When I visited the Manila Ocean Park almost four years ago, I met so many sea creatures of different forms and sizes. Some look adorable and gargantuan while others look just really exotic. The strikingly unusual water animals are the ones in the fray to give visitors a bizarre yet enticing and memorable experience.
At first glance, the subject in the photo looks like twigs buried in the sand. When you get up close, you will realize that they are living creatures called spotted garden eels. They are also mistaken as sticks in the water at times because they are poking out of sand. Most of the time though, they resemble to plants in a grassplot. Hence, the name garden eel. They live individually in burrows from which they protrude and will only withdraw when disturbed. This form of strange behavior of burrowing half of their bodies in the sand to make their heads project is actually a defense mechanism against predators. This is what makes them stand out from the rest.
If you want to see more of these water animals, visit these posts: “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” and “Manila Ocean Park: A Window to the Living Ocean“.
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STORIES OF THE WANDERING FEET & MIND 
This is a great capture. As you mentioned, initially I thought this was sticks sticking out of sand. Those eels don’t look shy, maybe they are friendly if they stand like that all day. At the same time, they look lazy since they are not moving around too much 😀
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I read somewhere that those eels are very docile. And yeah, lazy.
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Those eels really do look like little twigs. I’m always fascinated to see photos of the amazing life to be found on the ocean bed. It’s really a whole other world, isn’t it? 🙂 Great take on the challenge.
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Thanks for the kind words. Yes, marine life is really fascinating. It’s like part of the Middle Earth in a way.
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