Lembeh Is Creature-Crammed and Its 'Strait-Wise'
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FEATURE INDONESIA CRITTERS ON DEMAND By Don Silcock Lembeh is creature-crammed and its ‘strait-wise’ dive guides make finding them a doddle He had firmly established his completely immobile, and often partially credentials as an alpha male dive guide buried, among a cluster of real stones on over the last two days, searching out the seabed. Similarly, the giant (house critters that my buddy Bruce Yates and cat-sized) frogfish’s game plan is to look I would have swam right past, but I now as much like a sponge as possible. Its wondered if Andreas was getting just a colouration, shape and skin texture blend little bit too cocky. Could he really find in so well with its surroundings that when critters on demand? initially pointed out, you can easily look Critter is a generic, totally non- straight at them and wonder why your scientific term used to describe a huge guide is so excited about a sponge. variety of unrelated underwater creatures. Often Andreas would signal for our Typically they are small (often truly tiny). attention when underwater by emitting Beyond that, anything goes. Some have a high-pitched hum, and Bruce and an amazing aptitude for disguise; others I soon learned that variations in the are so eye-wateringly flamboyant in colour pitch of this humming indicated his and form that they might as well scream level of excitement. This turned us into “I’m over here!” Intense beauty frequently underwater versions of Pavlov’s dogs, rubs cheeks with brutal ugliness. ignoring low-pitched hums to concentrate Critters are highly sought after, on the current subject in our viewfinders, particularly by underwater photographers while dropping everything when ultra- who see them as trophies to add to their high pitched squeals came in. image collection. Besides their photogenic There was clearly only one way to find FACING: Gunung Klabat looms over the attributes, many critters endear themselves out if Andreas could deliver on his offer to bay where the diveboats swing at anchor. ABOVE: Andreas, our genius diveguide. to photographers by usually staying still, find whatever we wanted to see: put him BELOW: Our charming chariot for the day. appearing totally confident in their ability to the test. So that morning I responded to camouflage themselves. by saying that I’d like to see an orange One such critter is the hideously ugly rhinopias, as the only ones I had seen phone, accessing another of the intriguing and extremely venomous stonefish which up to that point were the green variant. aspects of diving this part of Indonesia – can be almost impossible to spot as it lays Quick as a flash Andreas was on his cell the dive guide network. To comprehend the value of this resource, first picture a place where nature unung Klabat, a large of Sulawesi. astonishing variety of weird and wonderful has created the ideal conditions for critters v o l c a n o , p r o v i d e d a Muck diving is a term defined by Bob creatures, or critters, as divers call them. to flourish and which, because of it’s postcard-perfect backdrop Halstead, the godfather of liveaboard The previous two days had been spent sheltered location, can be dived virtually t h a t m o r n i n g a s w e diving in Papua New Guinea, as diving diving some of the sites I had heard so any day of the year. boarded the dive boats. that takes place at any site which does not much about from friends who had been Then picture an array of resorts all The sea was calm and have beautiful underwater scenery. to Lembeh many times. I had not been offering escorted diving to the 20+ sites Ginviting in the early morning light, the Simply stated then, diving in the disappointed. Hairball, Nudi Falls and where these critters can be found. Each only sounds the gentle slapping of water Lembeh Strait is not for everybody – if the Police Pier had all been top notch, resort has a roster of dive guides: locals against the hull and the happy banter of you prefer warm, clear blue water with not least because of our secret weapon: who dive these sites five or six days a the Indonesian crew as they prepared to reefs and schooling pelagics, then this Andreas, our dive guide. week, with many of them having literally push away. is not your sort of place. There are sites He was his usual cheerful self that thousands of logged dives in the area. It was day three of an eight-day muck like that not too far away, but unless you morning as we handed our cameras over Each is a considerable store of knowledge diving sojourn in the Lembeh