It’s Chinese New Year today, and this year is the Year of the Dragon. The Year of the Dragon is meant to be a good sign, as the dragon is a special creature and much revered. People born under this year are said to stand out and have a certain aura about them.

In Chinese astrology the dragon is the only animal in the Chinese zodiac that is not a ‘real’ animal.

We have a few dragons underwater in Lembeh; the Lembeh Seadragon, the Dragon Shrimp and the Dragon Sea Moth. This week I was very lucky to get some special video of the last of those, the Dragon, or Pegasus, Sea Moth.

As I wrote in an earlier post, patience is a virtue in Lembeh. The critters here rarely sit or pose in exactly the position that you would like them too. But with patience and time you can get the images you are hoping for.

The Dragon Sea Moth probably has one of the most photographed bottoms in the world (maybe J-Lo wins..). The Sea Moths are one of the truly bizarre fish. The are fairly small, usually about 10cm (3.5 inches) long and seem to have wings, legs, a bird-like beak and a strange big lump between it’s shoulders. They often are found in pairs and they ‘walk’ around sandy/rubbley areas, 15m (50 feet) deep or so. They are fascinating to look at and generally do not seem to care that you are there watching them…that is until you want to take photos or videos of them. As soon as your lens goes down, they turn around and walk off in the opposite direction…and you’ve got another video or photo of their behind…

But I am a patient man (it’s not an oxymoron girls, we do exist). I have patiently been waiting for one of them to be so interested in eating that he forgets about me and finally this week, the beginning of the Year of the Dragon, it happened. An auspicious moment indeed!!!

So I found three Sea Moths together and one of them actually let me film him head on. This was very exciting as it gave me the chance to finally see it’s mouth and how it eats. I have tried so many times in the past to get these ‘head on’ shots, that I thought it was never going to happen. So enjoy the beginning to the Year of the Dragon with some very rare footage of the face of a Dragon Sea Moth.

Click here to watch the video in a new window

As well as the Dragon Sea Moths, we’ve also seen Ambon Scorpionfish, Lembeh Velvetfish, Raggy Scorpionfish, Cockatoo Waspfish, Spiny Devilfish, Stargazers, Starry Blennies, Crocodile Flatheads, juvenile Barramundi Cod, juvenile Finger Dragonets, Signal Gobies, Bobbit Worms and Stonefish. There have been Bumble Bee Shrimp, Tiger Shrimp, Xeno Crabs, Whip Coral Shrimp, Paron Shrimp, Saron Shrimp, Donald Duck Shrimp, Candy Crabs, Carry Crabs, Decorator Crabs, Skeleton Shrimp, Porcelain Crabs, Elegant Crinoid Squat Lobster, Squat Shrimp, Hairy Shrimp, Rock Shrimp, Harlequin Crabs, Halimeda Crabs, Commensal Shrimp, Emperor Shrimp, Golden Mantis, Peacock Mantis, Zebra Mantis and many more. There have been Giant, Painted, Hairy, Freckled and Warty Frogfish. We have seen Denise and Bargabanti Seahorses, as well as Common, Thorny, Estuary and Long Snout Seahorses, and many pipefish, including Winged, Ringed, Double Ended and Network, and we’ve seen pygmy Pipehorses and Lembeh Seadragons. Cephalopods include Mimic, Wonderpus, Long Arm, Day and Coconut Octopus, Broadclub, Pygmy and Flamboyant Cuttlefish and Bob Tail Squid. And, as ever, lots and lots of nudis….

Thanks to all our lovely guests from Canada, the States, the UK, Italy, Singapore, Germany, Japan and China – it’s been a great week’s diving.

P.S. Last week’s blog seemed to have got messed up, but it is now OK and readable

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One of our favourite little critters here is the Arrowhead or, as we prefer to call it, the Halimeda Crab.

Halimeda growing (and a Halimeda Crab hidden in the middle)	Halimeda Crab in the open

It belongs to the Imitator Crab family and can be rather difficult to find, as it is a master of camouflage…

Halimeda is probably the most common large algae we get in Lembeh. There are not many underwater plants as photosynthesis is difficult at depth, but there are quite a few algae and the Halimeda algae looks quite plant-like. And as not many underwater critters eat Halimeda, it is a good object to imitate.

The Halimeda Crab starts this process by being green. It is known as a Arrowhead Crab as it’s has a triangular carapace (shell), with a pointed rostrum (the forward extension of it’s shell).

Now that is not immediately obvious with many of the Halimeda Crabs here, as they also attach segments of Halimeda to the rostrum and blend perfectly in my the Halimeda growing out of the substrate.

They make quite a comical sight when they walk around if there is a current, as the big bit of algae attached to it’s head means that they keep getting knocked backwards with the water movement. They are a great subject to photograph and another wonderful example of mimicry and survival in Lembeh.

