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Underwater Sightings

MarinelifeUnderwater Sightings

Finding Nemo(s) – the Anemonefish of Dauin

Among the shrimp, frogfish and octopus of Dauin’s coastline, you can find a plethora of anemonefish/clownfish (same, same). We don’t just have one, two, or three, but at least seven different species of this characterful and famous little fish! Found within the fleshy tentacles of 10 species of anemone, anemonefish spend their whole lives in the vicinity of their host. Their relationship is win-win (technical term = obligatory symbionts). In…
Kirsty Richards
29th August 2019
Whale shark in Oslob Philippines with AtmosphereExploreUnderwater Sightings

Swimming with whale sharks at Oslob: To go or not to go?

In my role as Atmosphere’s Marine Biologist, a common question I get asked is “the whale sharks at Oslob, should we go even though they feed them?” My previous work involved researching shark diving, shark behaviour and, as one of my favourite things to do is dive with sharks, I feel I’m in a fair position to delve into a conversation about this potentially contentious subject with our guests. There…
Kirsty Richards
25th March 2019
Marine Biologist Dauin PhilippinesAtmosphere StaffScuba DivingSustainabilityUnderwater Sightings

“Wanna move to the Philippines?!” – Sure!

"Congratulations!! I am happy to let you know that we have chosen you for the position!!!” - The email I received from Julia (Atmosphere’s HR Manager) at 3:30am one July morning. Four long, dark winters in London and the prospect of a 5th approaching quickly was enough to easily tempt me back to the tropics. 7 weeks later I was walking back across the green lawns of Atmosphere as their new…
Kirsty Richards
13th December 2018
Rhinopia in Dauin Dumaguete Philippines at Atmosphere ResortsMarinelifeNewsUnderwater Sightings

Well hello there… Rhinopia!

After a couple of weeks of rumors in the area, we can confirm with these awesome shots by Atmosphere's marine biologist Daniel Geary that we do indeed have Rhinopia here in Dauin. Still a baby, this weedy rhinopia (Rhinopias frondosa) hopefully has many friends around. We also hope that he or she will find a nice colored sponge or coral to sit next to and take on a  bit of color…
Daniel Geary
6th May 2018
shaun the sheep nudibranchMarinelifeUnderwater Sightings

Pokemon, Donald Duck & David Hasselhoff – as Critters!

Unless you are a scientist, you are probably familiar with common names when describing a type animal, like CLOWNFISH or TIGER. Sometimes, names are more specific, like Tomato Clownfish or Sumatran Tiger, describing only one species. Occasionally these common names overlap and two different species have the same name. How confusing! How can a scientist differentiate between them using only the common name? The answer is that every animal has…
Ulrika Kroon
8th March 2018