I like to snorkel and hike, and I check out the fauna and flora that I see. For about the last 20 years, I've snorkeled somewhere almost every year in the Caribbean or Hawaii. In the beginning, I was just interested in the fish. Later, I became interested in invertebrates, and eventually started to appreciate corals as well. Not surprisingly, I wanted to know more about what I saw, at least to know what they were. I have a few ID books, and I use them and a few websites to identify what I photograph.