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Pair of large Bluefin Trevally (Caranx melampygus) come by for a close inspection.

Mixed school of Bluefin Trevally (Caranx melampygus) and Yellow-spotted Trevally (Carangoides orthogrammus).

Emperor Angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator).

Pair of Beautiful Risbecia (Risbecia pulchella) displaying trailing behavior.

Cloud of Bluestreak Fusiler (Pterocaesio tile) swarms over the reef.

Roundhead Parrotfish (Chlorurus strongycephalus).

Tawny Nurse Shark (Nebrius ferrugineus) resting in a sand channel.

Tawny Nurse Shark (Nebrius ferrugineus).

Cushion Stars (Culcita sp.) are very common on the reef flat.

Day Octopus (Octopus cyanea) have been very common in Chagos with several spotted on nearly every dive.

Dense beds of seagrass were seen on several dives around Egmont Islands.

Two-banded Anemonefish (Amphiprion bicinctus) found only in the Red Sea and Chagos Archipelago.

Crescent-tail Bigeye (Priacanthus hamrur).

Entwined pair of leathery sponges.

Spotted ctenphore floating near the surface.

Curious Tawny Nurse Shark (Nebrius ferrugineus) swims by several scientists and gives Anderson Mayfield a close pass.

View of sand waves far below while on a safety stop at the end of a dive.

Polarized school of Black-nosed Cardinalfish (Rhabdamia cypselurus) and Golden Sweeper (Parapriacanthus ransonneti).

Dense cloud of Black-nosed Cardinalfish (Rhabdamia cypselurus) swarm out from under ledge.

Dragonet (Synchiropus sp.)

Juvenile Emperor Angelfisn (Pomacanthus imperator).

Painted Spiny Lobster (Panulirus versicolor) comes out from its hiding spot under a ledge.

Scattered school of Black-nosed Cardinalfish (Rhabdamia cypselurus) and Golden Sweeper (Parapriacanthus ransonneti).

Anderson Mayfield photographs the curious Painted Spiny Lobster (Panulirus versicolor).

$Sailor\'s Eyeball (Valonia ventricosa) algae is a common site but not usually seen in the asexual budding stage.$

Pair of Tawny Nurse Sharks (Nebrius ferrugineus) getting cozy under an overhang.

School of Yellowmask Surgeonfish (Acanthurus mata) schools above a sloping drop-off.

Mixed school of Blue and Yellow Fusiliers (Caesio teres) and Double-lined Fusiliers (Pterocaesio digramma).

Blue-lined Triggerfish (Xanthichthys caeruleolineatus).

Day Octopus (Octopus cyanea) hiding in its burrow lined by rocks and shells.

Fluted Giant Clam (Tridacna squammosa) with spotted mantle.

Guineafowl Puffer (Arothron meleagris) black spotted form.

Juvenile Red Snapper (Lutjanus bohar).

Male Scalefin Anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis).

$A new species of sea cucumber we\'ve been seeing in Chagos--possibly related to the Pineapple Sea Cucumber.$

Pair of Spotted Unicornfish (Naso brevirostris).

Yellow-spotted Scorpionfish (Sebastapistes cyanostigma) hiding among the branches of a Pocillopora coral.

Granular Sea Star (Choriaster granulatus).

Guineafowl Puffer (Arothron meleagris) solid yellow form.

School of Longfin Spadefish (Platax teira) buzz by along a drop-off.

Two-banded Anemonefish (Amphiprion bicinctus).

Blacktail Reef Shark (Carcharhinus wheeleri).

Blacktail Reef Shark (Carcharhinus wheeleri).

Cushion Stars (Culcita sp.) with an interesting tesselated and spotted pattern.

Giant Moray (Gymnothorax javanicus) is not shy about having its photo taken.

Anderson Mayfield interrupted by a Giant Moray (Gymnothorax javanicus) while sampling a Seriatopora coral.

Sea star (Linckia laevigata).

Small Tawny Nurse Shark (Nebrius ferrugineus) resting under an overhang.

Striped Large-eye Bream (Gnathodentex aureolineatus).

Fluted Giant Clam (Tridacna squammosa) with electric blue striped mantle.

Panoramic sunset over the Three Brothers Islands on the western edge of the Great Chagos Bank.

Black-spotted Egg Cowrie (Calpurnus verrucosus) on Lobophytum leather coral.

Black-spotted Egg Cowrie (Calpurnus verrucosus).

Cake Urchin (Tripneustes gratilla).

Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) sleeping under a ledge during a morning dive.

Ceiling of an overhanging ledge is a dazzling coloful display of sponges, tunicates, bryozoans and cup corals.

School of Whitetip Soldierfish (Myripristis vittata) orient themselves to the roof of an overhanging ledge.

With a lead-core transect line and a PVC meter stick, Kristin Stolberg surveys corals on a colorful section of a shallow reef under glassy calm seas.

Anderson Mayfield wakes up with a cup of coffee during a long transit out to our first dive of the day.

