Gulf Gobies

Alex Tyrrel · Issue 82, Jan/Feb 2015 · pp. 62–68

Products mentioned: Nikon D7000, Subal ND7000, Nikkor 105mm VR, Nikkor 60mm, Kenko 1.4x TC, Inon Z240, Sea & Sea YS-250 Pro, Saga Optical Snoot

The small island of Koh Tao situated in the Gulf of Thailand is not really renowned for it’s macro life. The general consensus amongst visiting divers is that they want to see the big stuff and swim along blissfully unaware of the smaller inhabitants of the reef. Turtles, Groupers, huge schools of Barracuda or Trevally are high up on the wish-list of the majority and it doesn’t take long for the word to get around the island when the coveted Whaleshark has been spotted on a dive site. These larger ocean denizens steal the limelight from the smaller creatures of the reef, which are simply not that appealing to a new diver that has been wowed with stories from their Instructor or Divemaster of encounters with a huge spotty fish. I’m sure though, that some of the more experienced dive professionals would be interested in the macro life found here, but when you are swimming backwards and cou…