Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Back to Borneo - Sipadan & Lankayan

My apologies for the long absence from blogging. Thanks to Beram K. we have had to cudgel our poor old brain for the password access to this blog that has not seen activity for over a year. Lankayan island lies North East of Sandakan and we were there for the International underwater Cleaning Up day organised thru the PADI AWARE program. The photo above shows rubbish collection under-water near the Lankayan jetty. Most other pics of wildlife underwater were taken off Sipadan & Mabul islands.


This very shy hawkfish is hiding among the delicate gorgonian fans. This fan is somewhat like the muricella gorgonians I have seen in Lombok waters so I was actually looking for the much smaller and much more elusive pygmy seahorse - sadly enough I have not seen any of them in Sabah waters.

The hawkfish tends to dart around the sea fans and getting it to stay still for a nice shot is really quite rare.




This is yours truly behind some soft corals. The visibility on most dives this trip ranged only from moderate to barely satisfactory.

The nearly vertical walls on Sipadan are in good condition and still festooned with beautiful fans, hard and soft corals. A number of underwater critters hide amongst them and are a treat for the sharp eyed (and patient) observer.




One of my favourite shots of a little clownfish hiding within the protective anemone host. The sea anemone is related to jellyfishes and hence have a stinging mechanism that keeps unwanted visitors away. The smart little clownfish has adapted in such a way as to be immune or unaffected by the sea anemones' sting.







This not-very-pretty crocodile fish is seldom seen with it's dorsal fins (that have very poisonous spines) raised. Actually some divers find them quite adorable. They are pretty well camouflaged - hiding in wait of unsuspecting prey that happens to swim by before suddenly snapping them into the waiting jaws!






The giant moray eel is another delightful subject but getting up too close gives most divers the creeps ... just look at those sharp curved teeth. Any victim caught in a vicious lunge and snap
action will find it nearly impossible to get loose of the grip of those teeth that are curved backward. The big-eyed red fish near the giant moray seem to have made friends with this big guy who is nearly 1.6 metres long... either that or they just don't taste too good!




The tiny cleaner shrimp you see on the left are essentially scavengers who so quite a good job cleaning parasites off the larger fish. This role has given them a symbiotic relationship with much larger creatures within the sub-aquatic ecosystem which would otherwise probably gobble them down if not for the very useful role they play in keeping the pesty parasites at bay.






There are huge schools of fish wherever some degree of protection is provided - just like these young yellow tail snappers. Actually there are even bigger schools of larger trevalies and chevron barracudda cruising around Sipadan and nearby islands.








The last picture for this blog posting is taken on land - of some volunteers for the International Cleaning Up day having fun playing beach games on the lovely soft sandy beaches of Lankayan island. An observant eye will note that it's not only the beaches that are soft and lovely.

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