Tiny juvenile Crown-ot-thorns Sea Star (Acanthaster planci).

Variable Thorny Oyster (Spondylus varians) which like to attach to ledge overhangs, have a colorful mantle lined with hundreds of eye spots and a shell often overgrown with other organisms.

Foliose plates of Echinopora plate coral cascade down the reef slope.

Granular Sea Star (Choriaster granulatus).

Noduled Sea Star (Fromia nodosa).

Polarized school of Golden Sweeper (Parapriacanthus ransonneti).

A distinctive feature of the Slender Lizardfish (Saurida gracilis) is the lined pattern along the jaws which displays the teeth even when the mouth is closed.

View above and below the water line at the end of a morning survey dive off South Brother Island along the western edge of the Great Chagos Bank.

Blacktail Reef Shark (Carcharhinus wheeleri) considered by some scientists to be the same as the Grey Reef Shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) but has a white-tipped dorsal fin (among other differences).

Cluster of 13 Magnificent Anemones (Heteractis magnifica) with only a single pair of anemonefish claiming the lot.

Looking up at the clouds through the glassy calm surface of the water during a 15 ft. safety stop at the end of a survey dive.

Powderblue Surgeonfish (Acanthurus leucosternon).

Two-band Anemonefish (Amphiprion bicinctus) swims among the various anemones in this cluster.

Giant Spider Conch (Lambis truncata) stares out from within its shell.

Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus).

Checkerboard wrasse (Halichoeres hortulanus) eating a small crab it just pulled from the rubble.

Devil Scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis diabolus) blends in amazingly well with the pink Crustose Coraline Algae.

School of Yellowmask Surgeonfish (Acanthurus mata) with one pale individual which turned dark a moment after this photo.

Anderson Mayfield during a safety stop at the end of a dive under the ceiling of a glassy calm sea.

$The tiny Willey\'s Halgerda nudibranch (Halgerda willeyi) are regularly seen in the Chagos Archipelago.$

$Two-band Anemonefish (Amphiprion bicinctus) caught for a split second staring at its reflection in the camera\'s dome port.$

Two-band Anemonefish (Amphiprion bicinctus) in an Adhesive Anemone (Cryptodendrum adhaesivum).

Cushion Sea Star (Culcita sp.)

Powderblue Surgeonfish (Acanthurus leucosternon).

Yellowback Fusilier (Caesio xanthonota).

Small colony of Blastomussa merletti coral (with finger for scale) looking like a cluster of zoanthids. This was a new genus of corals not seen before on the Global Reef Expedition.

Yellowback Fusilier (Caesio xanthonota).

Shortly after spotting a pair of Common Egg Cowries (Ovula ovum) feeding on leather coral we continued to search other leather corals for more cowries. Soon we happened upon a pair of Black-spotted Egg Cowries (Calpurnus verrucosus) which took the opportunity of encountering each other to reproduce.

Juvenile Emperor Angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator).

Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus).

Pair of Common Egg Cowries (Ovula ovum) showing black patterned mantle while feeding upon a leather coral.

Small school of Rainbow Runners (Elagatis bipinnulatus) that buzzed us on our safety stop at the end of the dive.

Branching Acropora sp. coral showing evidence of a lot of damage from fish bites.

Large organgish pink gorgonian sea fans show this are is subject to high currents.

Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus).

Tiny (finger size) Redmarbled Lizardfish (Synodus rubromarmoratus) snapped up an even tinier blue damselfish.

Yellow Dot Guard Crab (Trapezia lutea) in branching Pocillopora coral exposing a clutch of eggs under her abdominal flap.

Anderson Mayfield photographing a pale branch of the Cauliflower coral, Pocillopora verrucosa, that he is about to take a small sample from for later analysis which may lead to an answer as to why this portion of the colony had lost their algal symbionts and bleached.

Detail of organgish pink gorginian sea fan showing tiny orange polyps scattered along the network of branches.

Pair of Splendid Soldierfish (Myripristis botche) displaying large eyes and bold colors and markings.

Pair of Two-banded Anemonefish (Amphiprion bicinctus) in a Bubble-tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor).

Bladelike plates of the Blue Coral (Heliopora coerulea) form a mazelike structure.

Detail of the school of Humpback Snapper (Lutjanus gibbus).

Foliose plates of Echinopora coral form a spiraled pattern when viewed from above.

Water level view of Middle Brother Islands taken at the surface while waiting to be picked up by the dive boat.

Large school of Humpback Snapper (Lutjanus gibbus) swim over large table acroporids along the edge of a drop-off.

Large table acroporids and branching pocilloporids covered this site.

I found this Magnificent Sea Anemone (Heteractis magnifica) in its contracted state, balled-up with most of its tentacles tucked inside. The larger Two-banded Anemonefish (Amphiprion bicinctus) moved away from the anemone every time I came close for a photo rather than tucking itself inside and hiding within the tentacles as usual. It took me 10 minutes and more than two dozen photos to get this but I did get a bonus of a pair of juveniles to add to the family photo.