Click here to see video in a new window

This weeks diving has been very good. We’ve seen more Blue Rings, Mimics, Wonderpus, Long Arm, Coconut and Day Octopus. There have been Flamboyant, Giant, Pygmy and Broadclub Cuttlefish. As well as the Halimeda Crabs there have been Tiger Shrimp, Bumble Bee Shrimp, Crinoid Shrimp, Hairy Squat Lobster, Hairy Shrimp, Elegant Squat Lobster, Bubble Coral Shrimp, Emperor Shrimp, Xenia Shrimp, Xenia Crabs, Xeno Crabs, Whip Coral Shrimp, Orang Utan Crabs, Sponge Leg Crabs, Peacock Mantis Shrimp, Decorator Crabs, Carry Crabs, Spider Crabs, Harlequin Crabs, Snapping Shrimp, Blue Boxer Shrimp, Boxing Crabs and many more. There have been more Pink and Yellow Bargabantis, Denise and Pontohi Pygmy Seahorses, as well as Common, Thorny and Estuary Seahorses. We are still seeing Ornate and Robust Ghost Pipefish, as well as Lembeh Pygmy Seadragons, Pygmy Pipehorses, Pipehorses and Pipefish (including the Winged Pipefish). And there have been Giant, Occellated (Coin Bearing), Hairy, Painted, Crimson and Warty Frogfish. And we’ve seen Pegasus Sea Moths, Ambon Scorpionfish, Lembeh Velvetfish, Stargazers, Bobbit Worms, Bobtail Squid, Egg Cowries, Demon Scorpionfish, Waspfish, Crocodile Flatheads, Crocodile Snake Eels, Cockatoo Flounder, Ribbon Eels, Helmut Gurnards and many many nudibranchs, including Batangas Halgerdas, Grass Blade Sea Hares, Lembeh Janolus and many more..

Thanks to our lovely guests from Canada, Japan, the States, Malaysia and Russia.

Apologies for the photos this week, but Barb is away, so the photos are mine….

In Hans Christian Andersen’s lovely story, The Ugly Duckling, a small ‘ugly’ little duckling grows up to be a beautiful swan and often this, at least above water, seems to ring true.. dull chicks grow up to be beautiful birds, caterpillars turn into stunning butterflies and so on…

..but in Lembeh the opposite is often true. It’s the juveniles that seem to have to most vibrant and colourful bodies and as they grow up they become much more drab.

We think this is because a bright and colourful body often means ‘Watch Out!! I’m poisonous!!’ and so hopefully evade any nasty predators out there. As they become adults, then camouflage is more important, so they start to blend in more.

Adult Fingered Dragonet

Juvenile Fingered Dragonet

There are many examples of this, from Batfish to Dragonets, Parrotfish to Soles. And the reason I was thinking about this was I found a very beautiful juvenile Egg Cowrie.

As adult, Egg Cowries are not the most exciting of critters. Most divers would swim over one, as the do not ever seem to move, and are completely covered by their black mantles. They sit on leathery soft coral, which they eat.

Click to see video in a new window

The juveniles, however, are very beautiful and very occasionally we catch one moving. These lovely molluscs have big bulbous papillae sticking out, coloured yellow and white.

Egg Cowries get their name from their shells. You never really get to see much of the shell, but underneath the black mantle is a large and completely white shell which resembles a boiled egg….

The rest of the week has been excellent. We’ve seen several Blue rings on several different sites. There have been Wonderpus, Mimics, Long Arm, Shaggy, Coconut and Reef Octopus, as well as Flamboyant, Broadclub and Pygmy Cuttlefish. Seahorses have been lovely, with Yellow and Pink Bargabantis, Denise, Pontohi and Severn’s Pygmy Seahorses, along with Common, Thorny and Estuary Seahorses. We’ve also seen Ornate, Robust and Halimeda Ghost Pipefish. And there have been plenty of Pipefish, including some lovely Winged Pipefish, and Pipehorses. Crustaceans include Tiger Shrimp, Tozeuma Shrimp, Elegant Squat Lobster, Hairy Squat Lobster, Squat Shrimp, Candy Crabs, Carry Crabs, Decorator Crabs, Whip Coral Shrimp, Mantis Shrimp (and some with eggs), Boxer Crabs, Blue Boxer Shrimp, Bumble Bee Shrimp, Crinoid Shrimp, Spider Crabs, Orang Utan Crabs, Halimeda Crabs, Harlequin Crabs, Xeno Crabs, Cleaner Shrimp, Emperor Shrimp, Donald Duck Shrimp and many more. The have been many types of frogfish, with Hairy, Giant, Painted, Warty, Occellated (Coin Bearing) and Freckled. And we’ve seen Ambon Scorpionfish, Leaf Scorpionfish, Fingered Dragonets, Mandarinfish, juvenile Sole, Cockatoo Flounder, Napoleon Snake Eels, Helmut Gurnards, Pegasus Sea Moths, a Bamboo Shark, an Eagle Ray, Waspfish, Bobbitt Worm, Bob Tail Squid, juvenile Barramundi Cod. And lots and lots of nudis..

