Nudi Gal: Mola Monster

Monday, December 2, 2024

Mola Monster

Wow, what a day!

The boat was just Sam, Tuomas and me. First we dove Apuri Bay where it was really cold. Then Cathedral. I was about to roll in at Cathedral when realized that my tank didn’t get changed. It was almost empty. THANK GOD I looked and they guys were able to swap my tank out for a fresh one.

At the end of the dive, Sam pointed out a Riwo samla to me. I though meh, boring but to be nice I took a picture of it. I am SO GLAD I did! I turned out to be a different Riwo which is new to the trip and me!!!

Then on the way back from the second dive, we found a Mola Mola and I jumped with my Go Pro Max 360 camera right next to it. I got about 30 seconds of pretty good footage. Here is a screengrab.

In the afternoon I went to look for my mask and it got left on the boat which was out with the divers. So I had my backup mask in my room and I grabbed it. I jumped and it was “fresh”. That is how the dive crew says “cold”. I forced myself to go down there and use the diopter. I found a little shell and then the blue nudi on the concrete mooring that I found last year. Woot! It is small and I used the diopter on it. Cool.

I had a fabulous night dive at Matap. Just me and Nikko. It was one of those dives where I couldn’t keep up with the nudis that Nikko was finding. Just one after the other. Bam . Bam. Bam. So great. I also feel like I am getting the hang of my camera. Whes.

I wasn’t even tired at dinner after four dives. Just pumped up. Awesome.

We had a healthy debate in the Facebook Groups about this one:

At first we thought it was a red Doto, then maybe Eubranchus. Then Marli in NudiBase said maybe a Flatworm, so I went there and posted it. Leslie said no, maybe it was algae or a nudi. Crap. Probably just some algae. Oh well.

Here is the Slug Slog:

122 - Phyllidiopsis striata