A school of bonefish (Albula spp.) preparing to make their spawning run offshore. For the last two years, my life has been consumed by marine fish research. In particular, I’ve been studying this unique shallow water, tropical, sport fish in order to understand their reproductive development and habitat use. These big schooling events are commonly referred to as aggregations and generally appear with the full moon as fish move from the shallow flats into deeper water. These aggregations are thought to act as staging events, where everything get sorted out developmentally before fish head offshore to spawn —————————————————————————— @gopro @harborbranch @bonefishtarpontrust @natgeowild —————————————————————————— #science #fish #wild #adventure #flyfishing #bonefish #tarpon #permit #nature #wilderness #oceanscience #waterman #oceanculture #explore #conservation #flatsfish
Believe it or not, some of the best things in life are free if you open your senses to the world around you. For me, salt air fresh off the ocean moving through evergreens on they way to my nose is a solid example 👌🏻. —————————————————————————— #wild #free #live #explore #wander #outside #hikingphotography #outdoorculture #hikenewhampshire #hikemoreworryless #wilderness #breathe #adventure #wideangle #oceanculture #northeast #fall #ocean
“Mountain Roads” —————————————————————————— #nature #wild #mountains #hike #getoutside #wilderness #trail #hikenewhampshire #whitemountains #appalachiantrail #outdoorculture #camp #travel #wander #adventure #explore #hikingphotography #hikemoreworryless #landscape
Its a strange feeling, moving to the land of hurricanes (Florida) only to watch one slam into the coast of the state you called home...Here’s to hoping everyone prepped their best and got the hell away from the coast. Looks like major flooding already happening in the OBX 😥...Hangin in there NC! —————————————————————————— #hurricanesblow #climatechangeisreal #weather #storms #hurricaneflorence #nc #category3 #swell #stormsurge #flooding #stormssuck
Despite their blistering speed and aggressive tactics to acquire prey, barracuda are relatively docile in the water column. Often times they just sit stationary, hovering next to structure like this abandoned oil rig likely either to rest or in wait for another meal. For many other fish species, and marine life for that matter, manmade structures can provide habitat for supporting entire marine communities that otherwise wouldn’t exist in the open ocean. Have you ever sat on a dock and stared into the water around a piling? Likely its a microcosm of many different things, living together in some harmonious way. The take away here is the incredible flexibility that can exist in a marine community’s ability to build up from nothing but a simple structure, and become a unique, highly complex world of coral, sponges, algae, and fishes, all in close proximity to one another and battling for survival. The ocean is too cool! —————————————————————————— #wild #conservation #oceanculture #ocean #bluewater #fish #coral #wreckstoreefs #nature #wilderness #underwater #science #marinelife #freedive #water #saltwater #explore #dive
The northeast of the United States is an incredibly beautiful place. @groskar and I decided to jump on an opportunity to explore a bit of both Maine and New Hampshire over this past labor day weekend and experienced some absolutely fantastic views. Walking around @acadianps at night for one is a must, with clear views of the milky way among the evergreens. —————————————————————————— #natgeotravel #wander #wanderlust #explore #getoutside #hike #milkyway #stars #nightsky #wilderness #rei1440project #travel #nationalparks #nikon #maine #acadia #light #wild
Unique life opportunities present themselves in the most unexpected ways sometimes...like being summoned as a stand in diver for a research cruise via the NOAA r/v Manta to one of the most incredible mesophotic coral reef habitats on this planet; the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. The water here is so blue its almost purple, the coral cover more closely resembles a mountain range than anything else I’ve ever seen, and the size and quantity of fish here are astounding. Marine sanctuaries can be incredible places for a glimpse into what untouched habitats can look like. I have little in the way of coral photos, since my time was spent sampling but here are some @gopro shots from our time spent at safety stops. Not much else to do during these except sit back relax and take photos of each other. One day Ill find my way back there, hopefully with a camera housing and plenty of time. —————————————————————————— @natgeo @natgeoexplore @harborbranch @noaasanctuaries —————————————————————————— #dive #scuba #explore #coral #texas #gulfofmexico #epic #steward #underwater #oceanculture #oceanexplorer #wilderness #godive #techdiving #bubbles #offshore #wayoffshore #conservation #weneedcoral #coralreef #reef #sea #saltwater #fish #noaa #deepbluesea
When the work is done, we go searching for the other big dogs. Caught my largest cuda with @flatsbum73 on some light spinning tackle. What a day! #catchandrelease—————————————————————————— 📸 @sm_lombardo —————————————————————————— #keepemwet #fish #wild #fishing #bahamas #tropics #fishingculture #oceanculture #ocean #catch #steward #oceanpreservation #life #water #islandlife #islanders #barracuda #btt #patagonia
Look closely and you will see a small stone crab hiding quietly in the mangroves. The more time I spend photographing mangroves, the more I discover how incredibly biodiverse they are. So many organisms work together to access the nutrients and resources they need to survive within these ecosystems. For this little guy, the mangroves provide protection from predators and valuable prey items right below the water line. #funfactfriday —————————————————————————— @roamflorida @nature_org @natgeowild @fl.stateparks —————————————————————————— #wild #mangrove #explore #steward #oceanpreservation #keepemwet #science #conservation #fish #natureiscool #wildlife #wildlifephotography #invert #crab #oceanculture #wander #sealife #wearestillwild #science
While hanging out with and photographing that mangrove tree crab from two post ago, a group of manatees rolled up on me with no warning. They were moving through the estuary at low tide, likely feeding on the algae that covers submerged mangrove roots. For a while I just sat still in the water, watching while they pushed each other out of the way for the best roots before finally moving on to the next spot. —————————————————————————— @nature_org @smithsonian @roamflorida @natgeowild @harborbranch —————————————————————————— #wild #manatee #florida #wilderness #mangroves #exploreflorida #wildlife #nature #marinelife #oceanculture #getoutside #bepresent #conservation #appreciatenature #beautiful #seacow #naturephotography
The ocean isn’t just a cool place to sit back, relax, and enjoy the weekend...it provides and supports just about everything thing that makes your life possible. Climate, weather, food, medicine, etc. If you can name it, I can just about guarantee the ocean plays a role in its existence. Yet sometimes it seems we fail to appreciate the world’s oceans. Over the last 100 years we’ve used the ocean simply as an indispensable resource, believing there was no way we as humans could have a significant impact on something so vast. Yet we have heavily overfished many of the fish stocks, polluted much of the nearshore and offshore waters, and irresponsibly tossed our garbage into it... not to mention our impact on the climate and the effect that has had on the marine habitats we depend on. Today is #worldoceansday , make a change in your life that does something for the world you live in. The ocean is rad and you need it just as much as I do so why not take care of it? Recycle your plastics, buy responsibly harvested fish, and most importantly get out there and enjoy it!!!! Cheers to the 🌊! —————————————————————————— @natgeo @worldoceansday @oceanconservancy @sea_legacy —————————————————————————— #wildlife #ocean #getoutside #oceanculture #saltlife #sea #waterman #keepemwet #love #oceanbeach #conservation #recycle #life #oceanscience #oceanpreservation #wild #wilderness #deepsea #explore #adventure #wander