Monday, September 24, 2012

Skewered Nudis and Fried Banana


My camera arrived and we motored to Sangeng overnight.  It is quite beautiful here.  The first dive site seemed like the moon it was so unique and there were bubbles coming up out of the sand.

Today my mask went missing.  Kevin lent me his and it works fine.  What a nice guy!  His website is www.divewithkevin.com and he is often on www.nudipixel.com.

We have about a dozen divers and when we find a nudi, we mark the sand nearby with a wooden skewer.  That’s so the rest of the divers can come along and take a look.  Of course the nudis don’t really stay exactly in the same place, but they won’t really go far.  At one point I looked up the sandy slope of the divesite and there was diver/camera after diver/camera on skewer after skewer.  It’s a pretty cool thing to see so many others who love to do the same thing I do.  The last person to see and photograph the nudi picks up the stick.

There is also a diver/photographer etiquette.  If the dive guide finds the nudi, the photographer should only take 3 photos and then let the next person go.  However if you find it, can take as many shots as you want.

Did I mention the food on the boat yet?  It is delicious and mostly Indonesian (rice based a lot like Chinese food).  Today they made the best snack ever, these fried bananas with like a crispy parmesan savory/sweet combo.  Yum!
On to the nudi count:


25 - Thuridilla lineolata

26 - Cuthona sp. 14

27 - Gymnodoris sp.
This one is sorta see through...

28 - Thuridilla carlsoni

29 - Cyerce kikotarobabai
Graham was soooo excited to find this one.  I don't think I've ever seen a Cyerce before!

30 - Phyllidia varicosa
Fried egg.  Boring.  See this one everywhere.

31 - Trapania palmula
Tiny and pretty rare.

32 - Glossodoris atromarginata

33 - Phyllodesmium colemani
This was the first trip I really got to know the Phyllodesmiums.  They are so cool.
 

34 - Cuthona (black cerata)
So, we found a bunch of Cuthonas that have different coloring so we counted each coloring combo uniquely.
 
35 - Flabellina rubrolineata
These are everywhere!
 
36 - Nembrotha kubryana
 

37 - Chromodoris geometrica
My favorite.

38 - Colpodaspis thompsoni
This is a pretty bad picture but this is very rare.

39 - Chromodoris decora

40 - Marionia cyanobranchiata
Super cool detail. 

41 - Glossidoris cincta
 

42 - Thuridilla albopustulosa

43 - Eubranchus sp. 2
 

44 - Thuridilla hoffae
 

45 - Phyllidia pustulosa
Strawberry nudi.  This are boring.  Underwater they look green and black but when the strobe hits them they turn pink and black.

46 - Flabellina bilas
Very delicate.

47 - Cratena simba
Tiny.

48 - Ceratosoma trilobatum
So cool.  This is a big guy.  Look at the gills.  They sit on a flap.
 

49 - Tritonia sp. (big fluffy white one)
This totally looks like soft coral until you realize that it's moving.  Rhinophores are way down at the bottom.

50 - Tritonia sp. (little thing on the top of soft coral)

51 - Lomanotis sp. (pink one on a hydroid)
 

52 - Lomanotis sp. (orangish one on a hydroid)
 

53 - Pleurobranchus forskalii
Pleurobranchs are as big a dinner plates!
 
 

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