18-19 December: Days of the Dragons

I don't care what anyone says about visibility. Again, after a hard rain and the resulting "poor" visibility, those intrepid adventurers who were prepared to plumb the murk were rewarded. And what rewards there were to be had with the discovery of new and old friends along the way.

At Marble Rock and K41 on Saturday we were to be very thankful. First, Wayne spotted this great Nudi Sexfest of Dermatobranchus ornatus on a coral branch. I must admit that the first time I saw the mass I thought that either it was a large blob of porridge ("oat meal" for the americans) or Wayne had had a bit of a 'sicky' on the reef. Of course, I was wrong on both.

Magnificent Menage a tois

And then the Dragons came out to play. Pteraeolidia ianthia. The "chinese dragon". I love these guys. Not only are they incredibly ornate but (because of it) they are really hard to capture in a photo. I like photographing them because they make a nice study. They are also quite variable in size, colour and complexity. I understand that they vary with age but it is sometimes hard not to think that they are different species. Perhaps this is a relatively young one...

But contrast that one with this glorious specimen at Bob's Rock taken on Sunday. So different.

There were many Dragons out on the weekend at Marble Rock and at Bob's rock. Fantastic!

While not making it into the photo gallery we were lucky to spot at K41 old friends of the micro world and the world of..let us say 'Macro'. The tiny Flabelina rubrolineolata eluded my camera skills. At the larger scale, however, we are happy to report that, rumors of Barry-cuda's death are greatly exaggerated. What a beast of a fish! Sitting there only a few metres from us on the edge of gloom, trying to decide whether I will be the main course and Wayne dessert, or the reverse. Where have you been, Barry? There is no reply. Wayne feared that he had been made into fish steaks or become sushi for hammerhead sharks. I held out a faint hope, however, that he was just out for a few weeks in order to undertake...er... propagation activities. Still, he's back and that's all that's important!

On Sunday, we were lucky enough to find what Breanna and Kym call the "Christmas Tree Nudi" - Nembrotha Kubaryana. Amazingly spotted by Marianne. Don't ask me how she found it under that coral ledge at Lone Tree.

My shots would have been better if I could see properly and didn't spend the first 20 shots shooting this Nudi's butt!

And then there was the flashy ("flashing") Chromodoris Coi lifting its skirt for the camera at Bob's rock. This is the first time I have managed to get a shot of this strange skirt-lifting activity by this pretty little nudi.

And here is a new one for me. Phylidiopsis annae (thanks to Wayne for the ID..after all, you do have in your possession my magnificent new Nudi Encyclopedia...)

Perhaps 10mm long, this guy was a challenge first for my eyesight and then for my camera skills.

Back to Adelaide for Christmas to see my son, Raeph, and family. Raeph will, no doubt, want to spend much time discussing fishing. I can hear already his 12 year old skeptical questioning of his old man: "Dad, do you even KNOW what a GT is?! I shall return with my new Macro lens soon! Merry Christmas to all!

11 December: Bob's Rock and K41

A slow start to the nudi-hunt at Bob's Rock finished with an interesting collection - some old favorites and a new one that is still to be identified. All this at about 7.6m on the right side of Bob's.

What is it? Neville Coleman tells me it is a type of flatworm known as Pseudoceros goslineri. This guy was about 20mm long. Sadly, without the macro lens more detail was not available.

Am I mistaken or has something been munching on this fellow? It looks like a nice sized bite taken from the right of the body.

Here is what Neville Coleman (thanks, Neville) had to say about it: "This somewhat variable flatworm was named after the great Nudibranch taxonomist Dr. Terry Gosliner. It occurs across the Indo-Pacific and grows to around 50 mm. This specimen has been damaged at sometime and has a re growth at the rear of the back, making it look similar to a nudibranch."