Lauren Valentino operates a pneumatic hand drill powered by a scuba tank to use a diamond tipped hole saw to extract sample corals from Porites lobata colonies. The cores are later sliced thinly and imaged with a CAT scanner to count the growth bands determining the growth rate of the colony.

A reef slope covered with cascading foliose colonies of Echinopora coral.

Large school of Yellowback Fusilier (Caesio xanthonota) that were visible from the surface.

A Spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus narinari) is pursued by a small remora.

Camera in hand, Anderson Mayfield swims over a reef with high coral cover including branching corals and table acroporids.

Large parrotfishes like this terminal phase Redlip Parrotfish (Scarus rubroviolaceus) can often be heard scraping dead sections of the reef to feed upon the turf algae and cyanobacteria growing there.

Blades of the Blue Coral (Heliopora coerulea) were packed so tightly that they covered virtually 100% of the reef.

Samantha Clements looks on as a Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) swims nearby over a pavement of large acroporid table corals.

A relatively unspotted form of the Spotted Eagle Ray (likely Aetobatus narinari).

The backside of a reef flanked by a high current pass was home to an extended collection of large table acroporids each several meters in diameter.

The largest expanse of Blue Coral (Heliopora coerulea) that any of the scientists had ever seen.

Acropora tables are a dominant feature of many reefs in Chagos.

Blackspotted puffer (Arothron nigropunctatus).

Close-up deatail of the corallites of a Favia colony.

Acropora tables can grow to be many meters in diameter and will often grow over one another in competition for light on the reef.

Acropora tables will continue to grow until they either overgrow each other or until their edges meet, where a competition zone will form.

Glassy calm seas make for happy scientists in the Chagos Archipelago.

Glassy seas make for smooth sailing between survey sites.

Divers Gideon Butler and Lauren Valentino back roll off the Calcutta.

The Golden Shadow is the gold at the end of the rainbow.

White tip reef shark (Triaenodon obesus).

A noduled sea star (Fromia nodosa) sits atop a Porites colony.

A pair of circular spadefish (Platax orbicularis) join us for a safety stop.

Black saddle grouper (Plectropomus laevis).

Day octopus (Octopus cyanea).

Dorid nudibranch.

Foursaddle grouper (Epinephelus spilotoceps).

Red snapper (Lutjanus bohar).

The view of the Golden Shadow from Danger Island.

Think before you throw your rubbish away! You never know where it might end up.

Two blue knee hermit crabs (Dardanus guttatus) perch atop a Pocillopora colony.

A red snapper (Lutjanus bohar) comes in for a close-up!

A storm cloud moves in over Danger Island.

Clown trigger (Balistoides conspicillum).

Halgerda nudibranch.

Humpback snapper (Lutjanus gibbus).

Islands of the Three Brothers group in the Chagos Archipelago have thick palm forests

Coral snapping shrimp live inside of Pocillopora colonies for shelter, and in exchange protect the coral from predators.

Moray eels will enter the shallow tidepools of the islands to hunt for crabs and small fish.

The Golden Shadow basks in the light of the golden hour

Notice anything strange about these shoes? Take a close look and notice that they are two completely different shoes in the same color that happned to wash up as garbage onto an uninhabited island in the Three Brothers group of Chagos

A curious red snapper (Lutjanus bohar) investigates a pvc quadrat used for counting coral recruits.

A green sea turtle (Chaelonia mydas) joins us on our safety stop.

A school of bluestreak fusiliers (Plectrocaesio tile) cruises through the reef.

Brittle stars are often found living in corals.

Indian dascyllus (Dascyllus marginatus) find refuge in a colony of branching Acropora coral.

Peacock-tail anemone shrimp (Periclimenes brevicarpalis).

Bluestreak and yellowtop (Plectrocaesio tile and Caesio xanthonota) fusiliers gather on the reef.

Out with the old and in with the new - a dead table Acropora is prime real estate for baby corals looking for a new home!

Schools of small fish will often find shelter from predators in the crevices between live corals.

White tip reef shark (Triaenodon obesus).

Blue-green chromis (Chriomis viridis).

Hairy yellow hermit crab (Aniculus maximus).

Peacock-tail anemone shrimp (Periclimenes brevicarpalis) with anemone (Cryptodendrum adhaesivum).

Regal angelfish (Pygoplites diacanthus).

Spotted unicornfish (Naso brevirostris).

Turbinaria mesenterina.

Two large tawny nurse sharks (Nebrius ferrugineus) seek refuge under a small Porites lobata.

Two scorpion spider conchs (Lambis scorpius).

Yellow-dotted trevally (Carangoides fulvoguttatus).

Day octopus (Octopus cyanea).

Blastomussa merletti.

Chagos anemonefish (Amphiprion chagosensis).

Chagos anemonefish (Amphiprion chagosensis).

Chagos anemonefish (Amphiprion chagosensis).

Day octopus (Octopus cyanea).

Humbug dascyllus (Dascyllus aruanus) and blue-green chromis.

Platygyra brain coral.

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