16 Jan 2024
My flight left Bali at 1:35am, so the day before, Pena drove me 3hrs back to Palm Beach Hotel. It is just 15min from the airport, a short walk to the beach and a bit of shopping. I’ve stayed here 4 times before. I like the ease of repeating whatever is working well.
The 4.5hr flight to Manila, Philippines was great because there was NO-ONE in my row. I stretched out and had a nice nap, arriving at 6am. I had a room booked at Innsite Room Rentals and they said they would allow me early check in at 8-9am. I leisurely went through Immigration, Baggage, Customs, had something to eat and started contacting them to come pick me up. 3hrs later i finally got to them through FaceBook Messenger. I got to my room around 10a. It was what i expected, REAL basic, but clean and very nice people. It was in the middle of Manila somewhere, small narrow streets,… i just stayed in my room and worked on my photos. I do not like big cities !
At 11:30 the next morning, a Driver from The Three P Dive Resort where I had booked, picked me up in Manila, and drove 2.5hrs south to Batangas Port. At 3:30p i boarded my overnight ferry to Romblon Island, (in the bottom right corner).
It was Starlight Ferry company and an 8hr trip, arriving 1-2am.
I had help getting my large bag up 3 steep flights of stairs, and was
escorted to my room. The Resort encouraged me to book a private room,
rather than the bunk quarters. So glad I did. There were 2 bunk beds
for 4 people in my room. The Bunk Quarters had many many beds and was freezing!
I put my bags down and was told i had a Meal with my reservation, and was escorted to the ‘Dining Room’. For those of you who have done Cruise Ships … this is NOTHING like that; and the food was nothing like that either. But neither was the price, so no complaints. This is a means to an end.
When i got back to my room, there still were no other people in there; i asked, and learned i had the room to myself !!!!!!!!! Whoop Whoop
I even had a window !
I strolled around the decks: 2 for people, and 1 for cars. The sky had beams from Heaven streaming down to welcome me.
and a pretty evening sky
While watching the evening sky, i had a nice conversation with a Mental Health Nurse who flew to NYC for 24 hrs with a patient... YIKES i can't imagine! As we were finishing up our conversation, Karaoke started on the Galley Deck, and i retreated to my room. I was very happy to have my Private Room for my short tour.
After a few hours of sleep, we arrived in Romblon City at 2am. Oscar, the driver from 3Ps Resort was there waiting for me. Really nice guy; but i was a bit tired to do much conversing. i booked a Standard Room, as always; and was escorted to my room. It was 3am, I was tired, and it was dark, so i really didn’t see where i was. The next morning in the daylight, i realized that i was NOT in a Standard Room.. but the Ocean Front Bungalow …. WoW ! I was upgraded for no extra charge. It was huge !
View from my terrace at Low Tide, there are Mangroves protecting the island. Mangroves are very important: they protect the island from rough seas, and they are the 'nursery' for most creatures that are born in the sea.
High Tide
I was almost the only one at the Resort .. 1 guy from Sweden, and 2 professional photographers (really) … and me. Which no doubt accounted for the upgrade… but they didn’t HAVE to do that! I am very appreciative for that. Being almost the only one was kind of weird, since i was solo and usually the only one in the Dining Area. But it also was nice that i got more attention :)
I have never been to Romblon Island, but i had heard it is excellent for Muck Diving. "Dubbed the “center of the center of marine biodiversity in the world,” Romblon Island boasts an unparalleled variety of marine species, making it a photographer’s dream destination". It was not an easy place to get to: the flights were on Tues & Thurs and the Ferry was on Mon Wed Fri; and nothing matched up; (which accounted for my one night stay in Manila, before getting on the Ferry). This island is probably a one time thing: difficult to get to, and a bit out of my price range. But, i am addicted to Muck Diving .. so … here I am!
The Three P Dive Resort, was started by the parents of 3 sons whose names all begin with ‘P’: Philipp, Patrick, and Peter. Philipp and his wife Kati, were there all the time. Kati is actually an expert on critters and the author of some books. There are 2 critters here that they are especially famous for, and i hope to see both of them: Cyerce bourbonica, (Melibe colemani) and the Cyerce nigra. In fact, it was in 2015 , the 1st time Melibe colemani was found in the Philippines was by Philipp ! That's impressive !
My Dive Guide and ‘eyes’ was Bobby… another young guy with an amazing ability to find microscopic critters .. and patient enough to help me see them. And, also assist me, ...to make sure that i got a photo that i liked. Honestly, sometimes i just told him ‘ok’, because he worked so hard, but i just got too frustrated to continue … please don’t tell him :(
What did we see?
