We have handed our weekly marine life series over to renowned photographer and journalist, Stefan Beskow.
Stefan has travelled the world, and dived just about every corner of it, during over 30 years in the industry. Having chosen Emperor Divers to do much of his underwater work, we asked him to take us through some of his favourite experiences.
This week he tells us how to catch a close up of a goby – something he managed with ease from Emperor Raja Laut.
Gobies are found in all oceans and are a favourite subject for me to photo.
In Southeast Asia they are very common, with perhaps the whip coral goby above all others!
On a trip with Emperor Raja Laut in January 2024, we saw them everywhere! On whip corals, gorgonians and other corals. As a thank you for their residence, the butternuts also help, for example, to eliminate toxic algae that might otherwise start to grow on the corals.
They are often good photo subjects but can be a bit shy! If you want to see them, a tip is to take a closer look at every whip coral you swim past. Often they are found there, swimming up and down the coral.
This behaviour also makes photographing them quite predictable. With a little patience, it usually works out well to take well-composed pictures of them!
If you like the idea of seeing these fascinating creates at first-hand, have a look at the trips available from our wonderful Indonesia boats Emperor Harmoni and Emperor Raja Laut.