Outer Reef, West Side

The outer west reef, where crown-of-thorns activity had Michel keeping an eye out. Also here: a giant moray, camouflaged reef life, a black sea cucumber, porcupinefish — and a rare run of open-water schools, jacks and trevally and what look like skipjack tuna, the top predators that were otherwise conspicuously scarce on this reef.

30 photographs — scroll to see them all.