Strait, ask specifically, resorts here will play to to the crew as we clambered aboard, so in their own right. But if you connect a narrow neck of water that separates their strengths as Lembeh Strait is Asia’s cheerful in fact that I thought he must be them all together through their common the island of the same name from the epicenter for muck diving, with an pulling my leg when he casually asked, interest in the critters and in ensuring northeastern tip of the Indonesian island unparalleled reputation for the most “What would you like to see today?” their diving guests leave with a good story 72 ACTION ASIA ACTION ASIA 73 JAN/FEB 2009 JAN/FEB 2009 to tell about Lembeh – then you have the true power of the dive guide network. It took Andreas two calls to pinpoint the best location to see an orange rhinopias, with a confirmed sighting just the previous afternoon. Then off we went and sure enough, an hour later, I was face-to-face with a fine specimen of this unique, highly sought-after and very photogenic scorpionfish! That also brings to mind another thing to note about critters: that at typical depths of 8-15m, they often look their best only in the millisecond that they The harlequin shrimp: shy by nature yet are illuminated by a camera’s strobe or bearing the most spectacular shells. flash. The balanced light brings to life the colours that remain otherwise unseen in the wavelengths of natural light available down there. In other words, my orange rhinopias looked a lot like the green A cheeky crowd of young onlookers gather to watch the action as the boat is loaded. variety I had already bagged when not seen through my viewfinder. So just why is it that Lembeh is such a water per second. One way to visualise basins to the north of Indonesia. goldmine for critters? this flow is to imagine a river 100m The Lembeh Strait not only channels When something dies in the ocean, it wide, 10m deep, flowing at four knots. these upwellings, it also provides the usually sinks to the bottom. This detritus Then multiply that by 500 – that’s one other criteria required for critters to of the sea, rich in phosphorus and nitrogen Sverdrup. The Indonesian Throughflow is flourish: sheltered coves and bays, which from decaying organisms, remains on the estimated to amount to 20-22 Sverdrups, allow them to thrive in relative safety, bottom in most cases. In the waters off or approximately 10,000 of those rivers! and freshwater run-offs which provide the eastern coast of Sulawesi however, this The throughflow is the result of additional nutrients. This troika then is pattern is disturbed by the Indonesian monsoonal weather patterns and oceanic the key to understanding why Lembeh Strait is the mother of all critter hotspots. sure enough, an hour later, I was face-to- I can vouch for the results. Over that eight day period in June, diving three face with a fine specimen of this unique, highly or four times a day, I saw a huge variety sought-after and very photogenic scorpionfish! of critters: which included numerous frogfish, robust and ornate ghost pipefish, Throughflow – a phenomenal current that currents that combine to move water of multiple varieties of devilfish, leaf flows from the Pacific to the northwest of higher temperature and lower salinity scorpionfish, pygmy seahorses, snake eels, Indonesia, into the Indian Ocean to the out of the Pacific Ocean, south- and blue ring octopus, rhinopias, harlequin south of the archipelago. westwards to the Indian Ocean. Along the shrimp and numerous rare crabs. This flow is larger than traditional way of course, they pick up and carry with It was without doubt the most measurements of volume can easily them all those deposited nutrients. photographically productive trip I have deal with and so a Norwegian scientist, The shores of North Sulawesi, together ever done. The reason it was there at all Harald Sverdrup, came up with a unit with Halmahera and Irian Jaya, are where was down to Mother Earth of course, but now named after him. One Sverdrup this flow from the Pacific meets coldwater it was Uncle Andreas I had to thank for is a flow of one million cubic metres of upwellings from the deep trenches and guiding me to it. ∆∆ 74 ACTION ASIA ACTION ASIA 75 JAN/FEB 2009 JAN/FEB 2009 The pygmy seahorse, a critter beloved of underwater photographers everywhere. The porcelain crab loves carpet anemones, but lacking those will make a home in many other sorts of niches on the reef. 76 ACTION ASIA ACTION ASIA 77 JAN/FEB 2009 JAN/FEB 2009 The scorpionfish family has numerous species, several of which come in different variants or phases.