NAD Lembeh, Pulau Lembeh, Bitung (2026)

09/05/2026

The Crinoid Shrimp is a specialist that has fully committed to life within the branches of a feather star. They are among the most camouflaged crustaceans in the ocean, having evolved a body shape and pattern that perfectly mimics the feathery pinnules of their host. In a place like the Lembeh Strait, where crinoids come in every imaginable shade, these shrimps have adapted accordingly, displaying intricate stripes and spots.

What’s fascinating is how they move within their host. They don't just sit still; they navigate the "forest" of the crinoid’s arms to find the best spots for scavenging. They primarily feed on the organic particles that the feather star traps from the current, essentially acting as a tiny cleaning crew.

Capturing a clear image of a Crinoid Shrimp requires a high level of technical precision because the host is constantly in motion. Feather stars sway with even the slightest surge, and the shrimp is often tucked deep inside the arms or clinging to the underside of a branch. To get a shot that actually makes sense to the viewer, you have to wait until the moment where the shrimp changes location.

The most effective portraits are those that show the shrimp in profile against the repeating patterns of the crinoid. You want to get the lens as close as possible to the same plane as the shrimp, focusing specifically on the eyes and the small, delicate rostrum. When you manage to separate the shrimp’s striped body from the identical stripes of the host, it highlights just how incredible their evolution is.

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08/05/2026

Seastar Shrimps are the ultimate hitchhikers of the reef. These tiny commensal crustaceans spend their entire lives living on the surface of sea stars, particularly the large Cushion Stars or the vibrant Blue Linckia. They have a flattened body shape that allows them to hug the surface of their host, staying low to avoid being swept away by currents or spotted by passing predators.

What makes them so interesting is their ability to change colour to match their specific host. If the sea star is a deep burgundy, the shrimp will often adopt a matching dark hue; if the host is a pale yellow, the shrimp lightens up accordingly. They typically live in pairs or small groups, scavenging for tiny particles of food and mucus trapped on the host's skin, benefiting from the sea star's natural defences without causing it any harm.

When you're trying to document these, the challenge isn't just finding them—it's getting a clean angle. They tend to tuck themselves into the grooves between the sea star's arms or hide under the curve of the body. The best approach is to get as low as possible, aiming for a side-on profile or a top down profile that shows the beautiful patterns and colours of their host.

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06/05/2026

The Diamond Squid is one of the most architectural creatures you’ll encounter in the open water. Named for the massive fins that run the entire length of its mantle, it creates a perfect diamond silhouette that is unmistakable during a blackwater dive. While they are often translucent to blend into the pelagic environment, they are capable of near-instant colour changes.

These squids are built for high-speed hunting in the water column. They use a powerful form of jet propulsion to move with precision, using their eight arms and two long feeding te****les to sn**ch up small fish and crustaceans. Unlike the smaller bobtail squids or reef species, the Diamond Squid has a much more imposing presence. Its large, dark eyes are highly developed for spotting movement in the pitch black, and seeing one actively hunting in your torch beam gives you a real sense of their efficiency as a predator.

From a photography perspective, the challenge is all about capturing that geometric shape. Because they are often highly reflective, you want to use your lighting carefully to define the edges of the mantle and some of their fantastic colours without "blowing out" the highlights.

Documenting these squids is always rewarding because so much of their life cycle remains a mystery; every image adds a little more detail to our understanding of how these pelagic hunters survive in the vastness of the open sea.

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04/05/2026

Nudibranchs and sea slugs are the undisputed heavyweights of the "bright and bizarre" category in the underwater world. In an environment that is mostly sand and drab rubble, their neon purples, electric blues, and vivid oranges seem like an evolutionary mistake at first glance. However, these intense colours are far from accidental; they are a sophisticated survival mechanism known as aposematism.

Essentially, a sea slug is a soft, slow-moving snack with no shell for protection. To avoid being eaten, many species have evolved to become "distasteful" or even toxic by recycling the chemical defences of the things they eat—like sponges, hydroids, and bryozoans. The bright patterns act as a clear, visual warning to any potential predator: "I look like this because I taste terrible."

For photography, this bold behaviour makes them incredibly rewarding subjects. Because they aren't trying to hide, they often sit in prominent positions that allow for clear, unobstructed shots. To make a slug really pop, the best approach is to focus on separating it from the background. By using a wide aperture to create a creamy bokeh or using a narrow beam of light to isolate the slug, you can draw the viewer’s eye directly to those incredible colour transitions and patterns that define the species.

