21 Apr 2023
Last night was rocky and windy, so I didn’t bring my camera up to the sundeck with me, so no sunrise picture, but we finally made it to Wetar:
(technically, Wetar is the larger island in the back- this is Reong, a tiny island off the northwest corner)
Dive #12 – Reong Ridges
Our first dive will be off this beautiful shoreline.
Map by Nora Niggs
Sea krait!
Banded coral shrimp:
A sap-sucking slug, Thuridilla gracilis:
Hypselodoris tryoni:
Juvenile wrasse:
Bluefin trevally:
Emperor angelfish at a cleaning station:
Checkerboard wrasse:
Regal angelfish:
Splendid dottyback:
Another spawning barrel coral:
Dive #13 – Tanjung Tutunukae
We repositioned for our next dive to the south and found these amazing glass-like seas!
Our next two dives will be spent exploring this site:
Map by Nora Niggs
Bubble coral shrimp!
Sweeper:
Phyllidiella pustulosa:
Trumpetfish:
Another sea krait!!
HA! A Twospined angelfish out in the open!!!
The tiniest little juvenile snapper:
This is what he’ll look like when he grows up:
Banded coral crab claw:
Squarespot anthias!
I kept seeing these guys at a distance and finally was able to get close enough for a decent picture
The big purpley-pink-red one is a male, the orange ones are females.
A crinoid squat lobster on a crinoid (a stationary one, not free-swimming like the one that got me):
A moray eel with a little shrimp on his head!
Squat lobster!
Redtoothed triggerfish:
Scalefin anthias:
A rather grumpy anemonefish:
Another Scalefin anthias:
I was trying to get a picture of that Dispar anthias in the back, but got photobombed by the harem instead:
Dive #14 – Tanjung Tutunukae
Same site, but the current had shifted so we drifted the other way.
Scorpionfish:
Wire coral goby:
Bubble coral shrimp:
Another sap-sucking slug, Thuridilla flavomaculata:
Squat lobster:
Tiny hermit crab:
Orangutan crab:
A whole school of stripy little fish:
Yet another sea krait:
King damselfish:
I have no idea how my guide spotted this little nudibranch- it was only 1/2″ long!
(a young Samla bicolor, I think)
After our dives, we all went up to the sundeck for some refreshments and entertainment courtesy of the boat’s band!
Meidy (on the upright bass), Paman (tambourine), Dar (vocals and guitar) and Ronald (percussion):
Paman’s real role was to dance as silly as possible to make Dar laugh and lose his spot. If I can figure out how to upload videos here I will because he’s pretty amusing 🙂
Tonight’s sunset was beautiful!
The eastern view was beautiful too:
Great music, great views
The sky was seriously glowing- there was no way my camera could do it justice:
Music by candlelight:
