Turning into Voyeurs!

Beth Tierney & Shaun Tierney · Issue 11, Feb/Mar 2003 · pp. 55–57

Products mentioned: Nikon F90X, Sea & Sea housing, 60mm macro lens, 105mm macro lens, Fuji Provia, Ikelite 50 strobes, Q40 torch

It wasn't quite what we'd intended - to sit and watch others indulge in that which should really be kept private, but it's precisely what we did. It was 6pm on Kapalai Island and we were attending a peep show of a very special nature. Every night, just after sunset, you can slide beneath the jetty and see droves of tiny mandarin fish creating babies. Beauty in miniature We've been to many famous muck-diving sites and always hoped to see these intensely pretty little fish. And although we have often had a glimpse of them, actually capturing them on film has been much harder than almost any other subject we've come across. Shyness is an integral part of their nature. Mandarin fish keep very much to themselves, living in stable colonies amongst the cracks and crevices in coral rubble. Thereís plenty of hiding space and food is easy to come by. But even if you know all that, spotting these m…