Dr. Guido Kirsten

With a bit of luck I could spot a young turtle in the reef. It was totally relaxed and did not pay attention to my presence. With a bit of patience I could get a picture of it yawning.

This is one of the most colorful smaller species in my opinion. It took me quite a while to find them because they live in 20 meter depth or more. Young ones can be spotted a bit shallower bit still at least 15 Meters below the surface.

Large Predators are the highlight of every dive. Young ones are hiding in the reef most of the time. This helps mthem to survive and not been eaten by the adults. I was lucky to spot this young grouper at 20 meters depth at the house reef. It seems to be stationary to this spot.

There are many wrasse species known. The white barred wrasse is neither the largest (that is the Napoleon) nor the most colorful (there are several candidates for that title).But this species stands out of the other species you may meet during a dive.

Close to the end of the second dive I found this lively colored rainbow wrasse in 3 meter depth. Adults lose the red color and are less attractive.

I have never seen an electric ray at the Utopia reefs before. This time I spotted three of them. Some were quite huge.

At the entrance to the north lagoon I found this giant trigger. Please note the remarkable teeth of this species.