Thanks to all our great guests this week, from Japan, the States, the UK, Singapore, Australia and Indonesia.

Enjoy Barb’s lovely photos. click on the photo strip at the top or bottom of this blog.

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We had a wonderful 2011 at KBR. I always tell our guests, when they ask where is my favourite location in the world for diving, that Lembeh is the only place I’ve been where you genuinely do not want to miss a dive, as it is just so interesting and there are just so many things to see. It is impossible to get bored underwater here…..

..and, on top of that, we’ve had a wonderful time with the owners and staff. All the staff are just so friendly and it has been an honour to dive with such talented and tireless Dive Guides who find, time after time, day after day, so many amazing critters…

We ended the year in style, with a delicious BBQ, dancing and a magnificent firework display on the floating dock….and just like last year, the fireworks were at 9pm, as everyone wanted to go to bed not too late, as we had a full days diving to look forward to.

Panoramic taken at 7:30am on January the 1st 2012 of KBR’s Bay

And the first dive of the year did not disappoint…everyone was up, bright and early and after the last few days of grey skies, the sun was out and the Strait looked beautiful…

Barb and I went on the boat going to Nudi Falls, Barb’s favourite dive site. It really was perfect, no current, no other dive boats. Just before we got in, I asked Barb to find me a Donald Duck Shrimp. I haven’t seen many, and they are one of my favourites critters to see…..

..so the dive started and within about 2 minutes Ade (one of the Dive Supervisors here) found a Blue Ring Octopus!!! What a way to start your first dive on the first day of the year!! He was a lovely little fella and posed well for everyone.

That made me forget about my Donald Duck Shrimp. But after a while of watching our guests enjoy the Blue Ring I kept on hearing a faint rattle in the distance. I looked around and saw Barb waving me over towards here.

I swam over to see what she had found, and yes, it was a Donald Duck Shrimp!!! Barb seems to have an uncanny ability to find these shy crustaceans. They are a very bizarre shrimp, with a long feathery beak-like rostrum that sticks out in front of them and gives them their name.

It’s quite an incredible sensory array and I have no idea what it’s beak does, but it does make it a really great shrimp to photograph and video. And wonderful that Barb found one for me..the dive really was perfect..

Click to see the video in a new window

And then we found a Flamboyant Cuttlefish, a Robust Ghost Pipefish, a Estuary Seahorse, many Nudibranchs, a Pegasus Sea Moth, a really sweet Coconut Octopus with just it’s eyes bulging out of it’s clam shell home, the hairiest Orang Utan Crab I’ve ever seen, a Xeno Crab and much more…all in all a perfect dive to start 2012..

And as the year ended, so did December, and here is the December’s 2011 Critter list…

As you can see, December was a great great month, with an amazing variety of critters to be seen. The above list is not the whole year, just December!!

And the last week have been pretty good too. We’ve seen Mimics, Blue Rings, Wonderpus, Coconut, Long Arm and Reef Octopus. There have been Flamboyant, Pygmy, Giant and Broadclub Cuttlefish. There have been Donald Duck Shrimp, Tiger Shrimp, Bumblebee Shrimp, Xeno Crabs, Xenia Crabs, Xenia Shrimp, Blue Boxer Shrimp, Boxing Crabs, Candy Crabs, Carry Crabs, Porcelain Crabs, Painted Porcelain Crabs, Emperor Shrimp, Elegant Crinoid Squat Lobster, Hairy Squat Lobster, Squat Shrimp, Decorator Crabs, Sponge Leg Crabs, Spider Crabs, Sea Spiders (including one with eggs), Orang Utan Crabs, Halimeda Crabs, Crinoid Shrimp, Snapping Shrimp, Whip Coral Shrimp, Sea Cucumber Crabs, Peacock Mantis, Zebra Mantis, Zebra Crabs, Cleaner Shrimp and many more. We’ve also seen Lembeh Velvetfish, Ambon Scorpionfish, Pegasus Sea Moths, Leaf Scorpionfish, Fingered Dragonets, Helmut Gurnards, Bobbitt Worms, Reptilian Snake Eels, Spiny Devilfish, Flasher Scorpionfish, Stonefish, Crocodile Flatheads, Cockatoo Waspfish and Cockatoo Flounder. And Yellow and Pink Bargabanti Pygmy Seahorses, as well as Severn’s, Pontohi and Denise Pygmy Seahorses. There have been Common, Estuary and Thorny Seahorse, Winged Pipefish, Orange Spotted Pipefish, Network Pipefish, Ringed Pipefish, Pygmy Pipehorses and Lembeh Pygmy Seadragons…and Robust, Ornate and Halimeda Ghost Pipefish.

Many thanks to all pour guests from the States, the UK, Switzerland, Sweden, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, Ireland and Denmark. It’s been a wonderful week.

And thank you to everyone who has sent such kind Christmas and New Year messages. We had a wonderful year and are looking forward to seeing you in 2012!!!!!!

