Ghosts on the Reef

The Philippines are a curious country, full of striking contrasts. The island nation is torn between
a fast-forward version of modernity and a mindset grounded in traditional spiritual thinking. While
Manila has universities with cutting-edge computer science and marine biology departments, the people
on the small islands in the provinces believe in an assortment of ghosts such as the white lady, the
sigbin and the manananggal, a particularly vile creature which preys on pregnant women and feeds
on their unborn children!

While these ghosts only exist in people’s heads, there are also real ghosts in the Philippines,
on the reefs just a few meters off those rural island villages. These are the ghost pipefishes, a family of
fishes certainly among the most unusual vertebrates on the planet.

More here at the free Underwater Photography Magazine… (you have to download the pdf – it’s worth it!).

And here are all of my ghost pipefish shots on Flickr: