Title: "Cautious Curiosity"

(Delicate Blenny, Glyptoparus delicatulus, taking refuge in an empty worm hole)

Guam, Micronesia, 1999

TOTAL EDITION: 500

SIZE: 11.5" X 16.5" (29 cm X 42 cm)

The fringing reef around Guam is slotted with numerous "surge channels" created by the rushing water of wave action. Thousands of tiny fish are found here, often using vacant worm burrows for safe protection from predators and photographers. My favorite of these are the blennies, who behave like underwater prairie dogs. Perching on high coral heads, they defend their territories from each other and dash into a nearby hole when any threat appears. If you wait patiently, they will reappear, as this one did, watching me from its tiny (.25") hole.