It was December 2010 when, like a new lone gunman, Richard appeared in the Atmosphere Dive Center having heard that they were in need of a freelance Divemaster that day. For those of you who have dived here, we could say that the rest is history.
King Richard, as he is known amongst our Atmosphere guests, is a stalwart within the dive team and well known on the Dauin coast as one of the best spotters of critters and creatures within our oceans.
He loves the challenge of finding smaller, rarer, more obscure creatures and after speaking with him it is clear to see that that is where his passion and drive comes from. Upon asking him what his favorite critter is, he entered into the limitless library of creatures in his head and one can only assume it operates and looks a lot like the Matrix.
The Frogfish. Why? They are the strangest looking, best camouflaged, most individually unique and related to the angler fish which is just WEIRD. You can see how strange and alien-like they are from the picture above of a warty frogfish taken by one of our guests while diving with Richard at Masaplod South dive site recently.
Fun Frogfish Facts
“A face only a mother could love” has been said many times about frogfish, which is maybe why we love them so much. Other than being weird looking:
- They use a gas bladder to control the buoyancy
- They “fish” for their prey with an esca situated on top of their head
- They can change color over time
- They have a kind of jet propulsion, achieved by rhythmically forcing their breath-water out through their gill openings
- When they suck in their prey, the attack can be as fast as 6 milliseconds
- They can swallow animals up to twice their size
- The male departs after mating as he would otherwise be eaten by the female
