HD Macro in Lembeh

Glad you're enjoying the videos Pam

This week's video is of a Peacock Mantis Shrimp with a huge clutch of eggs. She was wandering around Tandu Rusa, in about 5m. Another wonderful mucky dive in Lembeh...

[vimeohd]14710020[/vimeohd]

Don't know how I missed this series before! Great stuff for us Lembeh Virgins. Keep going please.

This thread should be pinned.

You can see the crab pick little pieces of red sponge from the old skin, gather them into it's mouth to coat it in saliva, then fix it on to it's transparent new body. Very fascinating to watch.

Great videos. You are right, this one is fascinating to watch.

This week's video is of a critter I've been waiting a while to be able to film....being the Dive Manager of KBR is great, I get to dive every day in Lembeh...but I always let our guests have first 'dibs' of any critter seen, so I hang around until everyone's finished taking photos/video...

Blue Rings are hard to find and often disappear quickly, gving me no chance to get any footage. This week I finally found a willing subject who was prepared to hang around after the others had left.....

[vimeohd]14897916[/vimeohd]

Wow, nice octopus, it wasn't even very angry with you...

Oh, & that shrimp fixing up its new shell with sponge is amazing!

Two clips this week

The first demonstrates just why Lembeh can put such a big smile on your face when diving. We were on Jahir 1, one of our most famous 'muck' sites, cruising around as usual, when we found a little oasis of mucky coral sticking out from the surrounding black sand. It was only a few feet round, yet managed to have one Flasher Scorpionfish, one Raggy Scorpionfish, one Seahorse, one bright orange Painted Frogfish and one juvenile Barramundi Cod!! All in a meter!! So this clip is a one take shot, going along the line...

[vimeohd]15097717[/vimeohd]

The second clip is of a Zebra Mantis Shrimp excavating it's burrow. It let me get close and was unconcerned as it would disappear down it's burrow, only to reappear a few seconds later with it's arms (legs?) filled with sand or coral lumps and then rapidly throw it away..

[vimeohd]15097146[/vimeohd]

Kaj thats Wonderfull work - its look great.

We are planning to visit Lembeh and Bunaken in december, but I´me been told that its rain seacon and that the vis aint that good.

There should come a lot garbage from the rivers out to the sea?

Do you know anything about that Kaj?

Can you give some advise on where to stay e.g.

Bent

Kaj thats Wonderfull work - its look great.

 

We are planning to visit Lembeh and Bunaken in december, but I´me been told that its rain seacon and that the vis aint that good.

There should come a lot garbage from the rivers out to the sea?

 

Do you know anything about that Kaj?

 

Can you give some advise on where to stay e.g.

 

Bent

Lembeh has never been renowned for it's clear water, in fact it averages between 5m to 10m. This is mainly due to the nutrition-rich water which flows through the Strait and feeds the amazing diversity. It can be better than 20m on somes days, it can be around 2m on others. As I tell my guests, Lembeh is not a place where you descend thinking 'wow, what a beautiful view', but rather 'wow, where's the bottom?' Seasonally, wet or dry season, the vis remains the same, either good-ish or bad-ish, the rain doesn't make a difference. This dry season it has rained an awful lot, so perhaps this coming wet season, in December, it may be completely dry!! Lembeh is good all year round. There will be some trash on some of the sites, but much of it has stuff growing and living on it and has become part of the substrate.

Bunaken generally had clear water year round. There can be trash there too, but I haven't really dived there, so cannot really comment.

As to where to stay? It depends very much on your budget. All the resorts in Lembeh are good, and all cater for different markets. It's hard for me to give objective advise, as I'm the Dive Manager at KBR (wonderful Resort ). Simon and Mike (from Wetpixel) are the Managers at NAD and they have a great place too. Feel free to PM me if you want to know more about this....

Hope this helps...I'm sure you will have a great trip whatever time of the year you come...

Another couple of clips this week.

The first is of a Cockatoo Flounder. In six months I hadn't yet seen one, though they had been seen by many guests on dives I hadn't been on....finally got one myself

[vimeohd]15297875[/vimeohd]

The second clip was another lovely dive that couldn't help putting a big smile on my face. A Veined (Coconut) Octopus was sitting inside a shell...when I came closer to film, it decided that it wanted to check out my housing, so it then pulled itself right on top of my housing, via the port. It sat there for a few moments, then decided that it was much happier in it's shell...