Click the photo strip at the top or bottom of tis blog to see all of Barb’s fantastic photos from this week.

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Once again the regular 12 hours of daylight we get this close to the equator make it hard to believe that Christmas is really here..in fact now one day past.

We had a lovely Christmas here. My father and my cousin are visiting, and we’ve had great diving as usual.

This week I finally managed to get a little footage of a beautiful little critter, the aptly named, for this time of year, Candy Crab.

The Candy Crab’s usual name is a Soft Coral Crab, as that is what it lives on. However our guides have always called them Candy Crabs, as they really do look like you could pop one in your mouth!!

They are normally very small, but all of them are really lovely. They, a little like Decorator Crabs, actually pull live polyps off the soft coral and place them on their skin. This helps make them rather difficult to see, together with the fact that they are usually only a few millimetres big, though this one was a giant, as it was about 1cm wide.

Click to see the Video in a new window

Barb got her Christmas present this week, two Signal (Crab Eyed) Gobies. These wonderful gobies are quite rare and very shy. I made a post about them earlier this year, when I got some video of them, but Barb wasn’t on that dive, so she’s been looking for them every since….

..and as you can see, she got her wish this week, with the above lovely pair. The Signal Gobies discourage predators by turning sideways, jumping up and down and imitating crabs. If you squint your eyes and look at one, you can see that they do indeed resemble crabs.

And we also found a yellow Sea Fan with 12 (yes, twelve) Yellow Bargabanti Pygmy Seahorses. This photos has five of them in one shot, see if you can spot them all….

The rest of the week has been great…..

….we didn’t see Santa Claus underwater (maybe a few of his elves wearing Santa hats on Christmas day) but we did have a good week for my favourites, crustaceans, with Bumblebee Shrimp, Tiger Shrimp, Dragon Shrimp, Bubble Coral Shrimp, Blue Boxer Shrimp, Boxing Crabs, Orang Utan Crabs, Halimeda Crabs, Harlequin Crabs, Tozeuma Shrimp, Skeleton Shrimp, Whip Coral Shrimp, Xeno Crabs, Xenia Shrimp, Xenia Crabs, Decorator Crabs, Sponge Leg Crabs, Peacock Mantis, Zebra Mantis, Golden Mantis, Snapping Shrimp, Crinoid Shrimp, Candy Crabs, Carry Crabs, Sea Spiders, Spider Crabs, Hairy Squat Lobster, Elegant Squat Lobster, Squat Shrimp, Porcelain Crabs, Teddy Bear Crabs and many more..there were Mimics, Wonderpus, Long Arm, Day and Coconut Octopus. We saw Flamboyant, Broadclub, Pygmy and Giant Cuttlefish. Seahorses were fab, with Denise, Pontohi and Bargabanti Pygmy Seahorses, as well as Common, Estuary and Thorny Seahorse. We found a few Lembeh Pygmy Seadragons, some Pygmy Pipehorses, Winged Pipefish and Ornate and Robust Ghost Pipefish. And there were Leaf Scorpionfish, Waspfish, Ambon Scorpionfish, Spiny Devilfish, Lembeh Velvetfish, Signal Gobies, Cockatoo Flounder, Stonefish, Pegasus Sea Moths, Snake Blennies, Egg Cowries, Spindle Cowries, juvenile Barramundi Cod, juvenile Sweetlips, juvenile Fingered Dragonets and Giant, Warty, Painted and Hairy Frogfish.

So thanks to all our lovely guests for spending Christmas with us, form the States, Singapore, Russia, Belgium and Denmark.

Enjoy all of Barb’s photos from this week, just click the top or bottom photo strip.

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When Barb and I first got here we introduced a simple system to help us record the critters that are seen on dives here. Lembeh is such a special place that we felt, and still feel, that it is very important to make a record of all the amazing critters that are found here.

After every dive the guides write down three or four critters they saw on that site and I record all this information in a spread sheet. You get to see all of this in the monthly Critter Chart I produce at end the end of every month. When the list started it had a lot less than 100 critters on it. As the guides find more stuff, and as they learn more and more names, then the list gets added to and grows.

This week we hit a milestone, the 200 Critter Mark!!!! Now this really is quite an achievement. We do not list absolutely everything. We don’t list many Lionfish, or Puffers..most nudibranchs are listed as just that ‘nudibranch’, though we do have a few individuals listed. Crustaceans tend to get lumped under one banner, like ‘Cleaner Shrimp’ or ‘Decorator Crab’ when there are so many different types of each,

I am really astounded by just how many creatures exist in Lembeh. After all it is not exactly a huge area, with our main dive sites only covering about 8 miles (14km). And yet there are over 200 weird and wonderfully rare critters to be found.

So in honour of reaching 200 critters on the list, here is the full list (203 critters so far), published for the first time (apologies for any misspellings)….

I would like to thank all the guides for helping to produce this, both by recording the information for me and, of course, finding all these critters in the first place, and I look forward to getting more and more…roll on 300!!!!

