Morning light found us off Viwa, the westernmost island of the Fiji Group. While the National Geographic Endeavour positioned around to the lee side of the island, we attended a few quick briefings to prepare us for the days activities, and by mid-morning, we were all in our wetsuits or shorts and t-shirts, ready to go. Snorkelers slipped into the warm water and floated over the reef top or dove down into the aquamarine blue, gliding among the damselfish, wrasse and other living rainbows. Nearby, the glass-bottom boat cruised along the island’s shore, allowing a look into the blue without even getting wet.
A bit further along the reef, I took our digital video rig and my scuba gear in for a look into the deeper blue, recording what I found so that we could all enjoy some further exploration of the reef. Descending past a large school of bullethead parrotfish and new colonies of finger coral with iridescent blue growing tips, I made my way down to 80 feet where the reef front wall met a sloping sandy bottom. Here I found squirrelfish, red as embers, lurking under ledges, several species of buttery yellow butterflyfish picking their way along past waving sea fans, and psychedelically striped orange-lined triggerfish that ducked into the safety of crevices in the coral as I approached. As I filmed this ever-changing rainbow, the current began to pick up and the soft corals awoke, inflated, and spread their polyps to catch the passing bounty of plankton.
Fiji is justly famous for it’s soft coral. These exquisite little tree-like colonies of coral animals have a delicacy of structure and incredible jewel colors that make them some of the most beautiful creatures anywhere in the Earth’s seas. Adjusting the camera for closest focus, I zoomed in, capturing the pink, blue and gold tentacles that each animal in the colony uses to capture it’s food and the tiny spicules, skeletal elements that strengthen the colony and look like graffiti in an undecipherable language. The bright halogen lamps on the video rig revealed every detail of structure and turned the already brilliant rainbow of colors into a shimmering light show.
All too soon it was time to head for the surface, but I was eager to share what I had been able to film.
A bit further along the reef, I took our digital video rig and my scuba gear in for a look into the deeper blue, recording what I found so that we could all enjoy some further exploration of the reef. Descending past a large school of bullethead parrotfish and new colonies of finger coral with iridescent blue growing tips, I made my way down to 80 feet where the reef front wall met a sloping sandy bottom. Here I found squirrelfish, red as embers, lurking under ledges, several species of buttery yellow butterflyfish picking their way along past waving sea fans, and psychedelically striped orange-lined triggerfish that ducked into the safety of crevices in the coral as I approached. As I filmed this ever-changing rainbow, the current began to pick up and the soft corals awoke, inflated, and spread their polyps to catch the passing bounty of plankton.
Fiji is justly famous for it’s soft coral. These exquisite little tree-like colonies of coral animals have a delicacy of structure and incredible jewel colors that make them some of the most beautiful creatures anywhere in the Earth’s seas. Adjusting the camera for closest focus, I zoomed in, capturing the pink, blue and gold tentacles that each animal in the colony uses to capture it’s food and the tiny spicules, skeletal elements that strengthen the colony and look like graffiti in an undecipherable language. The bright halogen lamps on the video rig revealed every detail of structure and turned the already brilliant rainbow of colors into a shimmering light show.
All too soon it was time to head for the surface, but I was eager to share what I had been able to film.
