Some pics from Northern Sulawesi

I have just returned from 2 weeks diving in Northern Sulawesi. This is without a doubt one of the best diving destinations that I have visited. there cannot be a better place in the world for macro/critter photography than Lembeh and Odyssea Reefs whilst the coral walls and big stuff at Bunaken and Bangka Islands was very impressive.

I went diving with two different Operators: Bastianos Lembeh for diving in Lembeh and Odyssea Divers for diving around Wori Bay, Odyssea Reefs and Bunaken Island. I can highly recommend both operations as they provided great sevrice and the accomodation was excellent.

I also spent 3 nights at the end of the trip on the liveaboard Odyssea 1 and I can honestly say this is the best liveaboard I have ever been on… its miles ahead of anything else that I have been on!

In all I managed to squeeze in 30 dives and took just over 2000 photo’s.

I have put together a collection of some of the images on my website:

Northern Sulawesi Images

Choosing a couple of favourite pics is almost impossible but here are some that I like:

Colourful reef at Bangka Island

This seahorse is small, really really small! Its an undescribed Hippocampus sp that is about half the size of a standard Pygmy Seahorse. I managed to get only 5 photos of it using a 90mm lens with a +2 on a night dive. This seahorse was the hardest thing I have EVER photographed as it didn’t stop moving.

The Mimic Octopus was the highlight of the trip for me. I watched it impersonate a flounder, lionfish and a sea snake.

This is about the only arty shot I took all trip

Coral wall

Gorgonian Shrimp

cheers,

Dave

Wow - excellent stuff Dave, Bastianos and Odyssea Divers have good reputations among the 'local' divers here in Singapore. Although I've dived Manado a couple of times I have never made it to Lembeth. It is definitely on our list as everyone we know who has dived there is always blown away by the macro diversity. It was a dicussion point yet again among friends at this weekend's ADEX in Bangkok.

Probem being located close to so many incredibly photogenic spots is that one runs out of vacation time very quickly!

really nice pics Dave!

Soo many cool critters in the Lembeh collection

lurv the Hippocampus sp

Nice stuff Dave.

Todd

Great stuff.

I think the seahorse is H. colemani, although I have never seen on myself.

I really want to go back to that area. Not been since March 2004, which feels a very long time ago now!

Alex

great pics!

love the pygmy.

I think the seahorse is H. colemani, although I have never seen on myself.

Hi Alex,

its not actually Hippocampus colemani. The species in the pic above is is actually smaller than colemani and can be recognised by its dark coloured body that generally has tiny red spots. It is commonly referred to as the 'Pontoh's Pygmy Seahorse' and there are a couple of pics of it in Rudie Kuiter's 'Guide to Syngnathids' 2006 edition. I believed this species is currently being described...

I managed to photograph 6 different species of seahorses over the 2 weeks which was way cool!

cheers,

Dave

Hi Alex,

 

its not actually Hippocampus colemani. The species in the pic above is is actually smaller than colemani and can be recognised by its dark coloured body that generally has tiny red spots. It is commonly referred to as the 'Pontoh's Pygmy Seahorse' and there are a couple of pics of it in Rudie Kuiter's 'Guide to Syngnathids' 2006 edition. I believed this species is currently being described...

 

I managed to photograph 6 different species of seahorses over the 2 weeks which was way cool!

 

cheers,

Dave

great shots Dave, I looked through the galleries, lots of great photos. Nice shots of ribbon eels, mantis, mandarin fish at Lehbeh. Great nudibranch gallery. The Baramundi cod is cool too!

thanks for posting

Scott

Dave, your pics are AWESOME!

I was there about a month ago, and yes, it is one of the most spectacular locations I've ever been to! We stayed at the Kasawari resort for three days, then on the Aggressor for a week. What a vacation!!!!

more of my pics are here:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18473

.

Dave,

Great shots. The barreltube shrimp-that's the eggs inside? Great stuff!

Dave,

 

Great shots. The barreltube shrimp-that's the eggs inside? Great stuff!

Yep, I think they are tiny egss. This is the shrimp pic below:

Great pictures,

I really like the mimic octopus and the fire urchin.

I can't believe that I've been in Indonesia but never got my thumb out and went diving in that area. Shame on me...

Very interesting shots.

Expecially 4th.

Look like something from other planet.

Super pics there

Yep, I think they are tiny egss. This is the shrimp pic below:

Wow. It doesn't get much better than this.

You should go "pro".

Very, very nice...............

.

Great stuff.

 

I think the seahorse is H. colemani, although I have never seen on myself.

 

I really want to go back to that area. Not been since March 2004, which feels a very long time ago now!

 

Alex

It is not a colemani. I have seen them in PNG. They do not have the "weedy" appendages that these do. It is a species that most are calling Pontohi, although that name hasn't been made official. I saw many of them in Raja Ampat and you are right, they are a pain to photo. They move fast and non-stop. You got a great photo!

great pics. spurred me on to get my trip to Lembeh organised even though it's a year away!