This week’s video is of some of the wonderful nudibranchs I’ve seen over the past seven days. It has been a great week and I thought it was time to put some more of these wonderful creatures on display.

Click here to see the video in a new window

Nudibranches, sometimes known by their much less attractive name of ‘Sea Slugs’ are one of the wonders of the underwater realm. Unlike their land-based cousins, these ‘slugs’ are incredibly beautiful and exist in 1000s of different varieties.

This week’s diving has been great. The highlight for me was seeing nine baby Flamboyant Cuttlefish hatching!! It was incredible, just one after another after another…And there was even a tiny tiny nudibranch crawling on one of the eggs…really really amazing…

We also saw more Blue Rings, Mimics, Wonderpus, including one with eggs (which I missed again), Coconut, Occellate, Long Arm and Reef Octopus. As well as many Flamboyant Cuttlefish, we also saw some Pygmy and Broadclub Cuttlefish. Frogfish were excellent, with more Hairy, Giant, Painted, Freckled and Warty ones being seen. We also found Yellow and Pink Bargabanti Pygmy Seahorse, Denise Pygmy Seahorse and Common, Estuary and Thorny Seahorses. Crustaceans included Tiger Shrimp, Bumble Bee Shrimp, Skeleton Shrimp, Decorator Crabs, Carry Crabs, Candy Crabs, Elegant Crinoid Squat Lobster, Hairy Squat Lobster, Hairy Shrimp, Tozeuma Shrimp, Boxing Crabs, Snapping Shrimp, Brook’s Urchin Shrimp, Cleaner Shrimp, Harlequin Crabs, Hermit Crabs, Mantis Shrimp, Crinoid Shrimp, Porcelain Crabs, Xeno Crabs, Xenia Shrimp, Whip Coral Shrimp and many more. There were, as you saw in the video, many nudis, with Melibe’s, Batangas Halgerdas, Pikachu, Grass Blade Sea Hares, Freckled Sea Hares and many many more this week. And we saw Pegasus Sea Moths, juvenile Fingered Dragonets, Stonefish, Ambon Scorpionfish, Bobbit Worms, Sea Snakes, another Spotted Eagle Ray, Reptilian Snake Eels, juvenile Pinnate Batfish, Cockatoo Flounder, Electric Clams, Pygmy Pipedragons, Robust and Ornate Ghost Pipefish, Spiny Devilfish, Bent Stick Pipefish, Frimbrilated Morays and much much more.

Also this week the Second Annual Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition, organized by the Underwater Photography Guide, has announced its winners for 2011. This year’s Ocean Art Photo Competition represents entrants from over fifty countries.

Over $82,000 worth of prizes will be awarded to 52 underwater photographers, including a 10-night all-inclusive package for 2 people at KBR Lembeh, 18 nights in Papua New Guinea at Walindi/ Febrina and Loloata, 11 days on the SMY Ondina, 1.5 spots to the Socorro Islands aboard the Rocio Del Mar, an 11 day trip on the vessel KLM Aurora, a 7 day charter in Fiji aboard the Nai’a, 5 nights’ accommodations and diving at Wananavu, a one week package for 2 people at Maluku Divers Resort, and a trip to either Socorro or Guadalupe aboard Nautilus Explorer.

Judges this year included prestigious professional photographers Marty Snyderman, Bonnie Pelnar, Martin Edge, and Tony Wu.

There are at least 4 winners in each of 12 categories, including Wide-Angle, Macro, Portrait, Behavior, Novice, Nudibranchs, SuperMacro, Fashion, Coldwater, and 3 Compact Camera categories.

The Best of Show was a stunning wide-angle photograph of several manta rays, taken by Tobias Friedrich of Germany. Other stunning images include a hunting leopard seal, a pair of eels, and a beautiful squid composition. Thousands of entries were viewed by the judges before the final set of amazing images were selected, and deemed some of the best underwater photos in the world.

Judging was quite difficult due to the high quality of images. World famous underwater photographer and contest judge Martin Edge commented, “This year the judging was very tight due to so many superb images. After much discussion, agreements, and disagreements, we felt the winners really stood out. For myself, the best in show was the most awesome shot in the entire collection.”

Winning photos can be seen here:

http://www.uwphotographyguide.com/ocean-art-contest-winners-2011

Thank you to all our guests from Brazil, the States, Indonesia and Singapore. It’s been fab.

To see all of Barb’s photos this week, just click on the photo strip at the top or bottom of this blog. There are some really wonderful photos worth checking out…..

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Christmas is a big thing in Lembeh and today was the staff Christmas Party!! KBR has nearly 80 full time staff so it’s a big party!! And add family and children and you have a great day of fun.

It has been lovely to see everyone here. All the staff have wonderful personalities and love to sing and have fun. After lunch there are games to play and prizes to win. And there are also Christmas gifts which have been given by the owners, Mark Ecenbarger and his mother Kathryn, and also from Richard Lopez, our longest regular guest.

