All Posts By

Daniel Geary

MarinelifeUnderwater Sightings

Hairy Shrimp – Tiny Treasures in the Seagrass

Hairy Shrimp If you have been diving on the Atmosphere house reef, then you know that we like to spend a lot of time in the seagrass during the safety stop. Sometimes we find frogfish, nudis, pygmy squid, different species of pipefish, and even the occasional octopus. Not many of these, besides baby frogfish, are incredibly tiny, so you might be wondering - why is the dive guide inspecting every blade…
Daniel Geary
20th September 2016
Kids snorkeling with turtle at Apo island by Daniel GearyDive travelUnderwater Sightings

Why are there so many sea turtles in Apo Island?

Although Dauin is known around the world for its amazing muck diving, tourism here started for a completely different reason – reef diving and sea turtles. Situated about a 30 minute boat ride from Atmosphere, Apo Island was the original destination for tourists visiting Dauin and Dumaguete in Negros Oriental. It was only after this tourism started that the muck diving here was discovered. In 1985, Apo Island was declared…
Daniel Geary
1st September 2016
Dory - surgeonfish - blue tang - beloved child has many names. this one from Atmosphere Resort in the PhilippinesMarinelifeUnderwater Sightings

Finding Dory – but not in your aquarium!

  I don't know about all of you, but I was super excited when I found out that there was going to be a sequel to Finding Nemo. I was even more excited that it was going to be about Dory, everyone's favorite amnesia-ridden blue tang. Although there were a few bits and pieces that didn't mesh with some of the fish biology I learned about during my studies, overall…
Daniel Geary
25th July 2016
Deep sea fishUncategorisedUnderwater Sightings

Into the Deep with Daniel (part 2!)

A common theme for deep sea fish and other animals is that they look really ugly or scary. This is due to the extreme environments in the deep sea, the reason these fish have to make just as extreme adjustments. Due to the scarcity of food and sunlight as well as the pressure of having thousands of meters of water above their heads, deep sea fish bodies have altered significantly…
Daniel Geary
11th July 2016
Dedicated underwater fathers - Pygmy seahorse, jawfish, cardinalfish and pipefish, all with eggs in Dauin, Dumaguete, Philippines. Photos by Daniel Geary at Atmosphere Resort.MarinelifeUnderwater Sightings

Dedicated Underwater Fathers

When it comes to reproduction in the ocean, things can get a little weird. There are animals that can change sexes (ghost pipefish) as well as animals that are both sexes (nudibranch), and even animals that can jettison an arm to grow a new animal (starfish). There are many fish that have role reversals where the fathers take care of the eggs until they hatch. The most well-known example is…
Daniel Geary
26th April 2016