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everythi ng goes
As so o n a s th e su n d r o p s b e h ind the vol cani c peaks ofnortheastern sul aw esi ,
A j ungl e-draped sea cl i ff, l ess
b la ck. Eve n th e sta r s lie h id d e n b ehi nd a soggy bl anket of cl ouds.
\We
roll backward into the darkness' crash
than twenty feet from our bow, rises unseen in the night.
through
that leads to the
the calm surface, and drift down separately toward a drab sand slope
l ength ahead. I gl i de to her
d e p th s o f L e m b e h Str a it. M y lig h t beam fi nds A nna's green fi n a body
and N us, our young
s id e , sq u e e ze h e r h a n d , a n d , to g ether w i th P aul , w e set off after \Ti l son
As we skim above
Indonesian guides, who, in their enthusiasm, are already well down the slope.
the shadowy islands of algae and coconut trash, it is difficult
f ittin g ly
to believe that this spooky wasteland,
exoti c mari ne w i l dl i fe
kn o wn a s Ha ir b a ll, co u ld possi bl y be home to one of the most
co m m u n itie s o n e a r th .
Misgivings
evaporate with
the wave of a light. \7e arrive to find an Ambon
scorpionfish
w i th a mouth-stretchi ng
t r a p p e d in ' wilso n ' s b e a m . T h e ta ssel ed beast greets our w i de-eyed arri val
Nus kneels next to the
yawn. Suddenly, a signal light goes wild. $?e're off in an instant to where
i ts snout. Fi ve feet aw ay a
exp o se d h e a d o f a sn a ke e e l with a dai nty cl eaner shri mp bal anci ng on
outrageous red sea
p a ir o f o u tr a g e o u s r e d e m p e r o r shri mp parade al ong the back of an equal l y
Anna and I continue toward
cucumber. \When both lights signal simultaneously, Paul peels left as
supporting two fist-sized
the fluttering beam ahead. \7e pull up in front of a decaying palm frond
anglerfish appropriately
ourfifted
in their finest olive drab camouflage. Before I can pop off a sec-
in a flurry of redond exposure, a dwarf lionfish slips out from under the frond and Poses Prettily
ten minutes into the
and-yellow fins. I glance down at my camera's frame counter. It can't be! Just
\Wilson and Nus are signaling
dive and I have only eight exposures left. There is no time to fret;
to light until the last
frantically. For the next twenty minutes, we bounce like pinballs from light
frame captures a splendid sPanner crab Nus gently coaxes from the sand'
the wild-and-wooly
Although
muck critters of Hairball
have come to symbolize the cele-
S ul aw esi ' they
b r a te d twe lve - m ile str e tch o f wa t er separati ng Lembeh Isl and from northeastern
The ferre p r e se n t o n ly a sm a ll p o r r io n o f the uni que ani mal s that i nhabi t the ti dal -sw ept P assage'
are the P erfect i ngredi tile wa te r s a n d th e str a it' s lo ca tio n at the epi center of mari ne bi odi versi ty
harbors i ts ow n di sen ts fo r a r ich b le n d o f b io lo g ica l soup, E ach of the tw enty sP ots w e expl ore
the strai t' but the hard
tin ctive co lle ctio n o fe ye - p o p p in g ani mal s. S tony coral cover i s scarce i nsi de
bo tto m
gorgoni ans, soFt
a r e a s a n d la va wa lls su p porr spectacul ar gardens of sponges, cri noi ds,
co r a ls, a n d g ia n t a n e m o n e s r h a r conceal a Li l l i puti an
bv
5 6 OCE A N R E A LM
F,qu
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Futtax
ANNa
uni verse of crabs and shri mps.
Nrp
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A typical dive begins with a fifty-to sixty-foot descent down the slope, but rhe majority of
our time is spent hunting critters in the sun-splashedshallowsand along rhe sreep,colorfully
encrusted shore wall. And even though the water is often heavily flaked with silt, it is clear-visibility fluctuatesbetweentwenty and fifty feet inside the inner channel and increasessubstantially at the norrhern sites toward open sea.
Our naturalist guides-the young men with the magic eyes-are as delightful as they are
indispensable.
Their passionfor the hunt is contagiousand they take the grearesrpride in finding
rare creaturesfor guests.Vith their help, we discovermany of the most sought-afteranimals in
the sea. In our all-too-brief ten-day, forty-dive stay, we encounteredornate and robust ghost
pipefishes,pygmy seahorses,
mandarin fish, anglerfishesfrom peasizeto footballs, clouds ofstriped
catfish and shrimpfish, octopusesand cuttlefish, bouquets of tunicates in every hue, nudibranchs
by the score,lionfishes,seasnakes,ribbon eels,crocodilefish, and more-much, much more.
