Today was the main diving day with 3 dives. After breakfast at the jetty restaurant, off we went. Met 3 other Singaporean divers and a Taiwanese on the boat. The 3 Singaporeans are divers. One's a doctor, the most hardcore diver in the group. Caroline, an ex DM with 80+ dives and David, who was completing his Open Water in this trip and his Taiwanese wife Joey. The boat today was bigger than yesterday as there were more divers on board, so thankfully the boat trip was more stable. First stop, Alung Banua dive site, along the coast of Bunaken island. Please drop a comment to ID the marine life if you can.
Mysterious eggs
Sometime during the middle of the dive, I looked around and couldn't find S! I looked at the DM, he looked at me, we were both clueless. The DM tasked his assistant to look for her and I followed him to the surface. Apparently S's got some buoyancy problem that made her rise uncontrollably to the surface. Even when she grabbed some corals she still couldnt stop herself from rising. We brought her down and added weights to her. To this day it was still now known how S shot up so fast to the surface, although a lighter tank may be a factor. The mystery of the Rising S.
2nd dive of the day was probably the best of the 2 days. It was at Lekuan 2, also at Bunaken island. Get ready to be spammed by pictures.
Our DM Drekker leading the way
Close up of hawksbill turtle. We were so close we could have touched its shell, but it wasn't bothered by us at all, kept munching at the corals. You can see the turtle has a beak, like an hawk, which distinguishes it from other turtles.
Keep still there!
Shrimp!
Moray eel. This amazing shot was taken by S just before it withdrew back to its hiding. These are the only known fish which do co-operative hunting with another species. They pair up with a grouper, flushing out prey from small crevices which groupers cannot reach.
3rd dive of the day was the most unique. After 4 wall dives, being able to stand on a sandy seabed was a refreshing change. It was finally not at Bunaken island but at Manado itself, City Extra dive site, named after the seafood restaurant nearby.
Bluespotted stingrays, aka Kuhl's stingrays. This one's in flight. These rays are known as "mo gui yu" in Chinese, meaning Ghostly Fish. I can guess why, when they are gliding they look like ghosts gliding across the sea....although I haven't seen actual ghosts doing that before.
Trying to camouflage itself. SAF (Singapore Armed Forces), or any army in the world for that matter, will be proud.
Its disk width (body) can grow up to 42cm in diameter.
A pair of clown fish finding its own little oasis on the sandy sea bed.
Trying to camouflage itself. SAF (Singapore Armed Forces), or any army in the world for that matter, will be proud.
Its disk width (body) can grow up to 42cm in diameter.
See the blue spots on its body.
A pair of clown fish finding its own little oasis on the sandy sea bed.
Can you seriously tell what this is? Looks like a ball of something. Was wondering why the other divers were aiming their cameras at it and giving this weird looking ball so much attention. Then it started moving....I mean literally walking on the sea bed. Still in its ball-like shape, but with little legs (tentacles) sticking out below to walk. Later I found out, this is a Coconut Octopus. Coconut?? Yes. They collect seashells and coconut shells for shelter and defence. According to wikipedia, they are only one of two octopus species to display bipedal behaviour, ie walk!
The eyes.
The eyes.
Another well camouflaged creature. Can you see it?
Now you can! Seahorse!
I still do not know what this is. It has a snake-like body with things growing from one end.
Another pufferfish.
Rubbish. Some things just don't belong here.
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