Lembeh Strait Muck Diving Videos
The Lembeh Strait, between Lembeh island and north Sulawesi in Indonesia is without doubt the muck diving capital of the world. At first sight there appears to be little but dark volcanic sand and rubbish on the sea bed, but a closer inspection reveals a fascinating plethora of weird and wonderful critters. In the short time I was there I was lucky enough to get nice footage of such legendary critters as the weedy scorpionfish (Rhinopias frondosa), hairy frogfish, mimic octopus and pygmy seahorse.
These muck diving videos were taken while staying at Two Fish Divers' charming little resort on the Lembeh Island bank of the strait in June 2006.
Featured Video - Lembeh Strait Night Dive, June 2006
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Lembeh CrittersA montage of footage from Police Pier, Nudi Falls, Nudi Retreat, Angel's Window, Aw Shucks and Pantai Parigi in the Lembeh Strait. These classic muck dives feature amazing critters including nudibranchs, ribbon eels, frogfish (anglerfish), seahorse, batfish, moorish idols, shrimpfish, grouper, catfish, moray eel, lionfish, snake eel, porcupinefish, mantis shrimp, sea moth and flying gurnard. The music is by Joseph Murray of www.soilsound.com |
Aer PerangAer Perang lies on the Sulawesi bank of the Lembeh Strait. The name means "war water" and originated because just after WWI a passing warship blasted a hole in the rocks to get at the fresh water. The video stars the weedy scorpionfish (Rhinopias frondosa), for many the 'holy grail' of critters. The video opens Banggai cardinalfish which originate from Indonesia's Banggai island. Legend has it that a bag of these fish intended for an aquarium was accidentally dropped into the Lembeh Strait, whereupon the fish flourished. They now compete with anemonefish for shelter amongst the strait's anemones. The video also features nudibranchs, a demon stinger, a cockatoo waspfish, asnake eel and saddleback anemonefish. The music is by Joseph Murray of www.soilsound.com |
HairballThis classic muck dive is also on the Sulawesi side of the Lembeh Strait and is so named because of the weed lying on the black volcanic sand. The video opens with a hairy frogfish (striated anglerfish) squaring up to the camera and closes with an Ambon scorpionfish swallowing a small bypasser. In between we meet nudibranchs including the distinctive Melibe viridis, an orange devil scorpionfish, a moray eel hosting a cleaner shrimp, filefish, a peacock mantis shrimp, a lionfish and an urchin crab taking cover under a blue-spotted urchin. The music is by Joseph Murray of www.soilsound.com |
Lembeh Strait Night DiveA night dive is a great way to discover Lembeh's weird and wonderful critters. This video was shot in June 2006 at Nudi Falls, Jahir and at Two Fish Divers' house reef "Muka". Opens with striped eel catfish and features a black-saddled toby, whiteface waspfish, plumstriped waspfish, painted anglerfish (frogfish), banded pipefish, bartail moray, princely volute, leaf scorpionfish, decorator crab, anemone hermit crab, nudibranchs, pygmy seahorse, hornnosed boxfish, crocodilefish, anemone crab, saddleback anemonefish, starry night octopus, reef octopus, dwarf cuttlefish and squid. The music is by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com |
Octopus & Mimic OctopusAn amazing mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) at "Aw Shucks" in the Lembeh Strait impersonates a flounder and banded sea snakes while fleeing from observers. This species was not officially discovered until 1998. The video opens with a reef octopus at Pantai Parigi sheltering inside a broken glass. |
Lembeh Strait (topside)The video opens with the busy port of Bitung in the shadow of Mount Klabat on the Sulawesi mainland. We then move across the Lembeh Strait to Two Fish Divers' small dive resort on Lembeh Island. At the end of the day's critter-hunting, divemaster Opoh accompanies the sunset on guitar, covering Jika itu yang terbaik by Ungu. |
Teluk KembahuNamed after the village on the Sulawesi bank of the Lembeh Strait, Teluk Kembahu, or "TK1" and "TK2" are classic muck dives and the habitat of many rare critters. The video features an unidentified eel, giant anglerfish, nudibranchs, dwarf lionfish, ornate ghost pipefish, moray eels, tobies, urchins, banggai cardinalfish, dragonet and a snake eel. |
