20 Apr 2023
Sleeping on the sundeck has its advantages, like being able to catch beautiful sunrises like this one:
This is Nyata, the island we’ll be diving around today.
Dive #9 – Pantai Utara
Map by Nora Niggs
When I first saw this guy, I thought he was a new-to-me fish, but no, this unfortunate friend just has an parasite stuck to his face 🙁
A Bluelined surgeonfish (top) and 2 Bluelipped surgeonfish (bottom):
Checkerboard wrasse:
Lyetail hogfish:
I really like these guys, but they don’t like to stay still for pictures 🙁
A Pyramid butterflyfish and a Redtoothed triggerfish:
This anemone was such a vibrant pink! I saw it off in the distance and even then, with no added light, it was this beautiful pink. I took its picture because I wanted to know what color it actually was and was pleasantly surprised to see it didn’t really change:
Another pink-ish anemone, this one with some tiny not-Nemos:
Spawning barrel coral!
I’ve seen smaller corals spawn, but nothing like this!
Another pink anemone with a dark not-Nemo:
Redfin butterflyfish:
That pinkish-purple stuff is a coral-killing sponge- an invasive, encrusting sponge that overgrows living corals:
Spotted stingray (hiding under a coral ledge):
So many tiny cardinalfish living in this coral:
Ugh, a Jewel damselfish, diving out of my picture:
A rather jovial looking Whitecheek surgeonfish with an Ambon chromis friend:
Chevroned butterflyfish:
Dive #10 – Nyata Lighthouse
For this dive, we moved a bit further west, toward the lighthouse:
Map by Nora Niggs
Hey look! a lighthouse!
A red fish on a red coral:
Redtoothed triggerfish and a Golden damselfish:
Threespot angelfish:
Emperor angelfish:
Pink anemonefish:
Another unfortunate fish with a parasite on his face:
This is an oyster!
I’ve seen several of these Twospined angelfish, but this is the closest I’ve come to getting a picture of one:
Phyllidia varicosa:
Dot-dash butterflyfish:
Whitebelly damselfish (with a yellow belly… who named this guy!?):
Phyllidiopsis shireenae:
Another entry in “Coral or Nudibranch”:
Answer: nudibranch!
(not-so-)Giant clam!
(he was a little over a foot long)
Leaf scorpionfish!
Same guy, other side- he was quite active!
(it probably didn’t help that several divers before me had been taking his picture, he may have just been over us)
Blackspotted puffer:
he was hiding under this large coral:
Glossodoris rufomarginata:
This afternoon, there was a solar eclipse!
Board by Kevin
The path of totality crosses Nyata so we shifted our dive times a bit so we could watch it- Nora even ordered special glasses for everyone:
I used my glasses to protect my camera to get these stellar photos:
Unfortunately, we were just a bit outside the totality zone, so it didn’t get completely dark, but it was shadowed enough that I didn’t need my sunglasses, which was pretty cool.
Dive #11 – Nyata Karang Tengah
Karang tengah=central reef- basically, we dove the area between our first 2 sites.
Orangutan crab:
This guy wasn’t as fuzzy as most- I don’t remember seeing their arm stripes before!
Another coral being attacked by the encrusting sponge:
Oyster:
I really had no idea they were so colorful!
Dark anemonefish and a pink anemonefish:
Crabs also hide in anemones:
The back end of a Bornella anguilla:
and his face!
He was crawling through too much stuff to get all of him in one shot
Another orangutan crab:
Triplefin:
These guys are tiny and blend is very well with their coral- I was surprised to get a picture in focus!
Two lionfish resting on a sponge:
Two crabs hanging out in an anemone:
Fish face!
As much as I love fish profiles, it is sometimes fun when one turns and looks at me all surprised.
Whitecheek surgeonfish:
Jewel damselfish:
A small school of small fishes:
Whitemouth moray eel:
Unfortunately, the winds picked up again during our last dive and the ocean was quite choppy:
^- this is the view from the porthole in our room. Fun fact: portholes aren’t completely waterproof (or at least ours wasn’t). Small water rivulets ran down our walls and I was glad my bed wasn’t next to the wall, though with the amount of creaking, there was no way I could sleep below deck tonight.
Fortunately, the skies were clear and I rather enjoy sleeping out under the stars.
