The local diving in Singapore never seems to not surprise me. Hantu, a local island off Singapore, has been revealing her secrets for some time now, however this weekend, she really outdid herself.
Sara and Carsten made an amazing discovery by spotting a mimic octopus. These creatures impersonate other sea creatures and are the chameleon champions of the underwater world.
They change their shape, their skin color and and even their texture in order to blend in with their environment.
Rarely would you see them as an octopus.
Also Kelvin and Tracey had great fun finding and shooting an unusual looking nudibranch aptly now named, “Shaun the Sheep”.
Shaun is so unique he isn’t even listed in “Nudibranchs and Sea Snails Indo-Pacific Field Guide” by Helmut Debelius.
The seahorse was seen again, along with the resident turtle and a spider crab. This is becoming a regular event and the sightings keep getting better. The visibility this weekend was rated at good. This means around 3-4 metres.
This weekend we also had a boat full of kids from an International School. Most of these kids are joining my trips to Tulamben, Bali Indonesia early December.
Harsil completed his PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course and Stuart completed his PADI Open Water Diver Course. Congratulations!
Verena completed the first 2 dives of the PADI Open Water Diver Course too.
On Saturday we used only 1 boat with 16 divers each trip and on Sunday morning we planned to use the speed boat, but the speed boat would not start. Luckily the Dolphin Explorer had another boat that we could use to take the extra divers out to the main dive boat that had left earlier.
Surprisingly, we managed to complete the trip on time, even after the delay.
Cheers, Captain Gary
(PPCDL Speed Boat Driving Specialist)
Thanks to Sara Saraswati for the use of your mimic octopus photo and Kelvin Pung for the use of your nudibranch “Shaun the Sheep”.