{"id":7958,"date":"2016-02-03T04:55:26","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T20:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/?p=7958"},"modified":"2018-12-31T06:13:59","modified_gmt":"2018-12-30T22:13:59","slug":"the-spectacular-coral-reef-walls-of-mount-mutiny-bligh-waters-fiji","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/the-spectacular-coral-reef-walls-of-mount-mutiny-bligh-waters-fiji.html","title":{"rendered":"The Spectacular Coral Reef Walls of Mount Mutiny, Bligh Waters, Fiji"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of most spectacular underwater sights I saw while in Fiji was the incredible wall at Mount Mutiny, a huge coral bommie in the Bligh Waters near the middle of the Fiji Islands. Mount Mutiny is surrounded by deep water and typically bathed in strong ocean currents rich with plankton, so the vast walls are covered with colorful invertebrate life, most notably large expanses of Chironephthya<\/em><\/a> and Dendronephthya<\/em><\/a> soft corals. Here are some of my favorite images from Mount Mutiny which I visited while on the liveaboard dive boat Nai’a<\/a>, photographed at depths ranging from about 80′ to as shallow as 15′. Cheers, and thanks for looking!<\/p>\n

\"Red<\/a><\/p>\n

Red whip coral, Ellisella ceratophyta, Mount Mutiny, Bligh Waters, Fiji
\nImage ID: 31332<\/a>
\nSpecies: Gorgonian<\/a>, Whip Coral<\/a>, Gorgonacea<\/i><\/a>, Ellisella ceratophyta<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Crinoid<\/a><\/p>\n

Crinoid clinging to gorgonian sea fan, Mount Mutiny, Bligh Waters, Fiji
\nImage ID: 31368<\/a>
\nSpecies: Crinoid Feather Star<\/a>, Gorgonian<\/a>, Crinoidea<\/i><\/a>, Gorgonacea<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Branching<\/a><\/p>\n

Branching whip coral (Ellisella sp.) captures passing planktonic food in ocean currents, Mount Mutiny, Bligh Waters, Fiji
\nImage ID: 31369<\/a>
\nSpecies: Branching Whip Coral<\/a>, Ellisella<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Spectacularly<\/a><\/p>\n

Spectacularly colorful dendronephthya soft corals on South Pacific reef, reaching out into strong ocean currents to capture passing planktonic food, Mount Mutiny, Bligh Waters, Fiji
\nImage ID: 31370<\/a>
\nSpecies: Dendronephthya Soft Coral<\/a>, Black Sun Coral<\/a>, Dendronephthya<\/i><\/a>, Tubastrea micrantha<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Brain<\/a><\/p>\n

Brain corals on tropical coral reef, Mount Mutiny, Bligh Waters, Fiji. Left brain coral is Symphllia, right bain coral is Platygyra lamellina.
\nImage ID: 31371<\/a>
\nSpecies: Brain Coral<\/a>, Symphyllia<\/i><\/a>, Platygyra lamellina<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Spectacularly<\/a><\/p>\n

Spectacularly colorful dendronephthya soft corals on South Pacific reef, reaching out into strong ocean currents to capture passing planktonic food, Mount Mutiny, Bligh Waters, Fiji
\nImage ID: 31496<\/a>
\nSpecies: Dendronephthya Soft Coral<\/a>, Dendronephthya<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Spectacularly<\/a><\/p>\n

Spectacularly colorful dendronephthya soft corals on South Pacific reef, reaching out into strong ocean currents to capture passing planktonic food, Mount Mutiny, Bligh Waters, Fiji
\nImage ID: 31499<\/a>
\nSpecies: Dendronephthya Soft Coral<\/a>, Dendronephthya<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Colorful<\/a><\/p>\n

Colorful Chironephthya soft coral coloniea in Fiji, hanging off wall, resembling sea fans or gorgonians. Mount Mutiny, Bligh Waters, Fiji.
\nImage ID: 31694<\/a>
\nSpecies: Gorgonian<\/a>, Chironephthya Soft Coral<\/a>, Gorgonacea<\/i><\/a>, Chironephthya<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of most spectacular underwater sights I saw while in Fiji was the incredible wall at Mount Mutiny, a huge coral bommie in the Bligh Waters near the middle of the Fiji Islands. Mount Mutiny is surrounded by deep water and typically bathed in strong ocean currents rich with plankton,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8282,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,111,123,127],"tags":[230,240,330],"class_list":{"0":"post-7958","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fiji","8":"category-seascapes","9":"category-underwater-photography","10":"category-vatu-i-ra-passage","11":"tag-coral-reefscapes","12":"tag-fiji","13":"tag-underwater"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}