Jessica Wandering

Photos and thoughts on my travels

More Koh Tao, Thailand

I finally got the pictures from our instructor in the SCUBA course. Instructor, Nici (short for Nicole- she’s Swiss) is on the right. Claire, an Englishwoman was our other class mate. We had a good time.
I finally went snorkeling so I could take pictures! The urchins here look extra-sinister with their long spines. On the right is a giant clam. I really don’t understand how they get buried into the coral like that.
Underwater photos are always really blue and out of focus. But I really love taking pictures of fishes, so bear with me? Sargent majors..,
Butterfly Fish…
Bunches of fish…
Parrot fish…
Needle fish…
Rabbit fish?
And we saw two turtles, which is good since Koh Tao means Turtle Island.
But so far the most special has been this blue spotted ribbontail ray. It just did its thing riding through the sand and let us watch it for ten minutes or so.

Apparently they use electroreception to know there are buried animals they can eat. Then they ruffle the sand to get down to them.
Some a of the coral is certainly dead, but there are some really healthy colonies too. But I’ve never seen so much live coral so that is really neat.
It’s cool when it’s colorful
And when it’s big and brainy
And I really love the soft corals with cleaner fish. I really want to touch them! But I don’t.
Then there are the little fish that are in the shallow water.
My favorite are the bright blue ones!
And did I mention giant clams? They are just cool. They move if you get close, because they have hundreds of eye spots! These are probably 6-8 in across but they can live 100 years and get to >4 feet!
Also, there are Christmas tree worms. If you wave at them they retract.

Thanks for humoring me. I really can’t stop taking pictures of fishes. We had a great day trip to five different spots and that was really fun and it was nice to meet other people. But it is also fun just to putter around in the bay near where we are staying.

jessicaeastre

2 responses to “More Koh Tao, Thailand”

  1. jenniferlblackburn Avatar
    jenniferlblackburn

    Wow, you’re seeing so many sea creatures! The brain coral! How can a clam get to be 4 feet, that’s ridiculous. The ray… ❤️❤️❤️ These pics are coming out really well and I’m excited for you guys that you’re seeing so much!

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  2. Henry Schroeder Avatar
    Henry Schroeder

    Hi-  Thanks for sharing the fish pics…  I love watching them and seeing the movement and the colors!    Love,  Marilee

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