A dwarf lionfish posesin a flurry of red-and-yellow fins.
i n h a b i t'
Crino id s hr im p, Per ic lim enes s p. , ar e m a s t e r s a t m a t c h i n g t h e c o l o r P a t t e r n s o f t h e c r i n o i d t h e y
l e ft, d o e s
Glosso do r is c r uent us , "SPot t ed uit h b l o o d , " t b e c o m m o n n A m e o f t h i s s t r i k i n g n u d i b r a n c h , b e l o w
,o t \eem apr oPos . f or s t t c h a lot , el- yc r e a t u r e . We h a u e n e u e r s e e n s u c h a c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f n u d i br a n ch s.
tenue'
81' rntrltleek, u,e finally lost eourtt hat,ing sighted more than forty dffirent species.Below right, Ceratosoma
58
C\, IirN
REALM
juuenile barramundi cod, Cromileptes altivelis'
Alt fins and flutter and contrastingspots-it's a wontler this
a ra u e n o u sP r edator,i s a b l e t o s n e a k u P o n i t s P r e Y .
Could this Ambon scorpionfish,P teroi di chthysamboi nensi s,haue a bi t of an "attitude?"
Two frogfish, Antennarius tp.,in their
finest drab camouflagegarb pose on a palm frond.
6 0 OC E A N R E A LM
or bi zarre'
the rai nbow manti s that i sn' t beauti ful
F r om he a d to ta i l , th e re i s n o th i n g a bout
T w o o u tra g e o u s l T c o l o re d e rn p er\rshri rnphi tchhi heonthebackofaseacucumber.
prowl'
A conger eel, Conger sp', caught on the
61
t-
Usually buried in the pumice with only their eyesand uenomousdorsal spinesexposed,spiny deuiffish,
Inimicus didactylus, occasionallymoue about using modified pectoral fint as walking legs.
The dark uolcanic sandsare "aliue" with wondrous creatures.Below, a zebra sole, Zebrias zebra.
The spanner crab, Ranina ranina, bottom left, has reAsonto hide as it's considereda local delicacy.
Imperuious t0 our lights, this large snahe eel basks in seeming pleasure as
cleanershrimp busily pick parasitesfrom its shin.
6 2 OCE A N REALM
stargazer,a nt et nber
ni gl tt di uer, the uenomous-sP i ned
W it h a f ac e t h a t w o u l d s ta rtl e e u e ntb e m ost seA soned
"neal"
of the (Jranoscopidae
family, lies partially buried, in wait for an uttsuspecting
to s w i m w i thi n rangeof i ts spri ng-trapl i kenouth.
Ata{tance'*',i':,:;::ri',!r,'1,,'rii,',"r:n!i,'
oi!o?i,,,,:'::':",,:::"'::,!:;::;,:::aordinarii
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member of the scorpionfish
Leaf scorpionfish, Taenianorustriacanthus,perbaps the most delicate-looking
and are found i n a number of col or uari ati ons '
fa m i ty , a u e ra g eth re e to fo ur i nches,
jumping
This giant anglerfish, the size of a footbalt, blew his mouth out just before
off the seawall and drifting down to a new perch tweluefeet below'
6 4 OC E A N REALM
The soft coral concealsa Lilliputian uniuerseof inuertebrates.Aboue, a tin! crab on a seapen.
Many creaturesof the night, such as this snapping shrimp, Alpheus t?., wear a wardrobe of red to disguise
their presence.It tahessharp eyesto find half-inch squat lobsterr, Lauriea siagiani,
0n the conuolutedsurfaceof barrel sponges.Two crabs,Xenocarcinus sp. on a seafan, bottom,
65
Just before sunset, male mand.arinfish competefor the right to s?aun with a lone female waiting in the
wings. \'Yith a great show of fins, the two suitors circle tightly, nip, and chaseuntil one relents.
The coyfemale then slips out from the rubble, swims to the uictor's side, and togetherthe pair slowly
risesseueralinchesaboue the bottom beforepopping apart in a cloud ofgametes.
Delightful tunicate bouquets,below, add a dash of color to Lembeh Strait's laua shore u.,alls.
6 6 OCE A N REALM
T her e \ u n d e n i a b l ee n c h a n tm e n ti n the w orl d of the di mi nuti ues' Wry difficult to spot as it so
closelymimics its soft coral home, the tiny red and white pygmy seahorseis a treat to behold.
Out in the open, a braue orange baby anglerfish is no larger than the size of my little fingernail.
Below,juuenile fish seekrefuge in the protectiue Arms of an anemone.3
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