Nusaum Island, 22 August

A Sunday morning dive at Nusaum Island brought up this shell that belongs to the Strombus family. The visibility was terrible, probably only 10 - 12m, so there wasn't much point in looking for big stuff. Instead, I had my head firmly down in coral and rubble, to the point where, at one stage, I thought "If someone wants to eat me, I won't know about it until I am inside the beast's tummy!" No nasty big things around here, though, other than maybe hubby, and he won't dare to scare the pants off me. Retaliation from my side would just be too big. :)

Back to the dive, though, where I found this little fella. According to Dietmar, who is an absolute shell nut, Strombus shells are very common. This particular species is not overly common, but common enough not to get too excited about it. Cute little animal inside, though, I just loved the way his little eyes pocked out of his home all cross-eyed.  

Strombidae Lambis millepeda

A little cross eyed....

Brilliant photos

I've been in Cairns for 10 days, where I have loaded a container with donated goods for our hospital in Kavieng. That's a different story, but it means I haven't been in the water for a while. However, instead of seeing my rather average pictures, I've got a real treat for everyone: Check out the photos of our friend and guest Matthias Wildermuth from his trip to Lissenung in June this year. If those pics don't whet your appetite, I don't know what will.

.... a little pre-view of Matthias' photos....

Offer of Sponsorship to marine biology researchers and students

I have some awesome news to share with you today!! Lissenung Island Resort would like to offer sponsorship to researchers and students in the field of marine biology. We can accommodate 2 researchers/students at a time in twin room accommodation.

If you are interested, have a look at http://www.lissenung.com/sponsorship.htm for all the details. Should you have any questions, just dorp me a line on info@lissenung or Skype me on lissenungdiving.  

House Reef 28 July 2010

A few weeks ago, Dietmar and I walked around the island and found a tiny fish floating close to the shore. At first, we both thought it was a leaf, but on closer inspection, we could see that it was a wee brown fish.

Juvenile Plectorhinchus gibbosus - Brown Sweetlip
.... or little brown fish :)

Dietmar and I thought it was some sort of a cod, with that long shaped forehead, Nozaki reckoned it was something else, although she couldn't tell us what, so I asked Ali again. She works and is friends with Gerry Allen, he of the many fish ID books, and ended up asking him. I expect that Gerry didn't even need to consult one of his books, he probably said without hesitation "oh, that, of course that's a juvenile Plectorhinchus gibbosus!!"

Not a great shot, but it gives you an idea of the size
of the fish next to my size 8 foot.

Clownfish 24 July 2010

Bad news! I just went diving with Dietmar on our house reef and when we came to the anemone that has been the clownfish's home for who knows how long, there were only 3 residents there. "My" fish has gone! Dietmar and I searched the surrounding area, just in case the fish had found a new home, although why he would do that, I'm not sure. But it's called Hope, I guess. Well, no such luck, we couldn't find him and I am afraid that means that he has gone to Fishie Heaven.

Lexa had asked a friend of hers about the eye sight in the fish's left eye and it was confirmed that most likely, he was blind in that eye. This would certainly make it a lot harder for him to be on the look-out for predators. I had also thought that he looked a bit skinnier lately, but as he still appeared to eat well, I wasn't too worried about that. But coming to think of it, he had some funny stuff hanging out of his mouth when I last saw him on 19 July. It looked almost like snot, and it didn't disappear the whole time I was hanging around, taking pictures, which would have been at least 6 - 7 minutes. It didn't look like he even noticed this, he certainly didn't try to get rid of it. Maybe that was the first sign that something wasn't right?

Look at the arrows, you can faintly see the slimey
stuff hanging from his mouth.

Byebye Fishie!
Last picture taken on 19 July 2010

Albatross Passage, 6 July

Almost two weeks ago now, Dietmar and I joined our friend Dave from Bouganville and his dad John on an afternoon dive at Albatross Passage. The conditions had been great for weeks, so we couldn't wait to get in. We were not disappointed: Stacks of sharks, going back and forth, although the mating season appeared to have finished as there was no chasing happening anymore. But look at these pics, the poor females, they really cop it when the boys get all excited. 

Grey Reef Shark at Albatross

This Grey Reef Shark had lots of bite marks where the
males hang on when they mate.

A big school of Barracudas swam back and forth in
front of the wall.

Clownfish 15 July 2010

The wound is looking great, it doesn't appear as if the cleaner shrimp have done any damage by cleaning to vigorously.
However, the eye looks like a little black stump, almost like Dutch liquorice. The eye is almost covered with skin and looks very dull. I wonder if the fish is now blind in this eye? He appears happy, though, and is still Alpha-fish in the anemone, chasing the smaller clownfish away if they get in the way.