Manta Tales

Perhaps for Leap Day (February 29th) a meter-long Devil ray (probably Mobula kuhlii) leapt on the tranquil waters of Tomini Bay to the delight of the boat crew. Its booming splash was heard underwater. These rays are smaller than the giant Manta ray (Manta birostris) but have the distinctive ?horns? and no noticeable tail.

One of Miguel?s Diving staff had an unforgettable encounter with a group of at least five of these rays. A couple of years ago here in Gorontalo, he and his uncle were using a pair of lanterns to fish at night. Their traditional canoe is just wide enough to sit in. A type of small fish that evidently these rays like was in dense schools, attracted by the light. The two men could see rays passing below them and heard the splashes all around. When the rays were no longer visible below, they lowered the anchor. Suddenly, a ray caught the anchor, towing the tiny wooden canoe. It was like being tied to a speedboat going full throttle. As they were zigzagging back and forth, the uncle yelled, ?Get the knife! Cut the rope!? They were able to cut the anchor line before being pulled underwater.

Let?s hope these beautiful creatures don?t wait another four years for their next leap!

Squid Lovers

One of Miguel’s Diving staff usually brings in the night’s catch of squid from his village on his way to work in the mornings. Residents and visitors alike love the fresh squid available in Gorontalo. The last few days no squid have been caught. Why? “They have been scared away,” he says. The culprit? Bigeye trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus). These fast pedators also love the taste of squid and run in big schools off a deep point adjacent to several dive sites. Not to be out done are local Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). This recent photograph shows a pod of ten right off a popular restaurant in Gorontalo City. They were shallow diving in a very tight group and completely ignored the dive boat. We heard a lot of breathing and found squid blood in the water.

Descend. Relax. Marvel. Surface.

A single Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) glides over the coral wall towards the tanker resting in the darkness below. This wreck has been up side down for over 60 years. In the 15-meter visibility both ends disappear in the gloom. A goatfish scours the hull for food, stirring up puffs of silt. Damsels dance around the propellers. Above on the top of the wall a mantis shrimp digs furiously in the sand. A large Yellow-mask angelfish (Pomacanthus xanthometopon) plays hide-and-seek among encrusted pylons hanging off the wall. There, too, a Yellow-spot slingjaw wrasse (Epibulus sp.), an undescribed specie, flexes its extendable jaw. Above some rubble, a male Flasher wrasse, also an undescribed specie, pulsates his ornate fins to impress his harem. Endemic Orangeback wrasse (Cirrhilabrus aurantidorsalis) swim frantically in mid water, gobbling plankton. That was part of this morning?s relaxing, marvelous first dive.

Barrelful of Lions

The Tjenderawashi barge wreck could be clearly seen from the surface. We could see the cables traversing the wreck?s up side down bottom. These cables were once used to tie thousands of barrels to the hull in a fruitless attempt to refloat it. Visible too was one of the many resident lionfish, patrolling for careless fusiliers. Visibility underwater was 15 to 16 meters. Miguel?s Diving staff has measured the wreck for mapping, so exact distances are known. As a result of this dive, the fish species for this dive site now total 115. Additions include the Banded pipefish (Doryrhamphus dactyliophorus), discovered hiding in two separate pylons.

While exploring the shallows, the dive master came upon a previously unknown barrel with half of its side torn away. Hiding inside were numerous, large lionfish, evidently having a private meeting in their own clubhouse. Poking its head out and blocking the entrance with its fins, one big one seemed to say, ?Do not disturb! Humans not allowed!?

Enter the Kaleidoscope

Descending into the tranquil waters of Gorontalo’s Silvertip Grounds dive site was like entering a kaleidoscope. Schools of fish feasted in clear water. Schooling pyramid butterflyfish were fluttering white and yellow. Blue fusiliers (Caesio lunaris) poured down the wall from one direction while countless Yellow-dash fusiliers (Pterocaesio randalli) swam from the other direction. Troops of large Elongate unicornfish (Naso lopezi) passed in formation far from the wall. These two-tone fish are considered uncommon – except in Gorontalo! Midnight and Black snappers (Macolor macularis & Macolor niger) in the deeper waters below still sported their juvenile white spotting despite their large size. That was only the descent!

And for the ascent to the safety stop: inside a 2-meter long vase sponge a Giant moray (Gymnothorax javanicus) was getting its morning picking-over courtesy of a Banded coral shrimp (Stenopus hispidus). Visibility this morning was 20-meters and water temperature was a warm 30 degrees Celsius.

Sand Bottom: Full of Life

Alleyways is the only dive site that Miguel’s Diving offers with a relatively shallow sand bottom. The near end has a sand shelf at 3 meters before a steep sand bank. The first section of the dive site has a relatively flat sand bottom at around 16 meters. The last section of the dive site is an abrupt coral wall topped by a lovely coral garden. But what is there to see on the sand flat? Plenty!

Large Yellowmargin triggerfish (Pseudobalistes flavimarginatus) cruise this area and presumably are the culprits that have dug numerous large pits in the sand. Today, not only were the Spotted garden eels (Heteroconger hassi) weaving and bobbing but so too was a small, black juvenile Ribbon eel (Rhinomuraena quaesita) with a blue and yellow adult not far away on a coral rubble bank. One of a pair of Gold-spec jawfish (Opistognathus sp.) was completely out of its hole, waving its spec-tacular yellow barred tail as it carried a mouthful of sand away from its home and spit it out. A lovely spotted Chromodoris kuniei nudibranch lumbered over the sand while a large Coronation lyretail cod (Variola louti) patrolled overhead.

