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Leonid Baur

Dive Destinations

Eastern Pacific

Caribbean & Gulf of Mexico

Ocean Ecosystems

Leonid Baur

Dive Destinations

Eastern Pacific

Caribbean & Gulf of Mexico

Ocean Ecosystems

Folder: Dive Destinations

Eastern Pacific

Caribbean & Gulf of Mexico

Ocean Ecosystems

Rays & Marine Mammals

A Giant Oceanic Manta comes in close to inspect the photographer.

The Giant Oceanic Manta dwarfs the diver taking a photo.

A Manta is slowly cruising along with brightly colored Cleanerfish in fow.

A diver is cruising along with a Manta.

This diver is getting a nice close-up shot of the Manta and the Remoras that have attached onto the Manta with their suction disk that are located on the top of their heads.

Close-up of a Manta’s head showing its protruding snout and a pair of movable flaps extending from either side of the mouth. The flaps are used to direct Zooplankton into the mouth.

A Manta is cruising around the rock formation called El Boiler, a popular dive site at Isla Socorro, often frequented by Mantas.

A huge Spotted Eagle Ray. Wingspan must have been at least 2.5 meters. A head bigger than that of a human. He did not care one bit that there was this dude flashing his camera 50 cm from him.

A very large (2+ metres disk size) Marble Ray rests on a ledge.

While the Humpback whale mother rests close to the bottom, the calf is getting curious and approaches the photographer.

Mother and calf are constantly touching each other with their heads during the first months of a young whale’s life.

A curious calf leaves the mother’s side to inspect the snorkler on the top left of the photo.

In this photo it looks like mother and calf are swimming away and onto a new adventure.

It is best to always be very close to Mama.

Mother and calf are staying near the surface while the rain is hitting from above.

With the Humpback mother asleep, the kid is about to play with the photographer.

Friendly Common Bottlenose Dolphin play with divers. An interaction with a Dolphin is different than any other animal. It is hard to describe. It feels like there is a mental connection - just pure MAGIC.

Dolphin ballet. I could watch for hours. Too bad that these interactions are often fleeting.

Green Sea Turtle resting in the coral

Two Green Sea Turtles rest on top of each other in a coral garden.

Beep, beep. Green Sea Turtle crossing.

This Green Sea Turtle found a perfect resting spot in a beautiful coral field. The turtle is accompanied by a number of Sharksuckers that have latched onto its shell.

A Green Sea Turtle hovers above a drop-off.

A fully grown Green Sea Turtle

This is by FAR the largest Green Sea Turtle I have ever seen. Life must be good in Raja Ampat. Just look at how massive the body is. The largest Green Sea Turtle ever recorded weighted 400kg.

A curious Green Turtle is inspecting the reflection in my dome port.

Turtle crossing - beep, beep

Bluespotted Ribbontail Ray

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