Welcome to Day 17 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. My theme is:
'Wildlife Encounters'
One of the prime areas to find seriously queer or weird
creatures is the Lembeh Strait in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. I have had
articles published about this location in Australia’s Sport Diving Magazine and
in a newspaper in Spain. Here are a few random extracts from these publications in no particular order:
I was finning slow and low over the black sand.
A flash of electric blue caught my attention. I had been about to swim directly over a blue ring octopus.
I was far too excited by the sighting to consider the implications of my near collision with one of the most dangerous animals in our oceans.
A flash of electric blue caught my attention. I had been about to swim directly over a blue ring octopus.
I was far too excited by the sighting to consider the implications of my near collision with one of the most dangerous animals in our oceans.
Pfeffer's flamboyant
cuttlefish pulsed yellow and purple when we approached. Longhorn cowfish and
helmut gurnards skimmed fast and low.
Frogfish - or
anglerfish - in an unlikely range of colours remained motionless no matter how
closely we approached; stoical and somehow dignified despite their absurdly
comical appearance.
Hairy Frogfish |
I fell for the hairy version big-time. Of course it's not
hair at all but skin filaments.
Nevertheless the hairy frogfish looks cute and cuddly enough to pet.
Lethally camouflaged dragonets, waspfish, scorpionfish and
lionfish required constant vigilance as we homed in on likely spots in our
search for critters.
Snake eels hole-up in the sand with just their heads
protruding. As we were photographing one a ghostly spaghetti-like tentacle emerged
from the sand. It quested blindly for a
few seconds before vanishing again.
Never has the underwater world felt as alien as it did for those few
eerie moments.
As a dive destination, North Sulawesi is a great place to
find unusual, rare and beautiful animals (or queer underwater creatures, if you will).
See you tomorrow - I'll be heading west. Can you guess where and what the next animal will be?
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If you want to blog-hop to the next A-Z Challenge blog, please click HERE
There are some very odd things living in the sea, aren't there?
ReplyDeleteThere really are, Patsy. It's a continuous source of wonder to me.
DeleteNow that's sneaky!! Queer things!! I think we'll have to veto that one!!
ReplyDeleteWest? To the rhinos of Africa??
But I haven't seen a quoll and have no personal photos of quails - so I had to be inventive! :)
DeleteRhino? Hmm, wait and see...
Hmmm... yes, I waited and saw!! ;-) (And won!)
DeleteYou did! :)
DeleteGreat photos! I also like the Hairy Frogfish, it looks really cute :)
ReplyDeleteHairy frogfish are such strange little fish - but I love 'em!
DeleteThose are amazing photos! The various frogfish are my favorites.
ReplyDeleteThere is something very endearing about Frogfish, Karen - and they come in a range of extraordinary colours!
DeleteLove the shot of the protruding eel head.
ReplyDeleteThis one had just had a cleaner shrimp on its head. Sadly, we missed that particular shot. :)
DeleteIt's a different world down there. The shapes, the colours - fascinating.
ReplyDeleteKeith's Ramblings
I think of all the places on our planet, the underwater world is the most unknown and the most fascinating, Keith.
ReplyDeleteSome of them almost look like cartoon creatures. So lovely.
ReplyDelete@Kathleen01930
Meet My Imaginary Friends
#AtoZchallenge
Hi, Kathleen - thanks for dropping in. You're right about them almost looking like cartoon creatures! :)
DeleteOh my gosh, what a treat! For you and for us.
ReplyDeleteHi Sandra, I'm glad you enjoyed my treat! :)
DeleteThe ocean has so many unusual creatives. I love that octopus. The blue is so vibrant.
ReplyDelete@WeekendsinMaine
Weekends in Maine
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DeleteThey only flash the blue colour when they're giving off a warning, Karen. The rings are barely discernible until you approach and then the colour intensifies in a clear message that says 'Back off!'.
DeleteAmazing photos of such unusual creatures. Thank you for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteAneeta from
How to Tell a Great Story
You're very welcome, Aneeta. :)
DeleteThat snake-eel would have unnerved me!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThey do look a bit unnerving, don't they? I've only every seen their heads and I'd like to see the whole animal one day!
ReplyDeleteOn your Quest for Queer you have certainly found a good Quantity!
ReplyDeleteThat's the tip of the iceberg, Liz! :)
ReplyDeleteAmazing. I've read about some of these, but not the fish with its head sticking out - do you know what the tentacle belonged to? ~Liz http://www.lizbrownleepoet.com
ReplyDeleteNo, I never discovered who the owner of the tentacle was.
DeleteOk you are braver than I am because I knew that octopus is lethal...pretty but lethal. All the other one are so neat but you were surrounded by poisonous things.
ReplyDeleteNot brave, Birgit - just very careful. The trick when diving is to control your buoyancy so that you hover in the water and don't touch anything.
DeleteIncidentally, blue ring octopuses are not aggressive. I've seen several and they always flash a warning as they retreat.