[vimeohd]15297661[/vimeohd]

Kaj - What a fun time. What did the octopus do while on top of your housing? I learned in Bonaire recently how much octopus like shells - whether digging the conch out of them or using them to live in.

Once again, thanks for sharing. I look forward to your video posts. Please keep them up.

'Til the next post - DiverPam

Maybe the octopus was trying to read your future?

Thanks for sharing! So much fun in Lembeh...

Kaj - What a fun time. What did the octopus do while on top of your housing? I learned in Bonaire recently how much octopus like shells - whether digging the conch out of them or using them to live in.

I think is was just curious. It could probably see it's reflection in the port and thought it would check it out..

Maybe the octopus was trying to read your future?

Thanks for sharing! So much fun in Lembeh...

Lembeh is never boring, always fun

This week's video is of a critter I had wanted to see for a long time, a Bobtail Squid, but they only come out a night time, and after a long days work in Lembeh, it's hard to get the energy for a night dive (which is a shame, 'cos the night dives here are fantastic).

These tiny little squid are never seen in the day, as they completely cover themselves in sand. At night they come out, but if they are disturbed they bury themselves again, using two tentacles to whip the sand over their bodies until there's nothing left to see. Great fun to watch. They are only about 3 or 4cm long.

[vimeohd]15490567[/vimeohd]

Wel, I suppose everything tries to find it's niche in life....

This weeks clip is of a Sea Cucumber Crab. It chooses to live at least part of it's life inside a Sea Cucumber. I caught this little guy relaxing in his front (back?) door...

[vimeohd]15701463[/vimeohd]

Really enjoying the videos - thanks for posting!

Really enjoying the videos - thanks for posting!

Glad you are enjoying them

This week's video is of some Ghost (Skeleton) Shrimp. These are tiny shrimp that you usually only get to see one or two together, hanging out on a hydroid and very difficult to see. I found, unexpectedly, a whole colony of them on a dive this week. They were all over a whip coral and all sizes, from big (10mm) down to small (3mm). I think they were probably a collection of adults and recently hatched young, but I really have no idea why they should all be together. Really bizarre and really fascinating to watch. They almost look like ants or some strange computer-line animation...it's also a very good example of why video can sometimes show so much more than photographs

[vimeohd]15916411[/vimeohd]

Kaj - This was fascinating - once again!! If (no when) I get that way, I sure hope you are still there and get to go out diving with you, What wonderful catches.

Happy diving - DiverPam

Kaj - This was fascinating - once again!! If (no when) I get that way, I sure hope you are still there and get to go out diving with you, What wonderful catches.

 

Happy diving - DiverPam

I'll be here all next year, at least...when you make it here, it would be lovely to dive with you

This week's clip is of an old favourite at Lembeh, the Electric Disco Clam... It can be rather difficult to film with a macro lens, as it can sit quite deep inside it crack, but I finally managed to get a decent bit of footage..

This is another wonderful creature that ask's the question 'why??' Why on earth (or underwater) do you need to have an electric flashing light running up and down your body? Why??? Another bizarre yet beautiful critter from Lembeh...

[vimeohd]16139835[/vimeohd]

Hiya Kaj,

Great to meet you a couple of weeks ago and to see some of the sites and critters that you've been posting.

We had a brilliant time at KBR, loved the long dives and the relaxed dive guides.

Keep the posts coming and hopefully catch up with you at the Dive Show in Birmingham next weekend.

Take care,

Jo

Hiya Kaj,

 

Great to meet you a couple of weeks ago and to see some of the sites and critters that you've been posting.

 

We had a brilliant time at KBR, loved the long dives and the relaxed dive guides.

 

Keep the posts coming and hopefully catch up with you at the Dive Show in Birmingham next weekend.

 

Take care,

 

Jo

Hi Jo,

Great to meet you too. A memorable week I definitely be in Birmingham, on the KBR/Tasik Ria stand, probably hidden in about 20 layers of whatever clothes I can get my hands on...

Kaj

Kaj - I would have thought you crazy to post such an animial - until I saw some in Palau in June. And they are really cool to watch at night. Thanks again for sharing such wonderful sealife with us.

Talk with you soon - DiverPam