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02/05/2026

The Painted Frogfish is one of the larger frogfish species you’ll find on the reef, and it’s a perfect example of how "ugly" can be beautiful. Unlike some of the smaller, more cryptic species, these guys can grow to a decent size and are often found perched on sponges that match their colour perfectly.

One of the best things about the Painted Frogfish is the variety of colours they can display. Depending on the environment, they can be anything from bright red and orange to mottled greens or even jet black. They are covered in small, circular spots that look remarkably like the holes in a sponge, which helps break up their silhouette. They don't have a swim bladder, so they don't really "swim" in the traditional sense. Instead, they use their pectorals like hands to "walk" across the substrate, looking for a prime spot to set up an ambush.

Because they look so much like the sponges they sit on, the main challenge is making the fish stand out from its surroundings. If you shoot with a wide aperture, you can create a shallow depth of field that blurs the "busy" texture of the reef, leaving the frogfish as the clear subject. Alternatively, using a narrow beam or a snoot allows you to highlight the animal while letting the background fall into shadow.

A critical element of the shot is the eye. Since the body is so lumpy and irregular, people need a clear focal point to help them recognise what they are looking at. Once you have solid eye contact, the rest of the bizarre anatomy—from the prehensile fins to the lure—starts to make sense to the viewer, showing off the frogfish as the highly specialised predator it is.

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29/04/2026

The Coconut Octopus is probably the most "human" of the cephalopods in terms of its problem-solving. While other species rely on speed or pure camouflage, these guys are tool users. On the open sand flats where there is nowhere to run, they’ve learned to scavenge for anything that can act as a shield. Seeing one "stilt-walking"—carrying two halves of a coconut shell under its body while shuffling across the silt—is easily one of the strangest bits of behaviour you’ll see underwater.

It’s a masterclass in making the most of what you’ve got. If they can’t find a coconut, they’ll settle for large clam shells or even bits of discarded plastic. They don’t just find these objects and stay there; they haul them for huge distances across the sand. Once they find a spot they like, they’ll dig a small depression and pull the shells together, tucking every te****le inside until they are completely sealed off from the outside world.

From a photography perspective, the "shell-peek" is a classic shot. If you rest quietly nearby and wait for them to get used to your presence, they’ll eventually push the shells apart just enough to look at you with their eyes. It’s a great way to capture the texture of the suckers and the sharp, intelligent look in their eyes without the animal feeling the need to retreat.

A challenge is catching them while they are on the move. They are surprisingly quick when they want to be, and trying to track an octopus that is essentially "carrying its house" while running on its arms is no easy feat.

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26/04/2026

The Ornate Ghostpipefish is easily one of the most decorative residents of the reef. They are masters of blending in with crinoids (feather stars), with bodies covered in intricate, skin-like filaments that mimic the fronds of their host. Unlike their cousins, the Robust Ghostpipefish, which look like drifting seagrass, the Ornate variety is a riot of colour—mixes of reds, yellows, and blacks that would be obvious anywhere else but makes them invisible against a busy reef background.

What makes their behaviour unique is how they "hover." They often hang upside down, swaying gently to look like a piece of drifting debris. This isn't just for protection; it’s a hunting strategy. They are "sit-and-wait" predators, using their long, tubular snouts to suck up tiny crustaceans that venture too close. They are often found in pairs, with the larger female carrying her eggs inside a specialised brood pouch formed by her pelvic fins—a distinct difference from seahorses, where the male handles the brooding.

From a photography perspective, these fish are a fantastic challenge. Because they are so thin and often hide within the branches of a crinoid, getting a clean, unobstructed shot is difficult. If you spot an individual or pair out in the open or against a dark background, this allows those vibrant patterns to stand out.

The eyes are small and often camouflaged by the surrounding patterns, so getting them sharp can be tricky. Using a narrow aperture (high f-stop) is essential to keep the full length of the snout and the ornate fins in focus. Since they tend to turn away from a lens, patience is the only way to get that perfect profile.

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24/04/2026

The White-V Octopus, often called the Long-arm Octopus, is one of the more frantic cephalopods you’ll encounter on the sand flats. They are easily identified by the distinct, pale "V" mark on the top of their mantle and their unusually long, spindly te****les. Unlike a Reef Octopus that might sit and watch you, the White-V is almost always on the move, using a "pulling" motion to drag itself across the silt in search of its next meal.

Their hunting behaviour is particularly interesting to watch. Because they have such long reach, they often probe deep into holes or under bits of rubble while keeping their body at a safe distance. They are masters of the "mimicry" walk as well; when they want to move quickly without being noticed, they can bunch up their arms to look like a tuft of drifting algae or a piece of discarded coconut husk.

