Unlike the first trip to Sumilon with Dr. Johnston's class, on the second go 'round the students had learned how to walk on the surface of the water with their scuba gear on.

Like I think I mentioned in the first photo journal about Sumilon, there are a lot of clown fish that live there.

On this last dive trip in the Philippines, the students took notes underwater on specific species of fish or coral that they chose to study.

Here's a shot of a skunk clown fish.

I like the way the back fins of this lionfish sort of match up with the silhouette of the coral wall behind.

I think this may be the first time I got a shot of a lion fish swimming directly towards me. It almost looks like it has wings.

From this perspective the lion fish looks almost like an underwater bat.

The bright colors of this anemone made for a dramatic photo.

When you get too close to it, this anemone will retract its tentacles as a defense mechanism.

I'll say it again, this sure beats sitting in an amphitheater looking at Power point slides.

Damselfish usually seem to stay close to branching corals.

This photo looks like a Far Side cartoon to me. I'm imagining that these skunk clown fish are taking turns sledding down their anemone on their bellies. The fellow at the top of the "hill" might be waiting his turn until his buddy sleds to the bottom.

Taking a breather after the underwater sleigh ride.

Maybe he was surprised that their underwater shenanigans were caught on film.

This wrasse was really curious and swam very close several times to inspect what I was doing so far under the surface.

Here's a few more Sumilon clown fish.

We had lunch on the Sumilon beach again.

After lunch it was back under the sea to explore some more. This skunk clown fish was interested in us as we checked out his anemone home.

This green anemone has a nice contrast with the bright orange clown fish.

This lionfish came pretty close to inspect the camera.

But then it swam away and seemed to attach itself to the side of the coral wall.