Whilst Looking For The Sepia Photographs I Put On The Wall,

a couple of days ago,

I came across these that I took on a visit to the Philippines way back in 1986,

great way to get about town, but the horse and driver had to have nerves of steel! the traffic was and still is horrendous,

I flew across to Palawan and stayed at El Nino,

during my visit,

I went to a number of small fishing communities, as well as SCUBA diving centres,

the water is as you might expect crystal clear, the boat is called a bangka and is used for SUCBA diving, fishing and travelling to nearby islands,

and here I am, the photographs of myself were taken by a dive bubby, Juno Binamara, using my Nikonos camera,

the bangka in the background,

the video I am using looks huge compared to todays mini underwater video cameras,

but at the time,

it was this Sony set up or as I also used a even bigger 1" tape monster which weighed out of water a ton!

time for me to grab the still camera, a cuttlefish retreating into the distance,

some sea fans,

a lot easier to photograph, a sea slug, a Nudibranch sps.

a male Dogface Puffer Fish, (Arothron nigropunctatus),

a sea snake, one of the many venomous ones that inhabit our oceans, this one a yellow-lipped sea krait (Laticauda colubrina), also known as the banded sea krait or colubrine sea krait,

as I mentioned it is venomous, but not aggressive, although they can be fatal,

lion or turkey fish, (Pterois russelii), is also venomous, it has spines in its dorsal fin which are like hypodermic needles and give you a painful wound if it punctures you skin, but the weapon is only used in defence, it is not a weapon used aggressively, and as far as I know has not killed anyone, yet,

a tunicate, or sea squirt as it is sometime called, this one just about one inch tall,

a regal angelfish, (Pygoplites diacanthus),

and after a hard days diving, a cocktail as the sun goes down.