19 Apr 2023
I woke up on the sundeck feeling surprisingly refreshed. It It was a fairly breezy night, so I tucked my beanbag behind a big table, which acted as a decent wind block. Tomorrow, I’ll try to remember to bring my phone up with me so I can get some pictures of the sunrise.
Dive #6 – Terbang Selatan
Terbang=flying, as the current can get a bit exciting at times 🙂
Map by Nora Niggs
The topography on all our dives today is essentially the same- steep walls with shallow reefs on top.
I haven’t seen as many parrotfish on this trip as I have other places, and the ones I did see were shy, so I was glad to finally get a picture of one, a Darkcapped parrotfish:
Royal dottybacks are so pretty!
Ugh, I kept spotting groups of these little cardinalfish hiding in the coral and I tried so hard to get a good picture of them, but this one of their backs is the only in-focus one 🙁
Scorpionfish!
Normally, these guys are very well camouflaged, but this one was just hanging out in the open on this coral!
This Foursaddle grouper is a much better hider:
Longnose hawkfish:
A small pack of Two-stripe damselfish:
Blueband goby:
Juvenile Canary wrasse:
Fang blenny, peeking out of his hole:
Dive #7 – Dinding Terbang
Same topography as the first, just further south along the wall (dinding=wall).
This tiny triplefin was so hard for my camera to focus on (he’s just under an inch long, but blends so well into his coral):
Clownfish family:
Their anemone was rather photogenic:
This was one cool-looking fish, but he zipped through so quickly this was the only shot I got of him- no idea who he is 🙁
I feel like his red tail should be distinctive, but I can’t find this little shrimp in my fish book 🙁
Reticulidia fungia, hidden, but you can see his rhinophores this time- definitely a nudibranch!
Coryphellina expotata:
Redfin bream:
Another Coryphellina expotata:
Ugh, so that little guy in the middle of the picture is a nudibranch, but he was tucked into that crevice and would not come out, nor could I get my camera in so I have no idea who he is either (not a good dive for fish ID):
Flagtail grouper:
Dive #8 – Tanjung Mimpi Manis
Basically the same dive as the first, but the current changed so we swam in the opposite direction.
A shrimp hanging off the ceiling:
A skeptical Midnight snapper:
Longnose hawkfish:
I had seen him free-swimming earlier, then spotted that Longnose hawkfish and set to photographing him. When I looked down, this crinoid had become stuck to my leg- his arms are like velcro and I didn’t know how to get him off without hurting him so I screamed (seemed like the easiest way to get my guide’s attention). When the group turned, I signaled that something was wrong and pointed at my leg. Meidy swam over and carefully peeled him off.
Green damselfish- I saw these guys quite frequently and finally captured one with his dorsal fin up (I think it looks like a mohawk):
Blacklip butterflyfish:
A well-hidden Foursaddle grouper:
Ok, so this is a terrible picture, but there was a whole school of these surgeonfish swimming through:
and every now and then, one would light up like this:
I’m assuming it’s part of their mating process, and wish I could have gotten a better shot (they swam off as soon as I got close), but still cool to watch!
Threeband pennantfish:
Humphead bannerfish:
Coryphellina expotata:
Nembrotha cristata:
Sea krait!
These guys are quite venomous, but as long as you don’t provoke them, they’re pretty content to just hunt and leave us divers alone. They can hold their breath for up to 2 hours so it’s fun to watch them poke in and out of the corals looking for food.
Flatworm Pseudobiceres gloriosus:
The top of this wall was covered in corals- I could have spent the entire dive up here in the shallows!
Another beautiful sunset at sea:
A special after dinner birthday celebration, complete with song and cake!