The heavy rains the night before made both Bob's Rock and K41 tough for visibility - 10-15m (but not impossible). After an easy run along the coral wall at K41 (east), however, the western side threw as much current as it could at us. First came the rush of warm water from the shallows pushing us down deeper, soon to be followed by an extraordinary west-flowing gale that had us clamped to rocks and holding on for about 10 minutes until we clawed our way back to the exit point. Thoroughly exhausting!

This is the first time I have seen this nudi: Phylidia monacha at K41 on the coral wall at about 13m. Nudipixel tells me that this species is uncommon. Yeah!

Also the first time that I have seen this cooky little nudi (Reticulidia fungi): at 13m at K41

And while these 'warty' nudis are as common a muck, we are still recording their presence - 16m near the coral wall (east) Phylidia coelestis?.

And well done, Marcus for finding this little beauty (Phidiana indica?) West at K41 at around 7m. This guy was about 20mm long. Still wishing for that Macro lens (which is waiting for me in Adelaide as a Christmas present to myself!

And just for the fish lovers, a clown fish (I can rarely get one in focus because they move so much!)

At Bob's Rock

Even More Tasi Tolu

Wayne and I visited Tasi Tolu again this morning. It may sound tiring to do this tiny site again and again but, really, it isn't. Every day finds something new (and other 'old' things that I never tire of). The first thing we saw? The dugong from the surface but, sadly, he was nowhere to be seen underwater (just telltale inexplicable dust clouds). The visibility was reasonably good although the amount of particulate in the water column did pose problems with backscatter (for me, anyway). Still, there was MY BLESSED RHINOPIAS (Rhinopius sanctus gratias deo - probably not his real scientific name) as well as cuttlefish, seahorse (this time I did get 1 reasonable photo) and the amazingly crazy Squat Shrimp (Thor amboinensis). I won't even talk about the lost Nembrotha cristata at the end of the dive which defied photography because it was lurking beneath some hard coral. Curse you, vile nudi!

A cranky looking seahorse with friends looking on. Perhaps I wasn't the first photographer of the day. Perhaps he just wanted some privacy. Who knows the workings of the seahorse mind?!

And just to add to his annoyance, I took a full frontal shot.

I don't know about you but I always find cuttlefish slightly sinister looking. There have been a few of these small (juvenile?) white cuttlefish around "the patch" the last few dives.

And what to make of this crazy Squat Shrimp Jive? These guys are in a perpetual state of dance and they are hilarious to watch. Perhaps I should take a video and set it to music.

Sunday 5 December: When too much Tasi Tolu is barely enough!

Marcus, Marianne and I went to Tasi Tolu Sunday morning in pretty average visibility conditions. It was low tide and the worst possible time after the heavy rain the night before. But when the fog rolls in the critters come out. Aside from cold upwellings of marine snow (which made backscatter a problem the whole dive) there were some interesting sights. Sadly, the shots of the Seahorse never made it to the editing board because of exposure issues. The same for the Nudi i found with Marcus on the later dive (probably Glossodoris cincta). But My Blessed Rhinopias was there again and, later, a camouflaged cuttlefish was lurking in the shadows and brilliantly spotted by Marianne.

My Blessed Rhinopias!

Uncovered...hiding in the sand looking for brunch!

New Camera & My Blessed Rhinopias!

Well, it has been a few weeks waiting for the canon G11 and housing to arrive. And with some assistance from Greg Duncan, we set it up on Thanksgiving (last Thursday) and went for an early morning dive a Tasi Tolu. Thankfully, the Lacy Scorpion Fish (which has been eluding me for so long was there and was especially photogenic. Also, the Leaf Scorpion fish was there. While I am still wrestling with the new strobe (flash) and fully manual features, the fact that I got 2 serviceable photos from the first dive is ok!

My Blessed Rhinopias! (not sure, actually, if this is the "leafy" or the "lacy" - it looks sort of "lacy" to me)

Leaf Scorpion Fish. Note the fins that look almost like feet. He and the Rhinopias prefer to "walk" rather than swim.

