I love these guys and I just love his “pose”….This is the healthiest coral reef in all of the Society Islands. There is a reason for it……more on that as our story progresses. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
The spines are poisonous….NO TOUCHING…..just look. Very difficult to photo during the day. They just hide under rocks. At night, they come out to hunt. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
These guys are about an inch across. This island is about huge beautiful corals and very small critters. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Side view….If you blink, they retract into their shell in about…..”a blink”….. The red/orange is their siphon, they catch plankton with their “branches”. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
They come in many colors. Yellow and Blue seem to be the easiest to spot. Cindy loves these guys. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
During the day, these guys hide in schools under rocky ledges. Quite common to see, large groups of hundreds of them school and get out of the way fast when the camera appears. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Parrot Fish, the worlds largest creator of new sand, constantly eat and “process” coral reefs, but fortunately, not to extinction like some critters (keep watching)….. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Named for their just sitting their and then pouncing on their prey, these guys are quite approachable and plentiful on healthy coral reefs. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
This is the second largest of the species (behind the Great Barracuda) and a frequent reef visitor looking for something tasty. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
I really like the contrast of this guys teeth against his skin. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Also known as a white mouth moray, they use the opening and closing of their mouths to pump water over their gills. They do NOT attack divers. In this photo, I’m one foot away. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
There are dozens of species of butterfly fishes on these reefs. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Quite striking to see this bright pink tail on a green trigger fish underwater. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
To me, when you see lots of these coral clams (in all colors of the rainbow), the reef is in good shape. We love the incredibly bright colors they reflect when lit. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Close up, the detail of the mantle shows against the shell. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
The mantle has a siphon which they pump water through. If the locals find these, they kill them for food. Fortunately, most of them don’t dive. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Their are immense fields of beautiful hard corals all along this eastern outside of the reef. Gorgeous and healthy. Because it’s main predator, the “Crown of Thorn Star Fish” eats 9 square feet/day. But here, our dive guide kills the crown of thorns star fish and has for the last three years. This sounds very ‘un eco friendly” until you realize that they have killed 95% of some of these islands corals due to the locals killing the Crown of Thorns natural predators. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Here you can see a fairly close up shot of the coral polyps. These take months if not years to aggregate into plate corals. The Napolean Wrasse and the Triton Trumpet shells; the Crown of Thorns natural predators are highly sought for their food value and the shells command a few hundred US dollars a piece. Without them here, the coral doesn’t stand a chance. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Here you can see thousands of coral polyps in an area the size of a half dollar. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
The needles you see are hypodermic needle sharp. I found out the hard way. Here you see a Crown of Thorns munching at the coral. Lionel dispatched this specimen just after I took the photo. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
This is a close up of the spines on an arm of this voracious predator. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Like a forest of spines, not many can challenge it’s protection. The Napolean Wrasse, the Triton Trumpet shell and some of the Trigger fish family are about it’s only predators. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Detail of the Crown of Thorns “arm”. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
This plate coral is about 10 feet across and would be decimated by just a single Crown of Thorns Starfish in one day! Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Cindy and I love it when we see the “Medusa” jelly fish floating around. However, it is a good thing we’re covered in rubber pretty much from head to toe. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
They capture small fish and plankton with their stinging tentacles. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Turtles of all varieties like to eat these Jelly Fish. You wouldn’t think anything that packs a stinging punch like this could have a predator, but they do. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Cindy just loves these critters and their undulations, so you’re seeing a lot of them!…:) Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Often near the surface, you can see the water reflection in the near distance. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Almost their…..I promise! Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Often near the surface, you can see the water reflection in the near distance. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
You can see the strands behind like thousands of barbed stinging fish hooks. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
I hear “Stings” song, “Fields of Gold” when we sail along beautiful healthy reefs like this one. I can’t light all the coral with my strobes, but all of it has color as you see in the foreground. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Some are “Lettuce Leaf”, some “Staghorn”, they all have great names and billions of coral polyps make up one of the worlds most delicate eco-systems. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
This specimen is around 10 feet in diameter and where the reef has been protected, there are hundreds of yards of it. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Cindy loves these types of diving conditions as these plate corals have hundreds of fish, tiny crabs, shrimp, lion fish, blue damsels and it goes on and on. It’s the world’s real aquarium and it’s spectacular. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
As you may be able to tell from the surface reflection, most of this coral wall is in depths from around 10 to 65 feet. If it were calm enough, you could snorkel much of it. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Literally THOUSANDS of small creatures are on everyone of these structures. The only place we’ve seen such splendor in all the Society Islands of French Polynesia….Perhaps the Crown of Thorns will have spared the reef in our next stop Mopelia. There, the waters should not be overfished for the Triton Trumpet and Napolean Wrasse. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Protector of the reef, about to hand “his baby” over to Lionel….Our last dive with Ronald. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
There were even several sites where there appeared to be giant mushrooms of coral sprouting everywhere. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
I couldn’t get Cindy to really swim anywhere when she found these beautiful coral habitats. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
This coral, despite it’s being in the “hard coral” family had a spongy nature to it and well could have been covered by sponge. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
She snuck this one in! Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
She snuck this one in too! Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
You can see the moray eel in the foreground, certainly unused to seeing our species in this remote location. Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
I’m sure a marine biologist could count lots of coral species here. Our next stop and last in French Polynesia will the the island of Mopelia, 100 miles to the west. Please feel free to write us at any email address you have for us…….Until our next internet cafe, we’ll say goodbye and hope to hear from you all by email…. Scott and Cindy Maupiti Island – Society Islands – French Polynesia
