One of our favourite subjects to see on night dives is the Bobtail Squid! Here in Lembeh we often see Berry’s Bobtail Squid, sometimes known as the Hummingbird Bobtail Squid (Euprymna berryi). These tiny cephalopods are always fun to try spot and then shoot, as their jewel like appearance makes Read more
Today we are going to go through a phenomenon that is more common than you think, symbiotic relationships! They are very important for a lot of underwater species survival, and they can make for some really interesting behaviours and therefore some great subjects for UW photography. Firstly, what is symbiosis? Read more
It was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever watched underwater, seeing these 1cm small creatures changing colors and breaking through the eggs. It looked like a bit of a struggle for some of them, but eventually most of the little Flamboyant Cuttlefish hatched during the 20 min. I was watching them.
It’s considered the holy grail of critters because they’re extremely rare and usually only spotted during a short period of time: the Hairy Octopus. Once you’ve seen Wonderpus, Mimic, Blue-Ring and Mototi, this is probably the ultimate Cephalopod left on the list.
It’s just before the sun disappears and most of us divers feel like having a beer, when the actual magic on the reef happens. Mating Mandarin Fish are something all divers should experience at least once during their stay in Lembeh. It’s when one of the most beautiful and stunning fish appears briefly to mate around sunset time in order to avoid any bright light.
The life cycle of fishes and other marine organisms is extremely complex and one blog entry is surely not enough to elaborate this topic. But regardless of the season and dive sites, we can usually see several marine species and their eggs whilst diving in Lembeh. Normally, marine organisms produce large amounts of small eggs that hatch quickly. This produces large populations and therefore a greater chance for species survival.
Divers usually get to the point where, after hunting all kinds of different critters, they pick their personal “obsession”. Whether these are Cephalopods, Crustaceans, Gobies, Nudibranchs or Frogfishes – so my weak spot have always been Seahorses. Here in Lembeh, we can find up to six different species on one dive!
On a recent Blackwater Nightdive i took this photo of a Juvenile Sole. Even though juvenile Soles are not uncommon in Lembeh Strait this is the first one i’ve ever seen free swimming in the the water column. This is particularly interesting as these juvenile Soles are often stated to be imitating Flatworms. Read more
On a recent Blackwater Nightdive I was lucky enough to witness a Shrimp Larvae shedding its skin. During our Blackwater Nightdives we attract weird planktonic creatures with strong lights and get to see various juvenile fishes, squids, octopi, worms and a lot of strange crustaceans. This shrimp caught my eye and Read more
One of the lesser known and more rarely seen families of fishes are the bandfish. These elongated, snaky looking creatures are relatively big and usually found quite deep – down to about 500m. But some species of bandfish can be found in shallower areas. For example the Yellow-Spotted Bandfish (Acanthocepola abreviata) which we Read more