For photography, the White-V can be a bit of a challenge because of its sheer length. If you try to get the whole animal in the frame, you often lose the detail of the iconic patterns on the head. A better approach is to focus on a tighter "face" shot or wait for them to pause and coil their arms, which creates a much more manageable composition.

Lighting these guys on the dark volcanic sand requires a delicate touch. Their skin has a slightly reflective quality, and if your strobes are too "hot," you’ll wash out the subtle white patterns that give them their name. Using a snoot with a wide open aperture can give some lighting on the animal whilst the rest of the image has a soft blue effect.

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22/04/2026

Most people only ever see flying fish as silver blurs skipping across the surface during a boat crossing, but encountering them on a blackwater dive is a completely different experience. At night, these pelagic specialists often hang just below the surface, suspended in the dark. Seeing them stationary in the water column allows you to actually appreciate their specialised anatomy—specifically those massive, wing-like pectoral fins that are usually quite motionless when they aren't in flight.

The "flight" itself is an incredible bit of physics. To escape predators like tuna or mackerel, they swim toward the surface at high speeds, breaking the waterline and immediately spreading those oversized fins to glide. They can cover dozens of metres in a single go, sometimes dipping their tails back into the water to get a fresh burst of momentum without fully submerging. On a night dive, however, you aren't seeing the glide; you’re seeing the fish in its "off" mode.

Photographing them in the blackwater is notoriously difficult. They are highly reflective, and their skin acts like a mirror to your strobes, making it very easy to overexpose the shot into a featureless silver silhouette. You have to be careful with your positioning; if you approach quickly, they’ll "bolt" and disappear into the darkness. The goal is to get close enough to capture the texture of the fins and the "whiskers" without triggering that flight response.

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#水中写真 #ダイビング

17/04/2026

While their scientific names are Thecacera, almost everyone on the boat just calls it the "Pikachu" nudi. It’s not hard to see why—the bright orange, yellow and white body and the black-tipped rhinophores and stalks make it look exactly like the Pokémon. It is one of the more distinctive nudibranchs in the Strait, usually found crawling over bryozoans or rubble in areas with a bit of water movement.

They aren't the largest nudibranchs you'll find, typically reaching about 2 or 3 centimetres, but their colour makes them very easy to spot even from a distance. Unlike some of the more cryptic species that try to blend into the silt, the Thecacera seems to rely on its bold warning colouration. It’s a clear signal to predators that they aren't particularly tasty, a common trait among sea slugs.

From a photography perspective, these are great subjects because they don't tend to hide under ledges or other tricky positions as much as other species. However, their shape can be a bit of a challenge to compose. Because they have those prominent, horn-like appendages (the rhinophores and the extra-branchial appendages), getting the right angle to keep everything in a pleasing plane of focus is tricky. A head-on shot or a slight "three-quarters" view usually works best to show off the "ears" that give them their nickname.

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#水中写真 #ダイビング

11/04/2026

The Bargibanti Pygmy Seahorse is an iconic example of niche evolution you’ll find on a dive. These pygmies don't just live near gorgonian sea fans—they are biologically tethered to them. Their entire surface is covered in calcified bumps that match the colour and shape of the polyps. Divers can stare at a fan for five minutes and see nothing, only for three or four seahorses to suddenly "appear" once their eyes adjust to the pattern.

Because they are so reliant on their host, their behaviour is mostly sedentary. They use their prehensile tails to anchor themselves to the branches, often sitting in pairs or small groups. They spend a huge portion of their day snapping up tiny crustaceans that drift past in the current. It’s a low-energy, high-efficiency lifestyle that depends entirely on staying hidden; if they lose their fan, they lose their only line of defence.

For those trying to take a photo, the difficulty level is high. These fish are light-sensitive and will often turn their backs to a lens as soon as they feel the glow of a focus light. The key is to be quick. Aiming for a side-on profile shows the "tubercles" against the fan, and try to get the eye as sharp as possible. Since they are often under two centimetres, you’ll likely need a diopter to really fill the frame and see the detail in their skin.

Buoyancy is an important part of the encounter. Many of these fans live in areas with a bit of flow, and since the seahorses and sea-fan are so fragile, you have to be able to avoid touching the reef. A snoot can help direct the lighting, but a standard dual-strobe setup works well if you want full exposure on the coral too. It’s a patient, technical process, but it’s the best way to document one of the most specialised animals in the ocean.

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#水中写真 #ダイビング

NAD Lembeh

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