Date Taken
12-2025
Category
Anthropogenic Impacts/Conservation
Preview
Description
This photo was taken on a dive to a local underwater art installation in Cebu, Philippines on December 13, 2025. Nearby the famous Moalboal mermaid statue was another art installation depicting a table with a few glass bottles. A striped blenny was found residing in one of the bottles. These fish are typically bottom dwellers. The raised habitat offered by the art installation, accompanied by the frequent disturbances by visiting divers and freedivers alike, provided a drastically different habitat for this fish. The placement of the art installation disrupted the natural reef habitat with the increased diver activity altering the behavior of surrounding marine life and the habitat. I took this photo to highlight the impacts of debris on marine life behavior in an already fragile ecosystem.
Keywords
Meiacanthus grammistes, Striped Poison-Fang Blenny