We also ran a Dive Guide and Boat Captain Critter ID competition. We showed them Lembeh critter pictures that Barb had taken and they had to ID them.

Liberty, surprise surprise, was the Dive Guide winner, closely followed by Rony. We got the Boat Captains involved too, and the winner there was Captain Jenly, with Captain Irfin a close second. The prizes, as you may be able to guess from the photo of the Dive Team below, were sunglasses!!

So Merry Christmas to everyone!!!!!

The diving this week has been great. Have you every wondered what Box Crabs eat?? Well, maybe, like me, you haven’t but I did find out this week.

Box Crabs usually spend their time buried in the sand, with just the tips of their eyes exposed. I caught this one out and about, and was lucky enough to see it just after it had caught a clam.

Click here to see video in a new window

Clams have pretty tough shells, so it was amazing to watch this Box Crab literally rip the clam to pieces to get at the soft orange flesh inside. The crab doesn’t hang around slowly savouring it’s lunch, but quickly devours it then scoots off to bury itself once again, before something tired to eat it!!

The rest of the week has been fabulous too. As well as Mimics, Blue Rings, Long Arm and Coconut Octopus, we’ve also seen several Wonderpus, and one with eggs!! (unfortunately neither Barb or I were on that dive..) There have been Flamboyant Cuttlefish, Broadclub Cuttlefish and Giant Reef Cuttlefish. Crustaceans are good, with Tiger Shrimp, Bumble Bee Shrimp, Saron Shrimp, Carry Crabs, Porcelain Crabs, Emperor Shrimp, Box Crabs, Boxing Crabs, Squat Shrimp, Elegant Squat Lobster, Hairy Shrimp, Snapping Shrimp, Xeno Crabs, Whip Coral Shrimp, Skeleton Shrimp, Crinoid Shrimp, Hairy Squat Lobster, Decorator Crabs, Mantis Shrimp, Donald Duck Shrimp and many more. Pygmy Seahorses have been good, with Bargabanti’s, Denise’s and Pontohi’s. There have been Common, Estuary and Thorny Seahorses. And there have been Painted Frogfish, Freckled Frogfish, Hairy Frogfish and Occellate (Coin Bearing) Frogfish. Fish seen have included Cockatoo Flounder, Ambon Scorpionfish, juvenile Fingered Dragonets, Helmut Gurnards, Napoleon and Blacksaddle Snake Eels, Double Stripped Clingfish, Stonefish, Leaf Scorpionfish, Ribbon Eels, juvenile Circular Batfish and many more. We also saw a Sea Snake and even a Turtle!!

So thank you to our guests from Singapore and Poland, it’s been a great week.

Enjoy Barb’s great photos from this week. Just click the photo strip at the top or bottom of this blog to see the slideshow.

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It’s that time again, the end of a month and the monthly critter chart is ready.

As you know if you’ve been here, the shear variety and concentration of creatures here is phenomenal, and November was no exception.

November was another great month for Flamboyant Cuttlefish, Frogfish, particularly Painted Frogfish, but also many Hairy and a lot more Warty (Clown) Frogfish than I’ve seen here before. They were plenty of Ghost Pipefish, mainly Ornate and Robust, but a few Rough Snout and Halimeda too. Octopus have remained excellent, with many sightings of Mimics and Coconut and quite a few Blue Rings and Wonderpus and some more Hairy, Shaggy , Mototis, Red, Reef and even the Cocoti (Occellate) Octopus I saw a few months back. Bargabantis have been good, both Pink and Yellow. It’s also been great to see some Denise’s and Pontohi’s, as well as the larger Seahorses.

This month’s oddities include a couple of Bamboo Sharks, Bigeye Conger, a huge Bumphead Parrotfish, Spotted Eagle Rays and a Turtle. All in all, a fantastic month’s diving and I’m really looking forward to December…

This week’s video is of a creature that you (and the guide) would probably swim over. At first glance it looks like a small rock with sand and algae covering it. If you gave it another glance you may see it move and you may recognise it as a small boring conch and forget all about it, as you can see form the first photo below…

Well that’s almost what I did, but I gave it a third glance and noticed that it was feeding and was extending it’s long elephant-like truck out, searching for it’s lunch.

It was quite fascinating to watch and as I focused in closer and closer and could see more and more detail, it got more and more interesting. I was amazed just how long it’s feeding appendage was and also how beautiful it’s eyes were. I have no idea what is correct name is, but I’m pretty sure it’s a conch and in honour of it’s wonderful snout I’ve called it an Elephant Nose Conch.

Click to watch video in a new window

Looks can be deceiving, so always remember to have a second or third look at a critter in Lembeh, because you never know what you might find.

Barb has a great week this week. She has made herself a ring flash and has had great fun trying it out. We will write more about this in a later blog, but for now enjoy her photos. The ring flash helps eliminate shadows when up close, as you can see in many of this weeks photos.

