Gorgonian weapper Nemanthus species

Gorgonian Wrapper – Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
68
The Gorgonian wrapper (Nemanthus species) is also known as the Tiger Anemone. They are a species of communal anemones that are usually found wrapped around Gorgonian corals and Whip corals. Occasionally the...
Tube Anemone

Tube Anemone – Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
355
Tube Anemone's are not anemones per se and are somewhere in-between anemones and corals. They are in the sub class Ceriantharia and live inside long tubes which go into the substrate.  In Tanzanian waters t...
spotted jelly, lagoon jelly, golden medusa, or Papuan jellyfish (Mastigias papua)

Spotted Jellyfish – Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
845
The Spotted Jelly, Mastigias papua is also known as the lagoon jelly, golden medusa, or Papuan jellyfish. They are closely related to the famous jellies found in the lakes in Palau. The jellies in the lakes...
Moray eel Bongoyo Patch Da es Salaam Diving Tanzania
2.1Awesome

Bongoyo Patches – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Seaunseen
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77
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALAN SUTTON  Bongoyo Patches Bongoyo patches is to the east of Bongoyo Island north of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. The reef extends out in patches. It is relatively flat dropping off on t...
Jellyfish or Sea Jellies Upside down jelly Cassiopea andromeda

Jellyfish or Sea Jellies which is correct ?

Seaunseen
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2974
Despite the name, jellyfish are not fish and the term is not scientifically appropriate, many scientists are beginning to refer to them as jellies or sea jellies in a similar fashion to the name change occurr...
3.6Awesome

Powoni – Zanzibar, Tanzania

Alan Sutton
76
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALAN SUTTON Zanzibar has great diving and is world famous for its pristine clear waters. There are numerous dive sites on the island and one of the lesser known gems of Zanzibar is Paje. P...
Bluebottle Portuguese man of war bloublasie sting

Bluebottles – Stings and All You Need to Know

Seaunseen
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5665
The bluebottle, (Indo-Pacific) Portuguese man of war, bloublasie and sometimes mistakenly called the bluebottle jellyfish, gets its names from its float. The float resembles a bottle or an old Portuguese ma...
Kankadya patches Dar es Salaam Diving Tanzania
2.1Awesome

Kankadya Patches – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Alan Sutton
1
57
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALAN SUTTON Kankadya Patches Kankadya Patches is named after Ras Kankadya the headland that forms the southern part of Msasani bay and lies 4.2 kilometers to the east of the northern t...

Diving on Mafia Island, Tanzania

Seaunseen
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Whale shark off Mafia Island  PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALAN SUTTON Mafia Island is situated  25 km from mainland Tanzania and is approximately 130 kilometers south east of Dar es Salaam. The island is 48 kilometer...
magnificent sea anemone, Heteractis magnifica

Magnificent Anemone – Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
2
1234
The magnificent sea anemone, Heteractis magnifica is also known as the Ritteri anemone. Previously they were known as Radianthus ritteri but they have now been reclassified. APPEARANCE The magnificent sea...

Bomb at Bongoyo Patches

Alan Sutton
35
An unexploded home made bomb, photographed at the popular Dar es Salaam dive site, Bongoyo Patches, lays benign nestled among corals. Bombs such as these are made with a water bottle containing a mixture of...

The Eye of a Batfish-

Alan Sutton
24
A longfin batfish, Platax teira peers at the photographer. Because of the effect of water on light, it has fixed pupils that do not adjust to changes in the intensity of light. Compared to terrestrial an...
marine biology

Rough Triggerfish – Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
359
Rough triggerfish, also known as spotted oceanic triggerfish (Canthidermis maculata)  spend their lives away from the coast, living in floating flotsam and wreckage. Given that triggerfish normally use thei...

Kevin Breathes-Up

Alan Sutton
8
Kevin Ellis, a spearfisherman from Cape Town, South Africa, breathes-up off the coast of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in preparation for a line dive to >25 meters, while dive buddies, Renee Blundon and Tom A...

Renee’s Last Dive in Tanzania

Alan Sutton
36
Apnea Academy freediving instructor, Renee Blundon, heads to 30 meters (98 feet) while line diving off the coast of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, while diving buddies, Kevin Ellis and Thomas Allan look on. This ...
scuba diving freediving

It’s Dory in Finding Nemo

Alan Sutton
73
Paracanthus hepatus, perhaps better known to many millions of people as Dory in the Disney Pixar films Finding Nemo and its sequel Finding Dory, is also known as a regal tang, a blue tang, palette surgeon f...
Pink ghost crab Ocypode ryderi

Pink Ghost Crab

Alan Sutton
100
A pink ghost crab (Ocypode ryderi), rescued from a nearby swimming pool and returned to the beach, puts on his best threatening behavior to try and scare me away. The so called ghost crabs are nocturnal sca...
freediving scuba diving

Ocean Session in Dar es Salaam

Alan Sutton
19
Freedive instructor, Renee Blundon, describes a bit about equalization physiology during a Level 1 Apnea Academy ocean session on a cloudy and choppy day in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Level 1 candidate, Thoma...
scuba diving freediving

Shades of a Longfin Batfish

Alan Sutton
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33
A Longfin batfish, Platax teira, glides through the water, the obliterate vertical dark line across its eye and black pupil disguises the eye's locations. Additionally the coloring provides camouflage in wa...
scuba diving freediving

A Colorful Ambush Predator

Alan Sutton
78
The popeyed scorpionfish, Rhinopias frondosa, is a colorful ambush predator which hides in plain sight, sometimes being surprisingly difficult to distinguish from a piece of coral or plant life. The species...
scuba diving tanzania

Hills of Dynamited Corals

Seaunseen
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Gigantic hills of lifeless, fragmented corals juxtapose patches of recovering reef off the remote coast of Sinda Island in Tanzania. Tanzania is home to an extensive network of coral reefs in which the biod...

Crown of Thorns Close-Up

Alan Sutton
480
A close up image of the venomous forest of spines on a crown of thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci). The tips of these spines contain saponins. Should these pierce the skin of a diver they can cause seriou...

Triggerfish at Flourishing Reef

Alan Sutton
10
An orange-lined triggerfish (Balistapus undulatus) feeds on algae and hard coral tips at a flourishing reef off the coast of Mafia Island. Orange-lined triggerfish...

Goldtail Angelfish

Alan Sutton
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A goldtail angelfish (Pomacanthus chrysurus), also known as the ear spot angelfish, photographed while scuba diving at Jena Reef off the coast of Mafia Island. Like other angelfish, the goldtail angelfish i...