Phi Phi - Day 6

On our last day in Phi Phi, we repeated the chaetodont assessment in a good reef by diving mushroom rock on the far side of Phi Phi Ley.  We kept our depth similar to that of the damaged reef in Ton Sai Bay to have a more comparable set of observations.  Our previous dive on a good reef was substantially deeper than at Ton Sai, thus we had an unnecessary source of variation.   After that, the students shot our annual underwater class photo with the banner on the side of the boat.  I have no pictures of the latter because I had to return to the island to deal with a student issue.  That's also why I'm behind in blogging.  I plan to catch up now...

Alyssa and Jaime looking for chaetodonts as they approach a sea fan.

Alyssa and Jaime recording a chaetodont.

Here is another feather star, which are also known as crinoids. In this side view you can see the legs, which are called cirri.  They are quite mobile and walk on coral, sponges, and other substrates. 

Indian vagabond butterflyfish.

Purple soft coral.

Soft corals of other colors.

Copperband butterflyfish.

Jaime.

Savannah.

Blaire.

Annie.

On this dive, we saw walls full of beautiful soft corals.