Ring in the Blue Year

Well, only three more days of diving.  I was thinking last night after the night dive that part of the magic of coming here is diving with Nikko.  He is the best chill guide who finds and shows me what I’m looking for.  And I always know where he is.  

The nudi list is slow but I broke my goal of 200, so I am happy with my results.  Anything over that is gravy.

Next to the toasters, I noticed a long wooden thing in the basket.  It was the length of a cane but had a curve to it.  Almost a scoop.  I couldn’t figure out what it was.  I asked Uri about it at breakfast.  He told a story about guy from World Bank staying here and he messaged ahead to ensure that the resort had a shoehorn.  I guess he was a really big guy and needed one.  Nobody wears shoes here. So they definitely don’t have one.  Uri had to get the local guys to carve this one for him.  He said he is taking it with him as a momento.  

The muck dives were warm with no current.  We found quite a bit.

At the end of the first dive, Nikko found a blue ring octopus!  He said that it is his first of the season.

One of the other boats found a blue whale and its calf during their surface interval.  The guest with the drone sent it up and captured some stunning video.

On my afternoon dive, I took a picture of the lobster living under mooring #2.  I was quite taken by the colors on him:

I also found this crazy looking stonefish:

Slug Mugs

207 - Tenellia sp. 80

208 - Thorunna sp. 2

209 - Dermatobranchus tuberculatus

210 - Diniatys dubius

211 - Phyllidia coelestis

212 - Dermatobranchus sp. 8

213 - Phyllidia picta

214 - Aldysia sp.

This is Pirjo's picture.  I saw it from afar, but couldn't circle back in time to get a shot of it.

Bender

There is a big gecko that hangs out near the coffee station.  I am going to name him Grindz.

Nikko has a day off today.  I am lost without him.  Hengky is our guide.

The first dive of the morning was cold and the strongest current yet.  Dave put his pointer stick down in order to hold on to something and it bent.  I think I took five photos.  We surfaced at 45 minutes.

The second dive was Matap where it was warm and there was no current.  I made Hengky dive it like Nikko does so we could crawl up the mountain.  We found a transparent juvenile fish.  Maybe a rhinopia?

At dinner I brought the little “Drinking Buddies” markers and let each of the ladies pick one to keep.  Everyone got a kick out of it.

On the evening dive Hengky found a Phyllodesmium macphersonae!  Three of them, although I only saw two.  They are super tough to get a photo of because they blend right into the substrate.  I also worked on “Shawn the Sheep”:

Chugging along

204 - Phyllidiopsis annae

205 - Roboastra gracilis

206 - Phyllodesmium macphersonae

So Cold

I slept in until almost 4am.  I worked on the nudis and I am now at 198.  I just need to find one more to meet my goal.  I have five more days to get 35 more and I could beat the 2023 record.

I learned that Mona can do a perfect imitation of a gecko.  It is quite impressive.

This morning’s first two dives were SO COLD.  76 degrees.  We went in search of mola molas after in the rain and I just closed my eyes and dreamed of a hot shower.  We didn’t find any mola mola, so I got my wish.

Check out these two Hypselodoris tryoni slime trailing:

There are two slugs on the same rock every afternoon on the house reef.  I am going to start calling them Cliff and Norm… from Cheers.

On the night dive, Pirjo and I took pictures of a Crocodile Snake Eel and several fish nearby kept bumping into us.  And one of them "played dead" and seemed to be paralyzed.  Not even a minute later, it woke up and swam about its business.  

I started watching Season 2 of the Ted Danson series Man on the Inside.  I am also pushing forward with The Big Year book.

Instead of a sorbet dessert at dinner I opted for a ginger tea.  I cannot shake this very cold feeling.

I had to charge my dive computer overnight again.  This is a long trip!

Slime Trail

198 - Phyllidiopsis pipeki

For some reason a little Doriprismatica balut was crawling on it.

199 - Phyllidiella sp.

Rhinophores are just slightly different than the previous Phyllidiella sp.

200 - Flabellina lotos

201 - Phyllodesmium crypticum

202 - Dermatobranchus sp. 16

203 - Goniobranchus fabulus

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

192 - Chelidonura hirundinina

193 - Philinopsis pilsbryi

194 - Phyllodesmium pecten

195 - Phyllodesmium longicirrum

It took a long time to find one this year!

196 - Hallaxa sp.  

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

197 - Nembrotha lineolata

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

174 - Phyllidiopsis xishaensis

175 - Phyllidia elegans

176 - Nembrotha sp. 1 

I know I already listed a Nembrotha sp.1, but this is a color variation without the light blue tint on it.

177 - Nembrotha cristata

178 - Goniodoridella savignyi

179 - Nembrotha chamberlaini

180 - Goniobranchus sp. 15

This is exciting!  New in life to me!

181 - Phyllidiella sp.

182 - Glossodoris acosti

183 - Goniobranchus collingwoodi

184 - Coryphellina sp.

185 - Kaloplocamus acutus

186 - Lomanotus vermiformis

187 - Sakuraeolis sp. 2

188 - Eubranchus sp. 2

189 - Unidentia sandramillenae

190 - Thordisa villosa

191 - Pleurobranchus weberi