KHANH HOA – Photographer Pham Huy Trung captures the beauty of coral reefs and creatures under the waters of Hon Mun, Nha Trang.
This set of photos on the bottom of Hon Mun is the result of a photographer from Ho Chi Minh City, Pham Huy Trung (1979) taken during diving trips in 2020 – 2021 in the waters of Hon Mun in Hon Mun marine reserve, Nha Trang Bay. , Khanh Hoa province.
Hon Mun Marine Protected Area was established in 2001, covers an area of about 160 square kilometers, including about 38 square kilometers of land and about 122 square kilometers of water around 9 islands: Hon Tre, Hon Mieu, Hon Tam, Hon Mot, Hon Hon. Mun, Hon Cau, Hon Vung, Hon Rom and Hon Ngoc.
In addition to visiting Hon Mun Island, many tourists come to Hon Mun to experience scuba diving, glass-bottom boat rides, skydiving… Visitors here are asked not to bring plastic bottled drinking water, plastic bags and water bottles. Disposable plastic waste to protect marine ecosystems.
The color of coral reefs under the sea of Hon Mun. This marine reserve has diverse ecosystems, from corals, seagrass beds, to mangroves, soft bottoms or cliffs, in which hard corals are found concentrated in Hon Mun.
According to published documents, Hon Mun reef has the highest international importance and biodiversity in Vietnam, with about 1,500 species of creatures, including 350 species of coral out of 2,000 species of coral and coral reefs. marine life around the world.
In addition to coral, marine life in Hon Mun has more than 250 species of reef fish, 112 species of mollusks, 122 species of crustaceans, 27 species of echinoderms, 69 species of seaweed and seagrasses, including hermit crabs that borrow snail shells to make a residence.
Trung said that to capture marine life, he had to learn the basic 18-meter diving course in 3 days at a professional scuba diving center Travel & Diving in Nha Trang belonging to PADI – International Diving Association.
According to PADI, in order to avoid risks and adverse effects on Hon Mun reef, diving visitors are required to have a certificate and during the diving process are always supervised and monitored by PADI experts from the shore to the bottom. country.
The suitable scuba diving season at Hon Mun is from March to July every year due to the favorable conditions of the sea with few waves. Located about 10 km from Cau Da port, Hon Mun coral reef has become an attractive diving spot for Vietnam and internationally, especially for scuba diving.
“Just diving at a depth of up to 10m is to admire the wonderful landscape of Hon Mun aquarium, from coral reefs to diverse sea creatures,” Trung said.
Reef fish are often mesmerizingly colorful, but some species also develop spines to defend themselves and challenge predators, such as the lionfish (pictured). The large pectoral fins of this fish are like wings on their backs, sticking out long, venomous spines, slowly swimming close to their bewildered prey and stabbing them with their spikes.
During the dive, if you have a keen eye, you will encounter creatures with magical shapes, such as this Christmas tree-like sea worm.
Trung shared that in order to take a beautiful and realistic sea photo, it is necessary to have diving skills, a good camera, a set of waterproof equipment, a specialized lens for taking panoramas or macros, and a specialized light due to the light. Underwater is weak when diving deep.
In addition, the photographer also noted: “Shooting undersea scenery is not easy, divers must have a good underwater balance to adjust the body and have a good angle.”
A unique form of sea creature with a radiating blue tail. It is made of a leather tube that wraps around its body and raises its tail in the water to filter out food that is floating creatures in the water.
A species of sea anemone lives clinging to the reef. Sea anemones belong to the phylum of the cephalopod, which has many tentacles to capture fish and small crustaceans. On the tentacles secrete poison to kill prey.
A symbiotic, mutually beneficial life form, as is the case with clownfish, which avoid predators while living among the tentacles of anemones. The clownfish’s body is covered with a protective mucus layer, so it is not affected by the anemone’s venom, whereas the anemone receives the leftover food from the clownfish.
Diving into the “silver sea” of Hon Mun, you can also see a similar symbiosis of transparent shrimp and sea anemones. The shrimp hides safely when camouflaged among the milky white anemone clusters, in return the anemone can benefit from the shrimp’s scattered food.
Small shrimp and bubble coral are shaped like eggs.
“When swimming across this bubble coral, if I look closely, I see a small and rather shy shrimp hiding inside. A little bit of patience to wait, the shrimp was friendly and crawled out for me to focus, “said Trung.
The photographer shared that when diving at Hon Mun at a depth of 8-12 m, in addition to the above creatures, there are many other interesting and diverse scenes, such as grouper weighing 7-8 kg, eel 3-4 m or huge schools of anchovies hovering over people.
Photographer Pham Huy Trung is famous for his landscape photos taken from above. Before that, he had achieved many achievements in both domestic and international photography such as the first prize for aerial photography at the 2017 Skypixel contest, the first prize in Vietnam’s national photography category at the 2018 Sony photo contest, and recently the first prize for photography. 1st in the overhead photo category at the 35AWARDS 2020 contest.
In 2020, Mr. Trung began to conquer the more difficult genre of photography than taking photos under the sea combined with trips to explore the sea Hon Mun (Khanh Hoa), Hon Yen (Phu Yen), Con Dao (Ba Ria – Vung Tau).
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