Description

Up until last month, I had seen maybe 3 Pygmy Pipe Horses in over 8 years of scuba diving, in fact, Pygmy Pipe Horses were fairly mythical and rare for the waters of Thailand. I remember the only place we ever found them with any certainty was Richelieu Rock Similan Islands and the Surin Islands.

Here is the first Pygmy Pipe Horse I ever found, all the way back in 2015 at Richelieu Rock, how freaking awesome is it!

Shortpouch Pygmy Pipe Horse – Richelieu Rock

Recently though, I’ve seen probably closer to another 50 unique Pygmy Pipe Horses over the course of about 4 dives thanks to a special find at Kata Beach. Here is a snippet of those finds.

Shortpouch Pygmy Pipe Horse – Kata Beach

Shortpouch Pygmy Pipe Horse – Kata Beach

Shortpouch Pygmy Pipe Horse – Kata Beach

Crazy right, they are out there in a special spot just clinging to pretty much everything with their prehensile tail swinging about in the current and surge. Directions to the special spot are secret so that other divers don’t damage it, the area is very fragile and so will remain hidden for now.

The reason I posted the main image above is that it has taken me a few hundred shots over the last few weeks to get even a half decent portrait shot of the face of a Pygmy Pipe Horse, yes it could still be better, but dam these guys hate staying still.

He kinda looks like an angry duck telling you to F^(% off, enjoy!