A reddish egret (Egretta rufescens) with poofed out feathers due to the wind. It was fishing in a shallow salt water pool surrounded by reddish plants. A tricky shot because the sun was already behind the dunes (meaning low light, and higher ISO than I would like), and the open area meant that I was slowly crab walking as close as I could without bothering the egret (crawling in the muck wasn't really an option), leaving me with a dangerously slow shutter speed in 15+ knot winds. Fire off lots and lots of shots and one hopefully will hit that one moment when the wind calms a bit.

Tags:   Bonaire Caribbean egret reddish bird salt water shore marsh ocean sea Netherlands Egretta rufescens highlights feathers beak fishing Antilles wind red poof fluffy bokeh

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A juvenile rock beauty (holacanthus tricolor) in front of mountainous star coral (orbicella faveolata).

Rock beauties are teases. They are relatively numerous, obviously easy to spot and they allow for a somewhat close approach, but not as close as you would like for an underwater shot as they often turn away or duck into a crack at the last moment. This juvenile wasn't as skittish as a typical adult. Unlike many other fish, juvenile rock beauties look like what they will become as they age, but maybe more of a red accent on the dorsal and anal fins.

It is a challenge to get a clean background underwater. Here, the rock beauty is posing in front of a large mountainous star coral. Unfortunately, there is a good chance this coral is dead now. This image was taken earlier this year. We returned to this site in the summer and much to our disappointment, probably 1/3 of the hard corals, if not more, were dead.

I don't know if it was "just" coral bleaching or due to disease, such as the stony coral tissue loss disease (first identified in FL in 2014, bit.ly/3fBTIEt), but it was very deflating to see it happen at a site that had so many magnificent and massive hard corals. Mountainous star coral is listed as "endangered" by IUCN.

Tags:   Bonaire La Dania Rock beauty juvenile tricolor Orbicella faveolata coral star mountainous star holacanthus Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Caribbean marine water ocean sea underwater diving scuba reef macro small yellow fish ecology fauna nauticam bleaching dying endangered IUCN conservation shore Atlantic SCTLD stony coral tissue loss disease texture creature wildlife pattern spot environment YBSAnimals21

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Rule #2 of underwater photography is "never shoot down". This is nearly always a valid rule because shooting down has less light and it is hard to avoid distracting elements. But as the cliche goes, rules are meant to be broken (occasionally).

This is a small green turtle (Chelonia mydas) that just took a breath at the surface and was floating back down to the bottom below to continue to munch on sea grass. I positioned myself right on top of the turtle and shot down to capture the color and patterns of the shell. I was annoyed by the cluster of coral in the upper right but now I justify it with the excuse that it provides some perspective. (I could have removed them in post, but I am generally averse to doing that beyond small distractions and irritating backscatter. Better to try to get the image right when the shutter is clicked.)

The green turtle is listed as endangered (declining) by the IUCN. They are one of my favorite subjects because of their looks and their personality.

Tags:   Salt Pier green turtle Chelonia mydas IUCN red list endangered declining sand reef ocean water sea underwater salt shore diving dive fauna marine environment ecology flipper shell pattern tokina fisheye wide angle nauticam scuba Bonaire Netherlands Antilles park perspective down cross smile on Saturday backside blue sea fan ripples clear

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I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to view, fave or comment on my photo. It is very much appreciated

Tags:   JuvenileBlueJay BlueJay Jays bluebirds LongIslandBirds Wildbirds DianeGiurcoPhotography Sunrays+5 COTH coth5 FantasticNature NGC NPC

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I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to view, fave or comment on my photo. It is very much appreciated

Tags:   FemaleOriole Oriole wildbirds BirdsofLongisland DianeGiurcophotography Sunrays+5 s5 COTH coth5 NGC NPC

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