Philippines "Smoke Bomb"

While diving in the central Visayas, I heard a popping noise and saw this weird, dark gray "smoke" coming out of a coralhead. It didn't seem to be coming off of a piece of coral itself, like spawning, but maybe from a space between coralheads. No one on the boat could identify it, has anyone else seen this?

Very curious!

Fletcher

Spontaneous self implosion of a Cephalopod

Or perhaps it's BP trying to find another way out?

Cheers,

Jim

Could it be a sponge in the coral head giving off spawn? I've seen that before and the can give off clouds of the stuff which can seriosly affect the viz.

Probably a fight between a stomatopod and their arch-rival the cephalapod! (aka mantis shrimp vs octopus).

Cheers

James

When I first saw it, I thought it was ink from an octo. But it kept coming out for a couple of minutes at least. The picture above showed smoke the size of a Pontiac, I am not making this up!

Here is another photo:

When I first saw it, I thought it was ink from an octo. But it kept coming out for a couple of minutes at least. The picture above showed smoke the size of a Pontiac, I am not making this up!

 

 

And did it have a sort of sweet, musty smell....?

Might try crossposting in the critter ID subforum, see if Leslie or one of the experts there has an idea for you?

Yeh, that's cuttlefish ink. The big ones make even more ink... here at the Monterey Bay Aquarium one large animal will black out our entire exhibit...

Cheers,

Wyatt