This hawksbill turtle is one of the most approachable ones I've seen at Apo Island, it's easy to recognize with a shell covered in algae. I took this photo just as the turtle swam away from a meal of soft coral. Apo barangay captain Mario Pascobello is watching in the background. This photo was used for the Apo Island community post card project that I worked on in January 2005. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

As I was swimming next to this hawksbill turtle at Apo Island, I was sort of surprised by the intensity of the piercing gaze it gave me. As in the photo above, Apo barangay captain Mario Pascobello is in the background. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

This photo was taken in the deeper waters near the Cogon Point at Apo Island, and so the colors are pretty much only blues. I spotted this turtle resting on a coral ledge just before it effortlessly swam away. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

This is one of the first photos I took of Apo's many turtles. I was on a coral reef damage assessment dive with the Silliman Marine Lab and happened to spot this turtle swimming among the colorful soft corals of the Chapel dive site. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

This small hawksbill turtle was re-habilitated at the Silliman Marine lab after it was caught by some fishermen outside Dumaguete. After a few weeks of recovering in one of SUML's giant clam rearing tanks, we took the turtle to the Apo Island marine sanctuary to live. (Click here to see more photos from the turtle release).

Here's another shot of one of Apo Island's hawksbill turtles. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Clown fish are some of my favorite underwater photo subjects. I think it may be because their bright orange contrasts so nicely with the anemone's you find them living inside of. I did enjoy "Finding Nemo" as well. This photo was used for the Apo Island community post card project that I worked on in January 2005. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

On the day I took this photo, the current was very strong and the electric blue underside of this anemone glowed supernaturally beneath this clown fish. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

This clown fish was more docile (or possible aggressive) than most, and swam further from the protection of the stinging tentacles of its anemone home. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

The anemone that this clown fish lives in was clinging precariously to the edge of a coral dropoff, creating a tentacle-covered wall for this fellow to live in. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

This clown fish darted quickly through the frame, and I lucked out and got this "aerial" view. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Here's another shot of a Balicasag Island clown fish. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

I liked the color of this anemone and the lower contrast with the clown fish living inside it on Palawan's Tapiutan Island. (Click here to see more photos from this snorkeling trip).

So far I haven't seen many of these "basket anemone's" like this one on Sumilon Island. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Here are two more Apo Island clown fish. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

I took this photo in the shallower waters of Balicasag's marine sanctuary. I liked the way the natural light from the surface balanced the flash from the camera to bring out the color of the clown fish. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

The anemone's of Balicasag tend to be more green than the ones I see on Apo Island. I think the contrast of the orange clowns and the green anemones can be pretty nice sometimes. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Ok, this is the last shot of the clown fish from Balicasag. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

I liked the way this skunk anemone fish seemed to be peering curiously at me from its anemone. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

I usually try not to anthropomorphize the reef animals, but this photo sometimes looks to me like an afternoon of undersea sledding. I like the way the skunk anemone fish at the top left of the frame seems to be watching its friend slide down to see if it's safe. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

These tomato clown fish were living in the shallow waters of Sumilon Island's reef, so I didn't need to use the flash to bring out their bright colors. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

I used a detachable underwater strobe to light this Apo Island anemone from below to give it this somewhat otherworldly appearance. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

It seems like everything on the reefs here are brightly colored when they are lit by a flash. This is an anemone from Sumilon Island. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

I like taking shots of a brightly colored nudibranch, like this one from Apo Island's marine sanctuary. They also move very slowly, so they are pretty easy to set up for a close up photo. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

In El Nido my brother Preston and I found this brightly colored eel peering from its cave. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

This white eyed moray eel stared out at me from its home just outside of San Miguel Island's marine sanctuary. This photo ran in the August 22nd Sunday edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Lionfish like this one from Sumilon Island near Dumaguete always make great photo subjects, although you have to keep a safe distance from them. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Here's another of Sumilon Island's colorful lionfish. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

This photo of a lionfish from Bicol ran in the August 22nd Sunday edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

I had to lie on my back of the bottom of Siquijor's seagrass beds to get this shot of a jellyfish against the blue sky. (Click here to see more photos from this snorkeling trip).

Here's another view of that jellyfish from the photo above. (Click here to see more photos from this snorkeling trip).

Apo Island's jackfish have been really reliable photo subjects, especially when they are found schooling in the strong currents of Apo's Cogon Point. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Here's another shot from Apo Island, I like the way these two seem to just be passing each other casually on their way to wherever they're going. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

The juvenile jacks that live in Apo's marine sanctuary are usually much closer to the surface than the adults, so it's possible to get a photo of them with the natural light from the sun highlighting them. (Click here to see more photos from this snorkeling trip).

Here's another shot of the juvenile jacks in the Apo sanctuary, they framed this diver nicely I thought. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Here's another shot of the juvenile jacks densely grouped in the Apo Island marine sanctuary. (Click here to see more photos from this snorkeling trip).

This unnecessary zoom on an urchin from Bicol ran in the August 22nd Sunday edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Here's a crown of thorns starfish from Bicol. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

This crown of thorns was at the edge of a coral wall in El Nido, Palawan. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

I almost put my hand on this stonefish before I spotted it almost perfectly camouflaged on Bicol's San Miguel Island. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Here's another stonefish, though this one is from the Balicasag marine sanctuary. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Here's another well camouflaged predator, I found this one on a dive in El Nido, Palawan. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

I liked the contrast of this crab's tentacles inside its anemone home in El Nido, Palawan. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

I spotted this little shrimp peering cautiously out from behind some coral in Balicasag's marine sanctuary. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Here's a nudibranch from Bicol's San Miguel Island sanctuary. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

This shot of a giant clam from the San Miguel Island sanctuary in Bicol ran in the August 22nd Sunday edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

For some reason this sponge from Apo Island's Coconut Point was completely covered with these tiny yellow sea cucumbers. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

These yellow corals from Apo Island brightened up nicely with the flash from the camera. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

These tunicates from the San Miguel Island sanctuary in Bicol look sort of like yellow submarines to me. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

I found this bright red fan coral on Apo Island. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

I still haven't found out exactly what this is, but I found it when I was diving in El Nido. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

This curious wrasse swam very close to investigate me while I was diving in Sumilon Island's sanctuary. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

This school of yellow-tailed fish hanging out near the end of our dive in El Nido. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

More yellow fish from El Nido. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Brightly colored damsel fish like these ones from Apo Island can be great photo subjects. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

We nicknamed this dynamite fisherman from San Miguel Island in Bicol, "Gollum". (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Ian Johnston (pictured here) is a lucky teacher from Bethel College who gets to spend time on the reefs in the Philippines as part of his work. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

Erica managed to get this tomato clown fish to leave its anemone and come out to investigate her. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

You can tell Renclar is a soccer player from the trajectory of this fish. It almost looks like a football getting kicked by a punter! (Click here to see more photos from this dive).

I like this somewhat psychedelic photo of the Apo Island pump boat and captain. (Click here to see more photos from this dive).