Thai PBS reports that 32 dive sites in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea have been closed to divers “to allow officials to check the sea temperatures for fear that sea warming may lead to coral bleaching”. Temperatures of 29.2°C (84.56°F) and 31°C (86°F) have been recorded at depths of 1.3m (4ft), which is significantly higher than normal. (Image from Shutterstock.
Earth Touch’s Wild Oceans channel features 4K footage from the Phi-Phi National Marine Reserve, Andaman Sea, Thailand. The episode features scribbled filefish feeding on animals that are living within the tentacles of a large jellyfish, large schools of bigeye snappers and an interesting symbiotic relationship between a wrasse and a blackspotted pufferfish.
Earth Touch’s Wild Oceans episode this week is from Phuket, Thailand. The dive site, Kata Reef is a unique and beautiful coral playground. Underwater cameraman Nicolas Lurot captures a mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) making a dash for cover to evade a lionfish on the hunt and a giant frogfish (Antennarius commerson) as it “walks” along the seafloor.