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?