A very colorful crab that grows from 1.5 to 2 cm. Lives on soft coral. It camouflages itself by mimicking the colors. And sometimes further camouflage by attaching polyps to its body. This is an over-view.
And a close up. They are lovingly called 'Candy Crabs'
Colors vary depending on the color of the coral. This is one from another day on a different color coral. You can see the eye and the striped belly.
Also in yellow.
Here are a couple more Crabs that live on a different coral.
And this is called a Hong Kong Coral Gall Crab
This is an Orangutan Crab, ... for obvious reasons ...
A Sea Cucumber Swimming Crab..... quite a 'sporty' crab. And Bobby found him, duh, ... on a large Sea Cucumber
Video of a Spotted Porcelain Crab, Neopetrolisthes maculata, lives as commensal in large sea anemones. Sitting among the stinging tentacles and filtering planktonic food from the currents. I have no idea what it is doing ... and have never seen it do a somersault and hang upside down ??????
A photo of it
Let's switch from Crabs to a few Nudibranchs, most of which are 'new' to me, (and most i don't know their names). I try not to include critters that i've already talked about in other Blogs ... but sometimes, i will, if i learned something, or got a better photo
This one was sparkling
I like the way this one seems to glow from the middle .... Phestilla melanobrachia ???
This one was so impossibly small, i wasn't even going to try to get a photo. But, Bobby was looking for something else for me, so I persisted. And ... some success ... at least i can see what it looked like !
Another strange one...
This one was larger ... easier to see ... it looks like it has a light bulb inside it, glowing light
This photo shows how expertly the above Nudi 'hides in plain sight' ... looking just like it's coral host.
Goniobranchus reticulatus. The species is hermaphroditic, with both male and female organs active at the same time. After mating, the external portion of the penis detaches, but is able to regrow within 24 hours. How about that for convenience ?
Chelidonoura hirundinina, Despite its colorful appearance, this is not a Nudibranch, a headshield slug. The two rather long "tails" are characteristic of the genus Chelidonura. They have also well-developed sensory cilia on the anterior edge of the head which are used to find the prey. They feed on flatworms.
You have come this far, and are now 'rewarded' with the Holy Grail of Nudibranchs ... or arguably the most coveted nudibranch among underwater photography enthusiasts. Also called the Phantom Ghost Nudibranch, or Melibe colmani. This is the one that was first found in the Philippines by Philipp from The Three P Resort. Very difficult to photograph: it is almost completely transparent, with its internal organs visible to the naked eye. It allows it to blend in with its surroundings and ambush its prey. It has a network of brown tubules across its body, which are digestive glands, and they give the sea slug a stringy, almost snot-like appearance. It's 1-2 inches, it is Hermaphroditic species, meaning that each individual can produce both eggs and sperm. Diet consists of small cruataceans, worms, and other invertebrates.
It deserves 2 photos :)
Let's see some Shrimps:
A Cryptic Sponge Shrimp ... that is very difficult to see since it looks just like the Sponge Coral. Bobby is holding a piece of a 'zip tie' to show me where it is. Imagine how tiny ...
We also saw them in purple. This has an interesting story. Bobby
was pointing to something, which of course, i couldn't see. I was
carefully taking a photo of the yellow 'nothing' on the left. He kept
pointing, and finally i showed him the photo in my camera, so he could
see that i took it ... he shook his head 'no' ... and pointed to the 'purple
blob' to the right of it ... hahaha oh .... so glad we got that cleared up !
This is one that i am familiar with ...an Anemone Shrimp ... but,... i have never seen one with EGGS !!!!!! ...Upper left corner ... actually i did not see them until i saw the photo on my computer so I almost missed them in the photo !
Another favorite and very difficult to photograph, is the tiny Hairy Shrimp ... this one in Purple ! I will ALWAYS show this one, it is so special.
The next few Shrimps, which personally I didn't get very excited about. Mostly they are VERY tiny, and the same color as the coral they are on ... and not very colorful. But Romblon is known for it's many Shrimps ... so i have some photos, because Bobby showed them to me. :) Which, by the way, i worked (Bobby worked) very hard for :)
Some are kinda cute ...
Peeking at you from the coral
This one with buggy almost crossed-eyes
Several more with Eggs .... must be the season ...
This one is called a Sashimi Shrimp, which can be VERY colorful ... but this one, ...not so much
Ridiculously tiny ...
Others
This one is darn right CREEPY, ... and maybe not a shrimp ?
I'm stopping here ... I will continue the next Blog with information about Romblon Island, our tour ... and Yes, of course, more Nudibranchs. You still haven't seen the other 'very special' one. So please come back.
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