Macro Monday: Things That Make You Go "Wow!"

Come on, you have to admit that this gorgeous creature made you go wow, didn't it?

I would like to introduce to you the leafy sea dragon, Phycodurus eques. These photos were taken quite a few years ago, when Mr. DBM and I were swaning around South East Asia and Australia. They are only found in the chilly waters of the southern coast of Australia, the same place, incidentally, where you are most likely to encounter great white sharks. The cold and the sharks and the fact that the largest coral reef in the world can be found if one travels a wee bit further north (actually quite a lot further north, since Australia is quite large), probably explains why so few divers end up in the water here and why so few people ever get the opportunity to see these fabulous creatures. They are related to sea horses and pipefish and rather than relying on speed or a nasty bite for safety from predators, they rely on camouflage - well duh! On our first dive, I spent most of my time poking peices of seaweed, hoping one would turn out to be a leafy sea dragon. But alas no, on that dive anything that looked like seaweed actually was seaweed! All very disappointing. Luckily, on a later dive, the leafies had decided to come out of hiding and there they were, pootling around in open water right before our very eyes.


In a normal post, I would now start bombarding you (boring you?) with lots of very interesting, but generally quite useless information about the subject of my post. Well, I am not going to do that this week. I suspect that most of you are sighing a large sigh of relief, knowing that this post is nearly over and that you can get back to the rest of your life very shortly. For any that may be a tad disappointed - fear not, another post will be following shortly, all about the leafy sea dragon and the diving in South Australia. What, two posts in one week!?! I know, I know, but miracles do happen. Besides, who knows when I will actually get around to posting it........

For more Macro Monday, go here.

For other Faces of the Week, go here.