It’s the season for Ornate Ghost Pipefishes here in Lembeh! This exotic looking fish hovers head down and can usually be found in pairs or smaller groups. Most of the time Ornate Ghost Pipefishes live right next to crinoids, feather stars or soft corals. Colors can vary from black, red, yellow to white.
The Wonderpus or Wunderpus photogenicus is one of the most photographed subjects in Lembeh. That is of course, if you can find it! Being a crepuscular hunter (active during twilight), the Wonderpus typically hides in a hole in the sand during day-time. Also, the Wonderpus is often confused with a similarly looking cephalopod, the Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus). We will look into both species and point out some differences, which will help you distinguish between the two!
Critter Hunt is situated in the middle of the Lembeh Strait on the southern side of the Sarena Island Group. A sandy slope goes down from a reeftop shallow at around 1-2 meters to about 20 meters from where it then slowly flattens out into a spongy rubble patch. The right and Read more about Lembeh Dive Sites: Critter Hunt
So here is the first instalment by the brand new guest blogger at NAD! My name is Bent Christensen, an avid underwater photographer visiting Lembeh for the fourth time in two years, and already planning my next trip! On my day job I teach ecology at a swedish university and Read more about New guest blogger at NAD!!!
This morning we had two fantastic dives again here in Lembeh Strait … the first one at Critter Hunt and the second one at Nudi Falls. Besides many cool critters such as Wonderpus, Seamoths, Nudibranchs and other things we saw two tiny shrimps of the same species. I found one Read more about 2 dives 2 identical shrimps
This week we had a couple of wonderful dives at TK Bay – with many different critters including Velvet Ghost Pipefish (white), Seahorses, Cockatoo Flounder, Coconut Octopus, Tiger Shrimps and many more. But the highlight was for sure this couple of mating Wonderpuses. We watched them mating for about 10 Read more about Mating Wonderpuses
The Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) is surely one of the signature critters of the Lembeh Strait. Even though it can be seen throughout South East Asia (and also some other locations) it is way more likely to encounter this critter here in Lembeh. The Mimic Octopus grows to about 30cm Read more about Creature Feature: Mimic Octopus
Yesterday we had a terrific second morning dive. After a rather mediocre dive at “Hey Nus” we went to Teluk Kembahu for the second dive. There we found several seahorses, Coconut Octopus, Mimic Octopus, various cool nudibranchs and lots of other cool stuff. But the real highlight of the dive were Read more about Mating Wonderpus
Even though we have “Low Season” there is still a lot going on our Housereef … here is a little Update on the Critters we are seeing right off the Beach these days: Our little colony of Lembeh Sea Dragons is spreading from Banggai (our older Wreck) to our newer Wreck Read more about Housereef Update