Croc Attack! & Bihau Revisited

Thanks to Pam Dale for sending the picture to me. It's not every day that you walk down the main street of a capital city and witness a crocodile attack. Still, this is Timor-Leste; almost anything can happen. Frankly, I have been a crocodile denier until now. The previous sightings were always seen by "someone who knew someone..." No more! On this Monday afternoon, on the small beach out the front of Parliament, a chicken (or perhaps it was a dog - there is some conjecture) was taken by a 2m crocodile. Crocodiles are sacred in Timor-Leste, so there was no attempt to do anything with the reptile other than watch in awe.

And on a separate dive at Bihau Village using Wayne's camera (thanks, Wayne!) I managed to capture this flutemouth (aka "Trumpet Fish"). There were, luckily, no crocs on this adventure.

Dad & Author

Here I am courtesy of Wayne Lovell at Free Flow

3 October Secret Garden & Bihau

Gentle dives at Secret Garden and Bihau (the latter having been inaccessible for vehicles for the last year). Not much in the world of Nudibranchs unfortunately and a number of shots of my other critters were not worth publication except perhaps the tiny Lion fish at the end of the dive at Bihau.

Phyllidia Varicosa?

Nudi-Heaven 26 September, Bob's Rock & K41

Today was definitely a day for Nudi-fanciers. Armed with our team of visiting Swiss Nudi-spotters, Gabriel and Helena, as well as the ever-vigilant, Wayne, Bob's Rock was rich pickings today. Helena found this one (and there were a number out today (see below for K41)

Chromodoris kuniei

Chromodoris magnifica? Just a tiny one spotted again by the Swiss team.

And I found this tiny little guy. He was less than 1cm long and the exposure (as well as the focus) was a real problem. But I am putting him here for proof.

Hypselodoris maculosa ? also see here:

http://www.nudipixel.net/photo/00000818/

And Helena found this tiny spec sitting pretty on a little rock. Still, he was about 1cm long and difficult to manage with my limited skills. As with the Nudi above, I have never seen this one before.

Hypselodoris whitei ?

And this guy was relatively common in patches today.

Thuridilla lineolata

But it wasn't just about the Nudi's today. At K41 Wayne found an uncharacteristically obvious Ragged Scorpion Fish.

Then we had a recapitulation of the theme from Bob's Rock, someone apparently answering my prayers for Nudi's that we at least 5cm long. Thanks someone.

And this one definitely goes in the "variation on a theme" category. There is no way to determine what this one is without referring to the books. Later...

Phyllidiopsis krempfi ?

And, finally, for the day, this little magnifica was very well behaved for my last shot.

19 September - K41

It was a characteristically beautiful dive at K41 today. The first dive was to the east and the second to the west. Even though I missed the black and green nudibranch on the first dive, I got 2 very interesting ones on the second. Before the first dive, one of the team spotted a sea snake on the rocky K41 beach. It was a beautiful banded sea snake and I have no excuse for not photographing it other than I was so excited that I forgot! 


The dive itself was relatively uneventful from a “critter” perspective but there were multitudes of fish – everything from rabbitfish to sweetlips to fusiliers. There was a cast of thousands. I normally don’t photograph sea cucumbers (Trepang) but couldn’t resist upon seeing “him” eating.

And then, later, I saw this (not a nudi but, according to Wayne, a juvenile form of the trepan).

The break between dives was marked by a series of giant leaps from a large bill-fish (Marlin?) a couple of hundred metres from shore. And then some whales further out, made an appearance. The dive itself produced squid and, most impressively, a Great Barracuda. This big fish is a loner and is often spotter west of K41. This time, however, he was stationary near a small coral outcrop with his mouth wide open, bearing his teeth. But he wasn’t anticipating lunch, he was visiting the fish dentist, who were busily working away way on him. Its days like this when you wish for a video camera. On the turn around, however, there were a couple of Nudis worth noting. The first was found by Wayne.

Flabellina bilas?

