Red Sea Snorkeling

The Gulf of Aqaba has some of the best the best coral reefs in the world.  These reefs here have never been known to bleach (a process that deprives corals of their symbiotic algae and deprives reefs of their color).  These ultra healthy reefs are also in rather shallow water (less than 30 feet) making them great for snorkeling.   

Scientists in their natural habitat.  Alanna (left) and Ana (right) snorkeling at the IUI coral reef.

Over the past weekend a few of us went snorkeling twice, once during the day and again at night.  IUI has its own private beach where corals are protected.  This ensures the corals don't get trampled and can live happy lives.  A happy and healthy coral population also means a happy and healthy ecosystem with lots of fish. 

The most majestic of all sea creatures, the sea cucumber.  I saw this giant (~2 feet long) specimen leisurely strolling the ocean floor.

One fish especially abundant here are parrot fish.  These large fish come in a variety of colors and have a parrot-like beak.  They feed on corals, picking the coral polyps out of their calcium carbonate skeleton shells.

A parrot fish munching on some coral polyps, yum yum.

Of course many other fish inhabit these reefs, including picasso fish (named after their weirdly shaped heads), angel fish, reef grouper, and more.  Of course the corals themselves are rather impressive too, awash with many colors and shapes.

The healthy happy corals of the Gulf of Aqaba.

The scene had too many characters to sum up in a few photos.  So I took a video.

The next night after the sun went down we went snorkeling in the same area at night.  Many of the corals in this area fluoresce when an ultra violet light is shined on them, giving them a bright green glow.  This phenomena can only be seen at night with special ultra violet flashlights and filters which fit over our snorkel masks.

Modeling the yellow filters that fit over our snorkel masks for night snorkeling

We broke off into pairs.  Each pair got a regular flashlight for intermittent use when we needed to see where we were and an ultra violet flashlight to see the corals fluoresce.

A blurry photo of a brain coral fluorescing bright green.

I didn't have a filter for my camera like we did for our masks.  So the fluorescence is more difficult to see, but it is still apparent in the video below.  When the light passes over corals that fluoresce the color turns a sparkly green.

The lights also make it easy to spot snorkelers in the water a night.

Our group snorkeling at night with the ultra violet lights as seen from a nearby pier.