Galapagos 2

[Amy DeStefanis]

Here is an emotional favorite from Galapagos. A green sea turtle in the black coral (yes, the yellow-green stuff is black coral).

I have a whole series of this guy, and this is my favorite despite (or maybe because of) the little fish just above his face. They definitely don't wait to let the tourist take the picture before swimming on by!

[Gayle Clement]

I really like the angle, the crop, and that blue green light. The little fish above his head is just a bit distracting.

[George DeCamp]

Almost like a painting, I like this one nice job!!

[Amy DeStefanis]

The little fish above his head is just a bit distracting.

Yes, I think it's too big to try to Photoshop away, though. And the rest of him was just as if he were posing.

There are 3 in a series on the gallery of the other pictures from the trip. Rather than post them here, here's a link to the rest. You're welcome to check out the others, and you'll see why this is my favorite. As you'll see, he was on the move. Would have been very convenient if he would have stayed put while the fish moved on. I guess that's the beauty of the challenge!

http://web.mac.com/adestefa/GalapagosWeb2008

[Alfred Forns]

Great looking turtle Amy !! They are always a treat to photograph btw sure enjoyed the link thanks !!!!

[Robert Amoruso]

Good looking image Amy.

[Carl Mohr]

Enjoyed the slide show. I guess the Hammerheads were not hungry!;)

[Amy DeStefanis]

Enjoyed the slide show. I guess the Hammerheads were not hungry!;)

No - the hammerheads were not hungry, but the currents were! I was happy to even get the camera to my face with one hand, while holding onto the rocks with my left hand.... The shield on the dome port was like a big sail! So, they're not the best images, but they were hard-won.... But it was really impossible to really do anything predictable.

Actually, it's believed that these areas up at Wolf and Darwin islands are cleaning stations. You'll notice the injuries on some of the hammerheads. The females are injured during mating, and they come to these deep-water outcroppings to have the smaller fish clean away the dead tissue. The King Angel fish typically clean the hammerheads, while, I think it's the sergeant-major that cleans the Galapagos Sharks. Specialized spa personnel!!! So, luckily, they're not there to hunt, mate or give birth.

What I couldn't capture in those conditions were the literally hundreds of them that were passing by in review - layers and layers out into the blue - stacked a dozen high. In just one "section" in front of me at a given point, I counted 35 animals - and they just kept coming. The skys were overcast, and the visibility wasn't great. I caught those few that broke formation and swam our way, but I was still zoomed out with WAY too much H2O in between.... But they were totally uninterested in us.

Thanks for taking a look.

Amy

[Carl Mohr]

What a great experience and interesting story!