Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Ambon, Indonesia 17-25 Jan 2025

After the long journey, I had an almost 'good nights sleep' .... due to the blaring 5am prayers.   I arrived at the Laha Divepackers Dive Shop to friendly faces.   I LOVE that this Dive Shop doesn't start their first dive until 8:30am  !!!!    Soon I was back in my happy place, underwater.    The first couple of dives everyone kind of stayed together.   After a couple dives, one of our guides, called 'The Dude' started being 'my' solo Dive Guide.    We were always together the rest of the week.   He was great,  always taking good care of me, as he scoured the ocean floor.   And me, waiting for him to show me something.   At times I feel quite useless, because I see almost nothing and have to depend on someone.   But that's what I pay him for.   And, I think they LOVE diving and looking and finding, and helping me get good photos.   That reflects back on them in a positive way, with recommendations.   Which is how I ended up here.

Dude spent an extraordinary amount of time trying to get a photo of this little white fish, as it dashed in and out of sight.   I couldn't get a 'body' shot, but I really like this even better.   It's kind of 'artsy'


 

This is not a Nudi, but everyone was excited to see it.    It is a Yellow and Black Striped Tiger Cowry.  A Cowry is a marine mollusk ... a 'shell' to most of us.


This is another Cowry, and I like the composition of this one too... lots of color !



So many photos to share.   And, this year I have decided to do more video.   I think it shows more about the critters than just a photo.   But videos are difficult, so they are certainly not worthy of National Geographic.  :)   This one was fun.   And I have a story,..... I have no idea if it is true or not.  But it's my story and I'm stickin with it.

This is a JawFish, about 4" long ... so I can actually SEE them.  And you usually see them in a hole with just their head sticking out... watching you.

 
The male actually carries the eggs in his mouth!!   I have had photos previous years.   The eggs need to be oxygenated.   So every 10min, he spits them out 3 times, and then back in his mouth in a fraction of a second.

So, obviously the Male needs a Female.   This is where my 'story' comes in.    I believe this little Male JawFish was making a home and trying to impress the Female JawFish, so he could mate with her.   i saw her about 3 feet away, looking out of her hole, watching him.   Check him out:  spitting out sand, and even rocks to make a nice home.   Here is my video.  You can also view it on YouTube, which is better:   https://youtu.be/zrygYtPLIOM



When I take photos I am concentrating on what I think I see ... and obviously nothing else.   I need to consider the entire picture.    There are TWO Colemani Shrimp in this photo.   The big one and a smaller one at the bottom.   I only know this because they pointed it out to me at the Dive Shop.   They live on a Fire Urchin, that has lots of colorful spines you might be able to see in the background.     They are pretty well camouflaged.

 

I know you all know who this is... Nemo hiding in his coral home.


Why did I make this extra stop this year, Ambon is a new island for me.    Several dive friends have posted photos on FaceBook of a Rhinopias.     Ambon is famous for Rhinopias, which are technically a ScorpionFish (not so nice name).   But with good reason, they have venemous spines.   They prefer to lay on the bottom, and sometimes move.   This is a Rhinopias eschmeyeri.    AWESOME to see 

and even more fun to watch.   Better viewing on YouTube:   https://youtu.be/c4DyM-n9YnQ


 

We also saw this one:  


Better viewing on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zFAXLYwq2uc 


After this dive, I came out of the water and said: 'I can go home now, this is what I came for'.    Very exciting for me.

They have some unusual Crabs... this is the Boxer Crab, which i call the Pom Pom Crab, since I was a Cheerleader in High School.   It actually has anemones attached to it's 'hands'.    So cute !


 And a video ... that is a bit shaky


 

This is a Candy Crab.    It is less than 1/2" ... and blends in very well with the Soft Coral where it lives.   They come in many colors:

 

Different waters/areas have different critters.   Ambon isn't really a Nudibranch aka Nudi area.   But they are known for the Rhinopias and FrogFish.    We saw many many FrogFish.   Most between 4-6"... also easy to see ... once you see them.   My guide kept pointing to this orange rock... it took me awhile before i saw the FrogFish next to it !


A better view of why this FrogFish is called a HAIRY Frogfish.    Look at that 'beard' !


We saw many Black FrogFish, and they are very difficult to photograph.   I think this video gives a better idea.  Notice the 'white' patch on his back.   That is his 'fishing lure'.    He actually whips it out in front of his mouth and wiggles it around, trying to attract prey.   He then opens a very wide mouth and sucks it in.   I saw it on one of the dives, unfortunately, my camera wasn't working at that time.



Here is another FrogFish, and you can see his 'lure' ... to his left ... already fishing


We had a great dive and ended up underneath a large boat/barge that had been there for a very long time.   It had tons of life attached to the under side of it.   I could have spent the entire dive under there.    This is one of 4 more FrogFish that the Dude found.   I have never seen one this color before ... extremely subtle and smaller than the others.


We also saw these Leaf Fish, named because the way they sway in the current, they look like a leaf.

 

I took several photos of some of the non-critters that I saw.   I don't usually see very 'pretty' corals underwater where we dive, but these were really unique


and pretty


and I called this the Broccoli Dive Site

 
 
 

A type of Decorator Crab is the Orangutan Crab.   It is less than 1", and it has long orange hair just like the Orangutan you know.   I will post more photos of crazy Decorator Crabs in the next post.


 

We did see several Nudi's.   This one is a Red Line Jorunna and has a nose that reminds me of a Puppy Dog.


Maybe he was looking for a mate.... this is what their eggs look like ... Beautiful !


Dude found some impossibly tiny Nudis also.    I love the softness of this photo


another couple beauties


 



This is a Bornelia Nudi, almost an inch long .... Dude was excited to show me this one, very fancy



Speaking of very very tiny ... this is a baby Puffer Fish.  



Shrimp also can be very tiny.  And, they are extremely varied in shape.

Mushroom Coral Shrimp aka PopCorn Shrimp.    Extremely tiny, and it lives in a coral with lots of long tentacles that are flowing and obscuring the shrimp.   Happy to get this photo.


A cute little Striped Bumble Bee Shrimp about 1/2"  ... you can see how it gets it's name.

 

Harlequin Shrimp are most sought after shrimp with photographgers, with their beautiful blue coloring.   These 2 were very busy preparing for their dinner..... they exclusively eat SeaStars ... I know  :(      Within a couple minutes while I watched, they dragged this big SeaStar from where it was, to where they wanted it to be... maybe the dining room :)    It started up against this rock....


...and they moved it down here...   That's a pretty big SeaStar .... Teamwork at it's finest


And Whip Coral Shrimp that live on a small rope-like piece of coral that is very long and sways with the current.   About 1/2" long and hidden


 

And to confuse me .... this is a Wire Coral Xeno CRAB .... shrimp/crab ... I get confused.  This one has himself all decorated.


 

And then there is the Hairy Squat Lobster ... which looks nothing like any Lobster I've ever seen...but it IS hairy.



 

I love the Thecacera, they are so cute, like little bunny rabbits.   This is a Painted Thecacera


The Yellow Black Tipped one is lovingly called a Pikachu, after Pokeman, (which had to be explained to me).


And last, but not least ... a Pregnant SeaHorse.   Most of you know by now, that it is the Male SeaHorse that carries the eggs until they hatch   :)


This is a very long post.   And, I'm not done yet.   The next blog will cover my 2 night dives.

Stay tuned

 

 












 






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