And the diving this week has been wonderful, We’ve seen more Blue Ring Octopus as well as Mimics, Coconut, Occellate, Reef, Long Arm, Hairy and Shaggy. There have been Flamboyant, Broadclub, Pygmy and Reef Cuttlefish. Pygmy Seahorses have been good, with Pink and Yellow Bargabantis, Denise and Pontohi’s. Crustaceans have included Tiger Shrimp, Tozeuma Shrimp, Boxing Crabs, Saron Shrimp, Mantis Shrimp, Donald Duck Shrimp, Skeleton Shrimp, Bumble Bee Shrimp, Xeno Crabs, Hairy Squat Lobster, Elegant Squat Lobster, Squat Shrimp, Crinoid Shrimp, Porcelain Carbs, Orang Utan Crabs, Decorator Crabs, Carry Crabs, Candy Crabs, Halimeda Crabs and Hairy Shrimp. There have been Ornate, Robust and Velvet Ghost Pipefish this week. And there have been Painted, Warty and Hairy Frogfish. We seen Ambon Scorpionfish, Cockatoo Flounder, Spiny Devilfish, Leaf Scorpionfish, Helmut Gurnards, Stonefish, Banggai Cardinalfish, black, yellow and blue Ribbon Eels, Electirc Clams, Catfish and even a Spotted Eagle Ray and two Devil Rays!!

So thanks to all our great guests from Holland, the UK, Singapore and Indonesia.

Click on the photo strip a the top or bottom of this blog to enjoy all of Barb’s photos from this week.

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With all the nutrition suspended in the water in Lembeh, providing such a rich source of food for so many critters, whether directly (you eat the stuff), or indirectly (you get eaten by other stuff), survival often depends on remaining unseen, and there is not that much cover to hide in here…

So you have to adapt, and for many creatures, especially for some crustaceans, that means adapting to one type of coral.

This was very noticeable in some of Barb’s photos from this week. As I was looking through them I was struck by the photos she had taken of one piece of Xenia Soft Coral.

Xenia Soft Coral is a fleshy soft coral, usually fairly small in size, with broccoli-like clumps about 15 to 20cm (6 to 8”) high. The are fascinating in their own right, as the polyps they extend at their extremities rapidly open and close, like little time-lapse flowers opening and closing.

Occasionally we find shrimp or crabs on them, surprisingly named Xenia Shrimp or Xenia Swimming Crabs. What I hadn’t seen before was both crustaceans on one piece of coral. You can see in these photos the smaller shrimp in a group of three (above two photos), with the larger crabs to the right. On the photo below you can see a close up of the shrimp, with  it’s lovely camouflaged patterns.

Evolution is an amazing master. the patterns on the shrimp and crab are so intricate and so perfectly suited to living on it’s host.

The next camouflage crustacean I saw this week was the Mushroom Coral Shrimp. A month or so ago I posted some video of another inhabitant of Mushroom Coral, the Mushroom Coral Pipefish. The Mushroom Coral Shrimp is a little more common than the pipefish, but often overlooked, or only quickly glanced at. But is has found a very effective camouflage, mimicking, with it’s white head, the whites tips of the coral polyps.

Click here to see the video in a new window

This white head, buried amongst all the swaying polyps, is often all you can see of them. A quick look, then you are off to see the next thing the guides have found. But when you look closer you can see these are a beautiful crustacean.. as well as their white ‘popcorn’ heads, they have wonderful transparent sense organs, red bodies, clear pincers and legs with small purple dots on the joints.

As with so many of the critters in Lembeh, you have to just stop and have a close look. You don’t need a camera or video, you can see all of this with a cheap plastic magnifying glass too…so if you are coming here, don’t forget to bring one with you, so you can fully experience the amazing macro life here.

The rest of the week has been smashing too. Highlights included Barb seeing her first Brook’s Urchin Shrimp and we have an orange Giant Frogfish on the House Reef. We also saw Harlequin Shrimp, Harlequin Crabs, Boxing Crabs, Tiger Shrimp, Crinoid Shrimp, Snapping Shrimp, Orang Utan Carbs, Halimeda Carbs, Sponge crabs, Decorator Crabs, Elegant Squat Lobster, Hairy Squat Lobster, Hairy Shrimp, Painted Porcelain Crabs, Porcelain Crabs, Whip Coral Shrimp, Xeno Crabs, Skeleton Shrimp, Candy Crabs, Tozeuma Shrimp, Commensal Shrimp, Mantis Shrimp, Coleman Shrimp, Brook’s Urchin Shrimp and Sea Spiders. As well as our Giant Frogfish on the House Reef we also saw Hairy Frogfish, Painted Frogfish, juvenile Warty (Clown) Frogfish, Occellated (Coin-Bearing) Frogfish and Crimson Frogfish. There were more Blue Rings, Mimics, Wonderpus, Long Arm, Coconut, Shaggy, Hairy and Reef Octopus, as well as Flamboyant Cuttlefish, Broadclub Cuttlefish, Pygmy Cuttlefish and Bob Tailed Squid. And we saw Denise, Pontohi and Bargabanti Pygmy Seahorses, Thorny and Estuary Seahorses, Lembeh Pygmy Seadragons, Pygmy Pipehorses, Winged Pipefish and many more. There are still Ghost Pipefish, with Ornate, Robust, Halimeda and Rough Snout all being seen this week. And some of the weirder fish include Bigeye Conger, Bamboo Shark, juvenile Fingered Dragonets, juvenile Sole, Spiny Devilfish, Randal’s Goby, Ambon Scorpionfish, Pegasus Sea Moths, Ribbon Eels, Cockatoo Waspfish, Napoleon and Blacksaddle Snake Eels, Stargazers and great Mandarinfish.

