So there I was... 6:15 AM and I'm floating somewhere a few hours out to sea half way around the world...

Seems school was starting for some...

While others got up on the wrong side of the reef...

Even this coral was half asleep.

Cool as it is to see I wouldn't poke this guy until he walked off.

Ever wake up with a throbbing headache?  Must be like that every day for that parrot fish.

Maybe because it was winter there this reminded me of a fake white Christmas tree with blue lights.

Every now and then I am still taken aback.  Seeing this Red Firefish reminded me of reading about the 'Undersea World' in National Geographic books as a young boy.  To see something so alien and at the same time beautiful moving with a grace not possible above the sea reminded me how removed I was from the world on the surface.

Finding Nemo is easy - at least compared the the fellow above

Always cool to see a

coral half asleep.

It can take hours to

extend or retract

those polyps.

Watch your camera when surf hits you on the ladder or you get great shots of your knee...

I was taking a picture of the view of the reef from above when I spotted this hooknose turtle - he wasn't so photogenic however.

If these Christmas Tree worms feel you come near they'll pull back into their holes so quickly you can hear the popping sound underwater.

Note that the coral in the bottom right corner and the one closer to my buddy there are the same just one dormant and one active.

This clam is probably three

feet across or so...

They're filter feeders so

they won't catch your foot in

there like in an old Flipper episode

or Popeye cartoon. :)

I spend 40 hours on a plane to find Nemo and he hardly seems appreciative.

Not so funny for a clown fish...

Every one of these clams is decked out like a crazy blacklight painting...

Not a bad way to end a day... and it's only lunch time!