. I salute these valiant Filipinos in service. #savePHseas #bongao #pnpmsou

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Hello again, Zamboanga! (at Zamboanga International Airport)

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Today's dive buddy, a scruffy hawksbill sea turtle

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Spaghetti Bolognese at Claude's Café. Perfection!

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Surface interval #ThrowbackThursday #tbt #chill #scubadiving

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The head of Ocean Conservancy says a burgeoning middle class and low recycling rates could lead to not-even-remotely-acceptable levels of trash washed out to sea.

Yikes! How scary is that? Everybody can make little changes in their daily lives to reduce the amount of plastic they use. Here are a few tips that I’ve covered on the blog:

- What YOU can do to reduce the use of plastic, and that includes recycling, bringing reusable totes and produce bags to the store, drinking from a reusable water bottle, and participate in beach clean-ups!

- Avoid purchasing products that contain microplastics. Microplastic particles and microbeads are most often made of Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and Nylon. PE and PP are the most common found in cosmetics and bath products.

- Avoid releasing plastic balloons and lanterns

- Feature on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and what is being done about it

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I could live here... #beach #chill (at Leticia by the Sea)

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Another master of camouflage. Do you see him?

This is the mosaic octopus (Abdopus abaculus). I nearly missed him if I hadn't thought that the starfish's legs looked rather thin.

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Underwater fighter jet!

tiger shark

(by jdb1diver)

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Pygmy seahorses are curators of camouflage. Seen here are two species: Hippocampus bargibanti (the pinkish ones), and Hippocampus denise (yellowish one). They live on sea fans and mimic the coral's polyps.

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I find the sea fascinating and wondrous. Take this mollusk, for example. It's a pink allied cowry (Hiatovolva coarctata), also known as a spindle cowry. It lives on a sea fan and, to protect itself, mimics its host nearly perfectly.

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As a diver, I am torn by my love of diving, and by the consequences of going out on a boat that throws anchors at coral reefs.

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Why I don't like cats

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A giant clam (Tridacna squamosa) being looked after by a protective moon wrasse (Thalassoma lunare). It's such a delight to see giant clam in the wild these days. I just hope this one doesn't fall victim to poachers...