8D7N Lembeh Straits Dive Trip! (28 Feb - 7 Mar 2015)

Lembeh Straits, the Absolute Mecca for Critters and Macro Marine Creatures! 

7 Nights Full Board Aircon Twin-Share, 16 Nitrox Dives + 1 Free Pre-Check Dive @ critters' paradise for just US$1,390

If you don't already know, Lembeh Straits is well known ALL OVER THE WORLD for its rich abundance of unique & difficult-to-find-elsewhere critters that inhabit the world of muck, and is considered the paradise for divers who love macro photography!  During the 1st day of my 1st diving trip there in 2014, I was already suffering from a happy indigestion of the creatures I have never seen before (that is saying something for someone with >1,000 dives, I assure you...)

Have you ever seen a cute pink crinoid cuttlefish like this?

Lembeh Straits is located at the north of Sulawesi, Indonesia.  The nearest airport is Manado, which has direct flights from Singapore, Jakarta and Makassar.  As the channel/strait is protected by the main island Sulawesi and Lembeh Island, the waters are rich in plankton, resulting in a paradise for macro marine creatures. 

Lembeh Strait is well known world-wide as the Muck Diving Paradise (although there are also coral and WWII wreck dive sites).Muck diving means you are on the lookout on sandy areas or small reefs for numerous weird but amazing creatures (many of which can be found nowhere else on the planet).  For example......

.....Frogfish the size of your thumbnail

......the super rare and elusive Hairy Octopus 

....the Wonderpus

...all sorts of amazing nudibranch!

The local divemasters each has more than 10 years experience at Lembeh, and are SUPER SPOTTERS. Many professional photographers depend on our divemasters to help them find and photograph these amazing and strange critters at Lembeh!  Here are just some other creatures:

...the super cute Coconut Octopus

 ...nine Pregnant pygmy seahorses on just ONE seafan!

 ...the well-camouflaged Halimeda Ghost Pipefish

 ...the elegant Tiger Shrimp

...and yes! the Blue-Ringed Octopus!

Our Resort at Lembeh Straits 

The resort we will stay at is designed by none other than its  Balinese owner, which is an architect-turned-beach-bum (that's how he describes himself) trained in Germany.  He has designed two other large resorts in Lembeh Straits, before deciding to open his own cosy, personalized little one.  This place is small but very professionally run, and everyone is so friendly you will feel right at home when you step in! :)  

All the staff at the resort are locals because the owner believes in engaging the local community and providing a source of income for them.  He also encourages his staff to try different roles and don't be surprised how a skillful boat man last week can be your friendly great chef this week!

With the beautiful-hearted people of the resort

 Delicious Indonesian Cuisine with a different menu for each day!

Divemasters join us for meals as dear friends :)

So here's the Itinerary....

Day 01 (28 February 2015): 

- Fly to and Arrive at Manado

[Suggested arrival flight for Singapore divers: SilkAir MI274/ 9.40am Depart SG/ 1.05pm Arrive Manado. 

For other divers flying from Jakarta, arrive Manado anytime.]  

- Pick up from Manado international airport and transfer to resort

- 1x afternoon pre-check dive at the resort's famous house reef 

Day 02-06 (1-5 March 2015)

- 3 dives daily

Day 07 (6 March 2015)
- 1x morning dive

Day 08 (7 March 2015)
- After breakfast, head to Manado international airport
[Suggested departing flight for Singapore divers: SilkAir MI273/ 1.50pm Depart Manado/ 5.05pm Arrive Singapore.  
For other divers flying to Jakarta, please take flights departing Manado after 12 noon.]  

Golden goby

Price is USD 1,390 -/person based on twin sharing

Following services are included :
*Pickup service (From and to the Airport)
*7 nights accommodation based on Twin-sharing
*Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner as well as morning+afternoon snacks (all are super yummy!)
*16x guided day dives + 1 x free pre-check dive
*Nitrox tanks for the 16x guided dives
*Dive guide

Note : 
* Additional Day Dive US$38,-/dive
* Additional Night Dive US$ 48,-/dive
* Rental Equipment at US$6 per item/ day
* Single Room Surcharge US$ 35,-/day

Exclusions:
* Alcoholic and soft drinks
* Any visa applicable
* No marine park fee, but if there is any change, the package does not include marine park fee
* Tips, if any is desired
* Airport tax

Special Notes!

* Water Temperature is expected to be about 28 - 29 degrees.
* Divers must be Nitrox certified or will take Nitrox course during the trip at an additional US$185.
* To protect the marine environment during muck diving, good buoyancy is very important for this trip.  Therefore, we as  instructors have the right to reject divers whom we view requires more buoyancy practice before going to Lembeh.
* Registration closes on 31 January with full payment to be made.  

