Cacophony of Coughs

Everyone is coughing today.  It is like a cacophony of coughs.  So far, I’m still untouched.  Knock wood.  Maybe it is because I got the flu shot in October.

Pirjo sat on the boat this morning because her ears won't clear.  I am so sad for her.  She kept good spirits and even did a Go Pro video as we came up from the dive.

On the first dive I found something weird and interesting I thought was a nudi but it turns out is a limpet: Scutus sinensis.  

We also found boxer crabs.  The last one was dancing, swaying its pom poms from side to side.

On the second dive I went to go snoot a frogfish and everything get set up ok but then the strobe wasn’t firing.  Ugh.  Then after we got back to the resort, I tried again and it seemed to work fine.  WTF?

We also found this colony of brown teddy bear looking nudis. Vie Panyarachun thinks they are possibly a Hallaxa.

I finished my series “The Big C” on Netflix with Laura Linney.  I liked it.  She wanted her last words to be “Lucky Me”.  I like it.

At the end of the night dive I snooted several things.  It was so tough.  I was able to get everything set up, but then I just handed it up that way to the boat guys.  I did not disassemble it.

Mona and I started talking about Snooting like a Lady at dinner… and one of the guests confirmed what was in my head… that “Dude looks like a Lady” by Aerosmith is the theme song for this.  “Snoot it like a Lady”

Mona also told a story about how she got stung by a man o’ war in the Maldives.  How awful.  But of course I asked if she saw the Glaucus atlanticus in there.

Slug Line

193 - Chelidonura hirundinina

194 - Philinopsis pilsbryi

195 - Phyllodesmium pecten

196 - Phyllodesmium longicirrum

It took a long time to find one this year!

197 - Hallaxa sp.  

Here is just one of the many clusters (parties) of these teddy bear nudis:

198 - Nembrotha lineolata

199 - Gymnodoris sp. 6

Lost Subject Syndrome

It is softly raining in the dark outside.  There is a little bit of thunder rolling in the background.  I am sitting at the dining room table.  Alone.  My hair is in pony tails so I can turn them into braids later.  I am working on my nudi list, drinking the Indonesian coffee with my French vanilla powdered creamer.  I feel good (except for a little hydroid rash on my thumb).  This is my happy place.

Pirjo isn’t feeling well.  She still went on the first dive but had trouble with her ears.  She and Francis finished the dive shallow up by some beautiful corals.  I stayed down with Nikko and found more nudis.  She also skipped the second dive.  I found a new nudi to me.  Goniobranchus sp. 15.

The other boat saw a whale shark at the end of their dive.

On the afternoon dive I found a Goniobranchus collingwoodi and went to snoot it.  As I was setting up, I lost it.  I suffer from Lost Subject Syndrome or LSS.  I have to remember in the future to put a toothpick next to it or leave my light there.  Oh man.

The night dive was out of this world.  Nikko found Tenellia sp. 79 with eggs!

He also found a Favorinus party

I found two red flatworms penis fencing.

And lots of new species.

Fireworks Show

175 - Phyllidiopsis xishaensis

176 - Phyllidia elegans

177 - Nembrotha sp. 1 

178 - Nembrotha cristata

179 - Goniodoridella savignyi

180 - Nembrotha chamberlaini

181 - Goniobranchus sp. 15

182 - Phyllidiella sp.

183 - Glossodoris acosti

184 - Goniobranchus collingwoodi

185 - Coryphellina sp.

186 - Kaloplocamus acutus

187 - Lomanotus vermiformis

188 - Sakuraeolis sp. 2

189 - Eubranchus sp. 2

190 - Unidentia sandramillenae

191 - Thordisa villosa

192 - Pleurobranchus weberi

Squid Games

I woke up to breezy thunder, but no rain (yet).

I committed to coming back next year.  But I have a wedding on 12/12 so I will be coming earlier in the season… from 11/14/26 to 12/5/26.

In the morning, we went to Pertamina Jetty.  At Pirjo and my request.  It wasn’t great.  And what we realized later is that we were remembering a different jetty that they don’t dive anymore.  Oh well.  I am still glad we went because I scored a few more new species there.

On the afternoon dive, I went all over the house reef and found the best new nudi right under the dock.  

The night dive was ON FIRE.  We were busy-busy photographing.  And I even shot a couple of squid.

More and more people keep getting sick.  So much so that Alex put out some packets of the local remedy.  Oh man.

Marching On

168 - Mexichromis aurora

169 - Goniobranchus sinensis

170 - Gymnodoris sp. 30

171 - Glossodoris hikuerensis

172 - Dermatobranchus sp. 11

173 - Aegires sp. 3

174 - Dolabella auricularia

Sea Cure Lost and Found

It was super quiet again in the morning.

I snorkeled between the two morning dives.  I don’t see how anybody does that.  It is so annoying.  Especially after SCUBA diving.

On the afternoon dive, I saw the Gymnodoris again and this time you could see what it ate for lunch.

Do you think that is some kind of Phyllidia in there?  Or is that something else?

At the end of the afternoon dive I saw a regulator mouthpiece floating in front of me.  It was my sea cure.  Thank God I saw it and grabbed it.  I don't know what I would have done if I lost it.  The zip tie came a little loose and it fell off.  I think I am going to buy/mold/pack a second sea cure (and many zip ties) for future trips.

The couple from the Netherlands are from Eindhoven.  That is literally the only place I’ve been there… apart from Amsterdam of course.

We had banana ice cream again for dessert.  So good!  I can't wait to make it at home.

While I was reviewing my photos at night, I noticed a crab scurrying along my bedroom floor.  OMG.  I have had geckos, spiders, praying mantis, millipedes in my room but never a crab.  I shooed him out into the bathroom area.  

Quiet Queue

158 - Phyllidiella lizae

159 - Thuridilla gracilis

160 - Ceratosoma sp. 1

161 - Phyllidiella granulata

162 - Phyllidia sp. 3

163 - Thorunna furtiva

164 - Sagaminopteron nigropunctatum

165 - Gymnodoris sp. 3

Marli thinks this one is different from the one I saw previously.

166 - Petalifera sp.

167 - Phyllodesmium colemani