And the second, by me, a few metres away…although I have to admit that I could only see some small amount of colour and hoped that the camera got the focus (this nudi was about 2cm long). The result was not too bad. It is probably of the flabellina genus (Flabellina Rubrolineata?) and resembles one I photographed a few weeks ago. But this is a better shot. (But I still need to get glasses.)

And finally, on the wall at K41, was this magnificent worm, like a sunburst.

12 September 2010

Well, last week's dive was a bit of a dud from the photography perspective (strong currents at both Maubara and Dili Rock East (both west of Dili) meant that more time was spent 'holding on' rather than taking photos. Being 'photographically challenged' means that I need either slow moving critters or slow moving water in order to have a chance at a good shot. So there is no chance of seeing the white-tip Reef Shark or the (Hawke's Bill?) Turtle here. There were challenges today too at "Dirt Track" and K41. On the way east, we saw a whale (probably a Humpback) every close to the shore as well as a turtle on the surface at Lone Tree. Not a bad start to the day - we hadn't even made it into the water! But there were interesting nudies here and there. The star of the day, however, was a variation on the "warty ones". Everywhere seemed to contain these.

A "warty one" (Phyllidiopsis shireenae)? But this is black and white. Exposure was difficult because of all the white but this is the best I could do.

But is it the same as this one seen at K41. Note the black Rhinophores.

Is it the same or different. Perhaps just some regional variation. These look very similar to the common Nudibranchs below.

These seem very similar to the common Nudibranchs below (which were notably absent today) and I wonder if there has just been a colour change for the day. I'm sure that some of you branchsters out there will know.

We didn't see many of these today (which is unusual) Phyllidia elegans?

K41 has amazing critters on the wall and I cannot stop shooting this one with the crazy patterns on the case of the tentacles (I'm sure there is a technical name but it eludes me right now).

Also see the last shot for the day. "Sammy" discovered this immature (Ragged) Scorpion Fish at K41 going west, in the rocks at about 8/9m.

Essentially impossible to see but the obvious things are the eye (top right) and the poisonous spur (centre). Ouch! Even this small (about 15cm) this guy is really dangerous. Much bigger Ragged Scorpion Fish (up to 60cm) are in abundance at Pertamina Wharf right in Dili.

30 August, Referendum Day

Today we toured K57 (57 kms east of Dili) and Marble Rock (so named for the nearby Marble boulders from a marble quarry up the hill, not quite 57km east of Dili). It was my first dive at K57 and, despite the early visibility issues (10m, I guess), it was spectacular. Jonathan spotted the big Ray with its menacingly bulging eyes (not sure what type of ray). And Wayne, the master spotter, found this delicate little Nudi.

Despite both Wayne’s and my boredom with the ‘warty’ nudes, this is an exception (Because it’s not quite a warty nude - note the green rhinophores and gills - Chromodoris geometrica?) I'll place a name in an edit to this post later, after i have consulted nudipixel (unless anyone knows...).

See the difference from this one which is incredibly common across almost all reefs I have seen in Timor-Leste.

Actually, they don't look too similar - note the black rhinophores and thicker body - this one could be Phyllidiella pustulosa? (backscatter was a problem with this shot but the focus is about right)

I would have posted some more photos (there were quite a number of nudes on this dive) if not for the fact that I was ‘challenged’ by my exposure settings today. Blown highlights spoiled a number of shots. Not sure how to correct this with basically a fully automatic camera. So I guess I’ll just have to keep practicing. Ok...here are some.

Another Wayne find at the end of K57 on the wall - Nembrotha chamberlaini? I saw one of these previously at Dili Rock west.

And this was my first find of the day at Marble Rock - same as what we saw on Saturday (Chromodoris coi?).

And then there were an assorted array of nice nudis disappointingly photographed...

Duet at Marble Rock (Chromodoris annae)

And finally, Chromodoris magnifica?

All in all, it was a good weekend for nudis