Ghost Pipefish (Lembeh) Strait The Hazards of Traveling Alone - by D. Fugitt

Waterlogged Date: 3/25/97

Week Two at Kungkungan Bay Resort, Lembeh Strait, Indonesia. The other divers are departing two by two, but not before Denise and Larry Tackett, Sonja Van Buuren and I photographed Harlequin Shrimp on the Bimoli shipwreck. Larry Smith had spotted the shrimp there two weeks earlier. This was my 4th trip to the rock looking for them. I had suggested baiting them with a starfish earlier. When we found the shrimp, it was dragging a starfish under the rock where it lives. We took turns shooting the shrimp and at 95 feet with 4 photographers we had to be quick! Fortunately the shrimp seemed unconcerned with all the excitement around it and modeled expertly. Once all the other divers were gone the weather improved and there was no rain at all for the last several days of my stay. I was queen of Kungkungan Bay Resort and had as many as 4 dive guides and 6 total boat crew for my diving. I revisted Tanjung Tebal, my favorite dive site from last year. More pygmy seahorses, orangutan crabs, dendronepthya crabs, electric rainbow striped nembrotha nudibranchs and the best collection of "posies" (tunicate and hydroid clusters), as Sonja would say, are found at this site. I also revisited Magic Rock which had been covered with shrimp last year. We could find only 4 shrimp on this visit. It is still covered with life, but without the attractions of harlequin ghost pipefish and the manucurist shrimp as before. A school of shrimpfish, mantis shrimp, thick schools of sweepers and a good variety of anthias and cardinalfish surrounded the rock. Magic Rock was about the only dive where I didn't see ghost pipefish. We saw harlequin ghost pipefish at TJ Labuian & Co. and at Batu Merah, ornate ghost pipefish at Nudi Retreat, robust ghost pipefish and longtail ghost pipefish at other sites. Kapal Indah, another wreck had both species within a small area. The crinoids at Batu Merah (Red Rock) were full of creatures. Shrimp, clingfish, and squat lobsters in colors matching their host were everywhere. I spent quite a bit of time attempting to photograph shrimp and squat lobsters in a bright yellow crinoid. When the dive staff pulled my BC out of the water and onto the boat I saw something yellow falling through the water and caught it with my fin. It was a yellow, white and gold striped elegant squat lobster! It must have crawled onto me while I was photographing the crinoid creatures and hung on for 20 minutes. And, my suit was purple! I wonder if he would have changed to a purple squat lobster if I'd made a longer dive? Batu Merah has a rock at 80 feet where an unusual red and yellow banded pipefish, longnose hawkfish and many species of anthias and cardinalfish swarm. The bottom is easily stirred up and there is a great advantage in being the only photographer on the site. Some of the best night dives of the trip were beach dives just in front of the resort. Nudibranchs, mating sponge crabs, porcelain crabs in soft corals and a beautiful orange frogfish with brown spots were highlights of those night dives. I never found the first item on my "want" list, the blue ringed octopus, so I'll have to plan another trip back to North Sulawesi for another round of diving in the Lembeh Strait with Larry Smith to point out the critters. Kungkungan Bay Resort can be reached at kbresort@mdo.mega.net.id on the Lembeh Stait, near Bitung, Indonesia. Article and photos by Deb Fugitt

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