Contact

Pls contact Kathleen Ng at kyazuryn@yahoo.com.sg to join us for the trip! :)

(All photos are courtesy of Kathleen Ng, taken at Lembeh Straits.)

A"Nemo"ne Fish - Nemo's Real Story

It always fascinates people when I tell them about the real life of "Nemo", because their perceptions have all only been based on the cartoon movie that kids and adults alike all love. No doubt the love for "Nemo" worldwide has skyrocketed due to the movie, but other than knowing that the "Nemo" is adorable, what do you really know about this type of marine creature?

So, what is the "real" life of the Nemo, you ask?

The False Clown Anemonefish

Before we go into the shocking facts, do you know why the name "Nemo" is an appropriate name for the cute main character in the Finding Nemo movie?  That's because the main character Nemo is a type of anemonefish (note the underlined alphabets) in the ocean that lives within the tentacles of the Sea Anemone, an animal that looks like an upside down jellyfish with its tentacles swaying in the water (yes, it is an animal and not a plant).

The actual common name of the orange and white striped "Nemo" fish in the marine world is the False Clown Anemonefish.  Wait, you may ask....why is it a "false" one?  That's because...the real scientifically-known Clown Anemonefish actually has dark borders around its body (see picture below):

The "real" Clown Anemonefish, with black borders on its body.

Right, now that we have gotten that happy part straightened out, I have 4 main shocking things to reveal...

1) First of all, the Clownfish is NOT the only type of anemonefish you will see underwater.  There are many others which live within the tentacles of the Sea Anemone, some of them include....

the Pink Anemonefish (above), which is pink and has a white dorsal stripe from between eyes to tail, 

the Tomato Anemonefish (above, female), which is black on sides with red snout,

the Spinecheek Anemonefish (female, above), and

the Orange Anemonefish (above), with a white dorsal stripe running often from the lip to tail,

and the Clarke Anemone (above), which is black with white stripes, among many other kinds of anemonefish to be found.  

So next time when you see these fishes living within the tentacles of the Sea Anemones, you will know they are also anemonefish and are in the same family as the "Nemo".

2) Secondly, ALL anemonefishes are born as Males.
Yes! Question is - if they are all males, then who's going to be the female and how do Anemonefish reproduce?

The answer is this - the anemonefish can change their gender to become female at an appropriate time! So...when is the appropriate time?  Before answering that, you have to understand this - when you see a group of anemonefish living within the tentacles of a Sea Anemone, know that the largest of them all is the ONLY female living within that particular Sea Anemone.  The rest are all male.  The largest male in the group is the only one that will mate with the female for reproduction.  The rest are just juvenile males that do not mate with the female anemonefish.  No polygamy...yay!  !

Above: guess which is the female anemonefish?

Now, when the only female in the Sea Anemone moves to another home or is eaten up by a predator, the largest male in the group grows rapidly (averagely up to 25% bigger) within a short time and changes its gender to female.  It will then mate with the largest male now in the group, which would also have grown larger for the purpose.  Isn't that just fascinating??  

But that also means that the group you see living within a Sea Anemone is NOT a family like how the cartoon Finding Nemo depicts...sorry kids to burst your fantasy!

Above: a larger female anemonefish with eggs laid and adhered on a substrate beside the Sea Anemone

3) Thirdly, the Sea Anemone doesn't allow just ANY fish to live with it.
In fact the Sea Anemone ejects stinging nematocysts when touched (that's why, you should never touch the Sea Anemone!). However, the anemonefish is not afraid because it has a special layer of mucus on its body that protects it from the nematocysts stings.  It is one of only a few types of fish that can live within, and is protected from its predators by, the tentacles of the Sea Anemone (some others include the rare Banggai Cardinalfish which can also be found living with Sea Anemones).

And the Sea Anemone is pretty happy to have the anemonefish too.  The anemonefish's excrements benefit the Sea Anemone by providing nutrients.  In addition, by virtue of their bright colors, the anemonefish sometimes lure small fishes which the Sea Anemone prey on (I told you the Sea Anemone is an animal!).  These, and other benefits provided by the anemonefish create a Mutualistic Symbiotic relationship, whereby both the Sea Anemone and the anemonefish benefit from the relationship.

Don't be deceived by the beautiful colors of this bulb-tentacle Sea Anemone - it stings!

4) Lastly, the caretaker of eggs is the Male anemonefish (and NOT the female)!

The eggs of the False Clownfish - you can see the eyes of the babies! 

The eggs of the anemonefish take about 6-10 days to hatch after they have been laid.  During this time, the male anemonefish will take care of them by aerating them and guarding them against predators very aggressively, even against fish much larger than it.  The female only takes responsibility occasionally.  This is another case of gender equality underwater...(see my previous article about the cuttlefish, which has a similar story)!