Thanks to all our great guests. Last week we had a group form the States and some guests from the UK.

Enjoy Barb’s great photos this week, just click the photo strip at the top or bottom of this blog.

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That was the question I found myself asking, not once, but twice this week.

It has been a great week, lovely to be back properly, over my jetlag and enjoying such good diving.

I was diving with Ade (one of my Dive Supervisors) at Aer Prang 2, a site close to KBR. It’s been a good site for frogfish recently and we were there with our guests, rummaging around as usual.

Towards the end of the dive we were swimming over the sand when Ade suddenly called us over. He had found a very strange worm. At first I though it was some sort of gigantic Bristle Worm, as it was nearly a meter (3ft) long.

Then, when looking a bit closer, it seemed to look a little like a Bobbit Worm. I watched it for quite a while, as it moved around over the sand, it’s head with Bobbit-like tentacles swaying around. A very strange creature.

When we got back to KBR, Ade went to look in the ‘book’ to see if he could find it. I asked him if he had ever seen one before in his 15 plus years of diving in the Strait…and he said ‘no’ he had never seen one….and surprise surprise, we couldn’t find it in any reference book. The closest thing we could find was an undetermined Eunice worm, known only from Papua New Guinea. These worms are closely related to Bobbit Worms, so I was nearly right with my original ID. This was my first ‘And what are you..?’ of the week.

The second ‘And what are you then?’ was a critter that Barb found. We were at California Dreaming, a truly beautiful coral and wall dive (yes, I know, no muck!!) in Lembeh.

Barb had found a hole in a sandy/rubbly area and at the bottom were 4 or 5 weird white things crawling around. They were small and seemed to be some sort of shelled mollusc, with it’s white spikey mantle and a featureless head and foot.

And that is the featured video this week. If anyone has any idea what it is, please let us know.

Click here to see video in a new window

Last week I posted some photos of me at the NEC Birmingham. A week or so after that we also had our booth at DEMA, which was in Florida this year, and here’s a picture of our booth there, with Mark, KBR’s owner. Many thanks for everyone who showed up and we hope to see you next year….

And so the critter list for last week…as well as the two ‘unknowns’ we saw several different Harlequin Shrimp, the wonderful blue Banded Tozeuma Shrimp, Skeleton Shrimp, Tiger Shrimp, Boxer Crabs, Hairy Squat Lobster, Elegant Squat Lobster, Squat Shrimp, Hairy Shrimp, Orang Utan Crabs, Zebra Crabs, Brook’s Urchin Shrimp, Donald Duck Shrimp, Harlequin Crabs, Porcelain Crabs, Crinoid Shrimp, Snapping Shrimp, Candy Crabs, Mantis Shrimp (one with eggs), Halimeda Crabs, Decorator Crabs, Carry Crabs and Sea Spiders. There were more Mimics, Wonderpus, Long Arm, Coconut and Reef Octopus..and Blue Ring season looks like it starting, as we’ve been seeing several on several different sites. And the Flamboyant Cuttlefish are still around, as well as Broadclub and giant Cuttlefish.There have been Yellow and Pink Bargibanti Pygmies, Denise and Pontohi Pygmies, as well as Thorny Seahorse, Double Ended Pipefish, Lembeh Pygmy Seadragons, and Ornate, Robust, Rough Snout and Halimeda Ghost Pipefish. Frogfish have been good, with Clown (juvenile Warty), Painted, Giant, Hairy, Occellated (Coin-Bearing) and Crimson Frogfish. And there have been great Mandarinfish, Ambon Scorpionfish, Helmut Gurnards, Cockatoo Flounder, Cockatoo Waspfish, Spiny Devilfish, Scorpionfish, Ribbon Eels, Melibe Nudis, Egg Cowries, Crocodile Flatheads, Electric Clams and, unexpectedly, I saw a huge Bumphead Parrotfish being cleaned on the reef.

We had a great group from northern California this week and sadly said goodbye to Richard who once again finished his yearly month-long trip to KBR.

Barb’s back on top form and had plenty of wonderful photographs to see this week. Just click on the photo strip at the top or bottom of this blog to see them all.

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