The Sixth Critter Post
Posted on May 31, 2009 by bruce_moore
...Covering Much Ground ... Progress ...Great Diving As Usual ... Gearing Up For High Season ...
It has been some time, too long in fact, since my last posting, so for the sake of continuity I'll start from where I last left off...
Looking back over the years, November was traditionally a quiet month, with warmer water resulting in less critters and more jellyfish. But over the past few years the month of November has been brilliant, critter-wise and we have been spared jellyfish invasions and water over 30 degrees C. As an added bonus, the fact that rain now seems to fall almost evenly over the course of the year rather than solely November until April means that we don't get a flushing of garbage into the strait from heavy rains signaling the start of the traditional rainy season. All this translates to excellent conditions and great diving. Somehow the word as gotten out because in the past November would be, along with January, the quietest month of the year, but that has all changed now.
December starts quietly, but then the traditional holiday season is always busy and at Black Sand Dive Retreat, we were no different. There was some very cool stuff to see: a new fluffy Rhinopias frondosa at Pantai Parigi, harlequin shrimp and tiger shrimp at Police Pier, a lembeh frogfish at Hairball (both hairy and fuzzy froggies were very scarce over 2008), etc.. As I always say, there's always something to see. We had few guests in January, but still saw new things: a lovely pair of halimeda ghost pipefish at Makawide, a tiny white tiger shrimp at TK3 and some excellent house reef dives.
Over the years, the first few months of the year are a mixed bag. Less guests mean more time to survey and generally lower critter counts mean that guides have to search more diligently, which results in some smaller gems being spotted, like odd shrimps, baby frogfish, pygmy pipehorses and the like. The stable water temperatures put off the seasonality we used to rely on. We're seeing very little fluctuations in visibility and water temperature. We have seen only a few cold upwellings, which are welcome, if chilly and turbid. But the upwellings signal incoming critters, which is always good news. The decent diving built into great dives as we headed into April.
In April the first Antennarius striatus (hairy frogfish) we've seen in over six months popped up at Pantai Parigi - a lovely orange specimen. Then two more showed up, but all three then moved on. Flamboyant cuttlefish are more numerous; we saw four on a single jump on 8/4. The wee juveniles have the most vivid coloration and there's a few of them about in the mix. Ambon scorpionfish (one of my personal favourites) are continuing to be seen commonly. A few juvenile seahorses are about, with thorny seahorses at a few sites. Juvenile zebra batfish are two sites. More mimics. Some odd slug and nudi species, including some new to us. Critter numbers are on the rise and I expect it to only get better.
I can't say I was diving much recently, but my most recent two jumps were both very rewarding. At Slow Poke we found 3 thorny seahorses, a nice white H. bullockii, a delicate ghost pipefish, juvenile cuttlefish, zebra crab, a carrier crab bearing an urchin, a nice juvenile painted lobster, a photogenic blackfin snake eel with a cleaner shrimp on the snout and as the highlight, the first wonderpus seen in a few months - a small one unperturbed by nosy divers, just poking along with his arms corkscrewed above the substrate. Since then I did a night dive on the House Reef and though we didn't find some of the things we were expecting, we did find plenty, including as highlights: a pair of tiger shrimp, a small giant frogfish a-fishin', a sea snake, a few juvenile sole (mimicking flatworms), a lovely flatworm (black with pink edge), an absolutely massive helmet shell and a number of squid.
Around BSDR we are continuing to add and build. We now have three Chefs on staff. We also have completed a huge three-section camera rinse tank right outside the Camera Room door in the Dive Center. Small touches in the rooms should be noticeable for return guests. More furniture in the Entrance Hall and pictures on the walls in the Main Building. Satellite TV. And more will happen over the next few months.
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