MarinelifeUnderwater Sightings

The (kinky) tale of love in the ocean

It’s Valentines Day! On land many couples will be celebrating with chocolates, roses, a romantic dinner, and a little bit of…  Beneath the waves, things are done a little differently; sex changing fish, penis fencing, and consuming your mate - making our human antics look pretty mundane! Innocent little Nemo? Of all the world’s animals, fish are the most ‘sexually fluid’, switching from male to female (protandrous), or female to male…
Kirsty Richards
12th February 2020
Scuba DivingSustainabilityunderwater photo

Life in LEGO

In September last year (2019) our in-house Marine Biologist, Kirsty, was involved in an international photography project with award-winning photographer Dean West and acclaimed LEGO sculptor Nathan Sawaya. Life in LEGO  The initial 2013 project “In Pieces” combined Sawaya’s life-size LEGO sculptures with West’s hyper-realistic photography and was exhibited in 14 countries around the world. In 2019 they joined forces once again to use their unique creativity to highlight the…
Kirsty Richards
9th February 2020
MarinelifeScuba DivingUnderwater Sightings

12 Critters of Christmas

In the countdown to Christmas, Atmosphere is celebrating the incredible diversity of amazing critter species we can find along Dauin’s coastline! Here are some of our favourite critters … 1. The ambon scorpionfish (Pteroidichthys amboinensis) This sedentary scorpionfish is top of the list for many muck divers. To enhance its camouflaging abilities it gathers drifting algae, making it incredibly difficult to spot. Then, once it has had enough, it sheds…
Kirsty Richards
24th December 2019
MarinelifeUnderwater Sightings

The hunt for the elusive blue-ringed octopus

I’ve been Atmosphere Resorts & Spa's marine conservation biologist for 14 months now and I dive regularly. In fact, it’s unusual to see me with dry hair. Coming from a coral reef and megafauna (the BIG stuff) background, many of our critters I’ve excitedly encountered for the first time. However, there is one particular little 8-armed guy that I have yet to set my eyes on – the elusive (I recon…
Kirsty Richards
18th November 2019