Pikachu to the BRO, Gobble Gobble

The afternoon dive was really pretty boring for like the first half.  Then as Nando was showing me a Thecacera sp. 8 (they like to call it the Pikachu), he saw a little squid.  I thought it was cute, but he corralled it aside and showed it to Catherine.  Once I was done shooting the nudis, I wandered over to it and took a few shots not thinking anything of it.  Then it started changing colors and forming spots… or maybe rings. Holy crap and the rings were blue.  No wonder Nando was excited.  This was a BLUE RING OCTOPUS!!!  (B.R.O.)  Super cool.  I took a little video of it too.

Happy Thanksgiving.  A few of us Americans exchanged a little gobble gobble but alas, we had orange chicken for dinner.  Not a turkey leg to be found.

No night dive tonight.  I couldn’t convince anyone to go and they won’t go unless there are at least two divers.  That’s OK, it was nice to just get some rest.

I resumed the selfies today!  (see below)

42 - Dermatobranchus funiculus

43 - Dermatobranchus caeruleomaculatus

44 - Nembrotha lineolata

45 - Glossodoris rufomarginata

46 - Hypselodoris sp. 7

47 - Goniobranchus rufomaculatus

48 - Ceratosoma gracillimum

49 - Thecacera sp. 8

50 - Flabellina exoptata

51 - Halgerda batangas

52 - Goniobranchus geometricus

Today's Selfies...

Kissing more frogs.  This one is black, cause you know, Diversity!

The underwater version of “Five Guys”.

Getting back in the saddle again.

It's like Dracula, with an I

This resort is unique in that they only have two divers per dive guide.  I’ve been buddied up with Catherine so far.

But I got all to myself today since Elysa’s husband chose not to dive and she buddied up with Catherine.

The new wetsuit is getting better, but I still didn’t love it.

I did four dives and by the night dive I was so grumpy, I didn’t do my best work.  I kept thinking there was nothing to see but when I looked at my photos, there was plenty.  I just didn’t slow down enough to photograph it well. 

At dinner, Tony from Finland asked me to ID some of his nudis.  I was so tired, I didn’t think it was a good idea… but I told him to pick three pictures and we made a bet out of it.  If I could ID all three, then I won something from them.  We settled on some Finnish bubble gum.  If I failed to get one of them off the top of my head, I’d have to French braid his wife Maria’s hair for diving the next day.

You know, I got stumped.  Even looking through the book!  He had a really nice shot of the Hypseldoris iacula.  (you know, like Dracula with an I).  I swear it looked better than the one in the book.  OK, the hunt is on for it!

15 - Marionia sp. 4

16 - Phyllodesmium pinnatum

17 - Phyllidiopsis annae

18 - Hypselodoris maculosa

19 - Phyllidiella pustulosa

20 - Hypselodoris emma

21 - Hypselodoris tryoni

22 - Caloria indica

23 - Elysia sp. (tiny lavender)

24 - Chromodoris annae

25 - Chromodoris strigata

26 - Chromodoris magnifica

27 - Thuridilla albopustulosa

28 - Phyllodesmium poindimiei

29 - Phyllodesmium briareum

30 - Mexichromis trilineata

31 - Phyllidia varicosa

32 - Elysia marginata

33 - Phyllodesmium opalescens

34 - Ceratosoma tenue

35 - Phyllodesmium sp. 1

36 - Nembrotha sp. 1

37 - Goniobranchus fidelis

38 - Goniobranchus coi

39 - Mexichromis mariei

40 - Nembrotha chamberlaini

41 - Marionia rubra

Selfie-Fest

This is a pretty nice little resort.  I have my own room which looks out to a pool and a little black beach.  The camera room is spacious and I have a spot that overlooks the ocean lagoon.  There are lots of cushioned seats everywhere and tons of table space so I can choose to be around people and chat or sit by myself with my computer.

This resort only does three dives a day and charges a little more for night dives (and at least two people have to sign up in order to go).  I’m going to see if I can get a few organized.

I wore my old wetsuit on the first two dives and then attempted to break in my new wetsuit on the third dive.  It was tough but I did it (finally).

The people here are very nice.  Mostly older folks.  Several are doctors and a dentist.  It’s a fairly international crowd.

The diving is muck diving.  I love looking for the crazy critters and especially nudis.  On the first day, I photographed 14 which isn’t too bad since I’m the only brancher here.

1 - Pteriolidia semperi

Since this one is so boring, I'm showing a shot with eggs.

2 - Trapania toddi

3 - Melibe viridis

4 - Trapania aurata

5 - Hypselodoris infucata

See the parasite in the gills and the juvenile down at the base?

6 - Flabellina rubrolineata

7 - Phyllidia ocellata

8 - Coryphellina sp.

Gah!  Why can't I remember which one this is!?!?!

9 - Rostanga sp. 9

If you look closely at the front, you can see two little rhinophores.

10 - Hypselodoris nigrostriata

11 - Cratena simba

12 - Phyllodesmium tuberculatum

13 - Cuthona sp. 18

14 - Costasiella kuroshimae

I also did some of my infamous selfies!

Me and my wonderpuss.

Just a little cuttle-ing.

I hear you gotta kiss a lotta frogs!

Looking Forward to Lembeh

I'm off on my next trip!  I'm headed to Lembeh.  I will be somewhere here at NAD Resort over the next couple of weeks:

http://www.nad-lembeh.com

I'm super excited.  There is great critter action here and of course Nudibranchs!!!

I'm not meeting any nudibranchers on this trip, so I'll be mostly alone (except for any other guests at the resort).  I'm looking forward to working on my photography and reading a lot.

I fly through LA then Singapore to Manado.  I leave today (Saturday) and don't get to the resort until Monday.

Nudi Kleptopredation

From The New York Times:

When This Sea Slug Eats, It Prefers the Turducken of the Sea

A species of nudibranch was found to engage in what researchers call kleptopredation — “steal your meal and eat you, too.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/science/nudibranch-sea-slug-kleptopredation.html?mwrsm=Email

Fish Rabbit

I heard this week at my SCUBA Meetup "Dinner with Divers" in Chinatown that nudibranch in Chinese is called... wait for it...

Fish Rabbit!!

That sorta makes sense.  I like it!