Flashes of Silver in Sulawesi

Today?s diving confirmed that Sulawesi diving produces memorable experiences. Gorontalo?s Traffic Jam dive site is popular both with visiting divers and resident fish. This morning in flat seas and 25-meter visibility more than just the usual schools of fish were streaming back and forth, up and down the wall. So were schools of Bigmouth mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta). Flashing silver in the morning sun, these delicious fish were swimming in tight schools below in the 30-meter range as well as above at the reef crest. Some schools seemed to steer away from the bubbles, but one school came within a few meters. These fish thrive in the plankton-rich waters of Sulawesi?s Tomini Bay. Those diving here usually see them swimming frantically just under the surface, mouths agape, so as to strain plankton through their gills. One recent guest thought this quite funny to watch.

What Eats Starfish?

On a single day Miguel’s Diving staff witnessed the devouring of two different starfish. In one of the holes that dot the wall at Honeycomb dive site, a couple of triggerfish had eaten most of an up side down Choriaster granulatus. At another dive site a large Triton’s trumpet (Charonia tritonis) had almost completely sucked a common blue starfish (Linckia laevigata) inside its shell. Harlequin shrimp (Hymenocera picta) also feed on starfish, eating it a bite at a time starting with an arm, so as to keep the starfish alive as long as possible.

We have Belly Bars!

No, it’s not some new tattoo but a new cardinalfish.

It has taken Miguel’s Diving staff a couple of visits back to the same patch of sand to identify the schools of cardinalfish that seem suddenly to have appeared. One group of about a dozen shelters in the same clump of branching fire coral where last year we found a pair of ghost pipefish. As if the fire coral is not enough, the spot is aggressively guarded by three Saddleback anemonefish (Amphiprion polymnus). They click their teeth vigorously while rushing at your dive mask. Since their anemone is not to be seen, perhaps they are guarding eggs. Also hovering around the sand is an unusual juvenile lionfish, opaque white with narrow bars. The outer edges of its pectoral fins have a string of large pink spots. All that protection has made it difficult to get a close look at those cardinalfish.

Only named in 1994, the Belly-barred cardinalfish (Apogon ventrifasciatus) is a beautiful reddish brown with white lines through its eyes, a distinctive white dorsal spot, and faint belly bars. Another group hovers nearby around a sand anemone. Both groups are in only three meters of water. Known from the Indo-Malay Archipelago to the Solomon Islands, we have yet to find this fish at other locations.

Jewels among the Acropora

Gorontalo’s Hole-in-the-Rock is the only dive site offered by Miguel’s Diving that has dense patches of single specie branching Acropora. Among the branches, at least seven species of cardinalfish hide. These include the large Eight-line cardinalfish (Cheilodipterus alleni), the Five-line cardinalfish (Cheilodipterus quinquelineatus) with its yellow tail blotch with spot, the Banda cardinalfish (Apogon bandanensis) with orange tipped fins, the bearded Twinspot cardinalfish (Apogon biguttata), the beautiful Ochre-striped cardinalfish (Apogon compressus) with its distinctive neon-blue iris, and the hilariously decorated Pajama cardinalfish (Sphaeramia nematoptera). Another cardinalfish common at this location has iridescent blue face lines and will require closer inspection to determine which specie it is.

The real surprise is the discovery of three colonies of the elusive Pinkeye goby (Bryaninops natans). Two colonies have at least 20 fish each. Friends say this rare fish can only be found as one small colony in North Sulawesi’s Bunaken Park. Miguel’s Diving staff knows where to find these fish at two different dive sites.

When Wind and Wave Collide

Those familiar with Sulawesi diving know that currents bring out the fish. This was certainly true of diving this morning in Sulawesi’s Tomini Bay. The initial descent into calm waters soon required some upward finning in a couple of slight down currents. A couple of Napo.leon wrasse, a large adult and a juvenile, ascended for a closer look to see who was diving. On the surface of the ocean, lines of fast breaking waves could be seen, as the current began to pick up at the point. For diving, the current made for a wonderful ride. Schools of fish were everywhere. Schools of fusiliers blue and gold poured through others colored rust and yellow. Lighting fast Blue-fin trevally (Caranx melampygus) hunted aggressively. Various triggers fluttered in the current with Schooling pyramid butterflyfish (Hemitaurichthys polylepis). A single White-spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) glided slowly past only a few meters away. Upon ascent, the ocean surface was boiling with white-capped, fast breaking waves because the wind and the current were heading in opposite directions. For the second dive we opted for a tranquil shallow reef closer to Gorontalo City.

Beauty Not to be Touched

Yesterday while diving the popular City Limits dive site, we discovered a Flower sea urchin (Toxopneustes pileolus) in a section of coral rubble popular with photographers. Considered the most venomous of all sea urchins, this creature’s numerous nonvenomous spines are interspersed with taller flower-like stalks. The pinkish “flower” is actually a triple jaw with venom glands on its jaw tips. When an unsuspecting fish rests on the deadly bed of flowers, the jaws of each flower clamp down, releasing a peditoxin. For the unfortunate human stung by this creature, reactions include severe pain, respiratory distress, relaxation of the limb muscles, loss of control of facial muscles, and paralysis of lips, tongue and eyelids with its consequent difficulty in speaking. Contact has been deadly. Even after the flowery stinging jaws (called pedicellaria) detach from the urchin, they are locked into the skin and continue to pump in venom. These should be removed promptly. We are told that pain usually disappears in an hour, but facial paralysis can persist up to six hours. The Flower sea urchin yesterday was mostly buried in rubble, typical behavior for its species. Its countless flowers were opening and closing in a most alluring manner.