Above: Male False Clown Anemonefish aerating and fanning the eggs 

The more time invested by the male anemonefish in fanning its eggs, the more rapidly the eggs will hatch (which explains why the hatching time period ranges from 6 - 10 days), and the more successful the development of the eggs.

So now you have a much better understanding of that cute looking Nemo.  Hopefully you can also tell others about the fascinating stories of the anemonefish! :)


(All photos, except that of the "real" Clown Anemonefish, are courtesy of the author Kathleen Ng)

Cuttlefish - Fun fun facts!

My first blog post on marine life behavior and physiology - The Cuttlefish!

So you think you know all about the cuttlefish? I was researching on the cuttlefish (as opposed to the squid, a common question from divers) and found out these incredible facts!

1. Do you know that....

...the cuttlefish is color blind?? Wow! and yet it can detect its substrate environment and rapidly alter its own skin color, contrast and texture at will to blend in with excellent camouflage skills! It also changes its skin texture as a way to communicate with other cuttlefish. 

2. W shaped eyes
If you see carefully, cuttlefish has a smooth W shaped eyes but not the squid.  Squid eyes are big and round :)

See the W shape of the eyes of the cuttlefish above, as opposed to the round eyes of the squid below.

This is a squid with round big eyes and a longer, more torpedo-like body.

3. Buoyancy
Don't you sometimes wonder how these beautiful creatures just 'float' gracefully about without seeming to use much effort like us humans? haha...this is why - The cuttlefish controls its buoyancy by CHANGING THE GAS-TO-LIQUID RATIO in its unique and porous internal chambered cuttlebone.  This cuttlebone cannot be found in squids, and is a key distinguishing factor between squids and cuttlefish. Such a good balancing act huh?! :)

4. I wanna be alone! 

As opposed to the squids which usually form groups and swims in mid-water, the cuttlefish prefers to be alone or with 1 other cuttlefish (usually when mating) and settles on the sea bed hunting for crabs and shrimps. So if you spot it at the bottom, it's probably a cuttlefish :) (though an exception is night time when the squid is attracted to light and may come and accompany you on your dive due to your torch light)

5.  Circulatory System

A cuttlefish actually has 3 hearts (!). On top of that, cuttlefish blood is copper-based (as opposed to iron-based), thereby explaining why it is greenish in color instead of red.  Because of its tedious circulatory system (since copper based blood cells carry a lot less oxygen than hemoglobin), a cuttlefish eventually dies at about 18 -24months. 

6. Brain Size

The cuttlefish is among the most intelligent vertebrates in the ocean...the size of its brain explains why.  It has one of the largest brain-to-body ratio among vertebrates! :)

7. One year to spread its seeds, before dying

A cuttlefish starts mating from the age of about 6 months, and since it dies about 18 months, it has only about 1 year to reproduce.  During this time, it reproduces about 1,000 eggs!  Cuttlefish eggs are singular and hidden deep in corals (except for the flamboyant cuttlefish eggs that are laid on half coconut husks or mushroom corals and then turned upside down), but squid eggs are stringed up like pea pods (5 in a string) and displayed quite openly!

The first picture below is the egg of a cuttlefish hidden among fire corals so that the other predators such as butterfly fishes aren't able to reach them.

Now, these below are the eggs of the flamboyant cuttlefish.  They were found being laid on a flat mushroom coral and turned upside down to be protected from predators.  These are still young babies!

8. Master of Disguise
Some smaller male cuttlefish deploy a very clever strategy to mate with a female (there are sometimes 8-10 males fighting for 1 female!). The male may pretend to be female, by changing its color, hiding two of its arms (males have 4 pairs and females have only 3 pairs), and even pretend to hold an egg sack (haha!). By disguising as a female, it will successfully swim past the dominant males and mate with the female. 

9. Too many choices for Sperm selection
To top it off, the female cuttlefish also has a reproduction strategy like the turtle, storing the sperms of different male cuttlefish that it mates with and finally only choosing the sperms of one of them. Guess what they usually choose the sperm of the clever male that disguised as female, probably because genes from the more intelligent males are preferred...part of natural selection of the fittest! :)

10. Flamboyant cuttlefish
If you think that cuttlefish are pretty harmless, hear this - the flamboyant cuttlefish which is one of the prettiest, easily approachable and most amazing color-changing creature underwater, is actually found to have poison as lethal as the infamous blue-ringed octopus that can kill you in 10 minutes if you get stung.  

Researchers are still finding out more about the poison that the flamboyant carries, but the bottom-line is: don't touch any thing underwater! 

So there...just some of the amazing facts about the cuttlefish.  There are more..such as the cells that enable them to change colors rapidly, and the way it paralyzes preys with poison before feasting, and how the eyes can look forward and back.  All in all, the cuttlefish is one amazing creature we all need to learn more about! :D