Scuba diving in Lembongan

Here's a photo update of the dive photos we got during April-June 2013 in Lembongan. The first eleven photos in the beginning were taken by our friend Natalie. I've added some information below the pictures about the creatures, but because I'm not a marine biologist some info may be incorrect. I did my best research based on what I saw/the photos though. If you find some info incorrect please let us know about it.
These pictures have been taken from many dive sites around Lembongan.

Scuba diving in Lembongan can often be exhausting because of currents, tides, surfs and changing water temperature. Many dive sites are easier for advanced divers, but taking the open water diver course here is no problem, because there are still places where to do that, even swimming pools. Doing our swimming/rescue/search and recovery tests for the divemaster course was quite a lot of work in the Playgrounds waves and currents, but we were pleased to find out we were capable of doing them even in those conditions. Sometimes it's good to not take the easiest way out to find out your secret strengths.

The dive sites we've done in Lembongan area are: Blue Corner, Toyapakeh, SD, Pura Ped, Ceningan Wall, Ceningan Channel, Crystal Bay, Manta Point, Secret Manta (Manta Bay), Mangrove Point, Lembongan Bay, Buyuk Point, Playground and Sental Point at least. We dove so much that in the end we didn't log dives anymore. In all our visits to Lembongan I'd guess we've dived there about 250 dives.

For now I'll only share a few details about the special dive site Crystal Bay, which is a strange site we got to know really well. The currents can change fast there and even the water temperature can change a few celcius degrees during daytime! One day we dove there in the morning and the water was about 23 degrees, then returned later in the afternoon and it was 18 degrees, which felt like freezing because you're not used to diving in that temperature over there. And when you dive three times a day with an hour surface intervals your body doesn't get to warm itself enough, so in the end it gets cold if you have to dip yourself to a water of 18 degrees.

Because of currents at Crystal Bay the visibility also changed a lot. We did our divemaster course equipment exchange here later when we returned back to the island and the current and waves reduced our visibility a little with mixing the warm and cold water (thermocline) and stirring the bottom sand everywhere. Still, Crystal Bay is an enjoyable dive site and its huge mushroom coral around ten meters depth has all kinds of creatures living close to and in it. Crystal Bay is also the place to spot one of Lembongan stars, the strange looking sunfish/mola mola, starting from August, when the water temperature gets colder. The other star is manta ray, which most visitors get to see in Manta Point/Secret Manta.

Next update will be about our first visit to Laos between June-July 2013 and our thoughts about Vientiane, our first city in Laos.

Reef manta ray. We had the pleasure of seing these nearly every day.
Paholaisrausku. Onnistuimme näkemään näitä lähes joka päivä.
Manta alfredi.

 Peacock mantis shrimp. Sirkkaäyriäinen. Odontodactylus scyllarus.
These creatures are shy and hard for divers who like them a lot to
photograph. Their ability to see circularly polarised light has led
to studies to determine if the mechanisms by which their eyes
operate can be replicated for use in reading CDs and similar optical
information storage devices.

It is reported to have a "punch" of over 50 miles per hour (80
km/h). This is the fastest recorded punch of any living animal. The
acceleration is similar to that in a .22 caliber handgun, with 340
pounds-force (1,500 N)[4] per strike.

Check out this awesome facts page; http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp

Sea Anemone Crab. Rapu. Lissocarcinus laevis.

Cuttlefish. Seepia. Class: Cephalopoda.
All cuttlefish have neurotoxins produced by bacteria in their
saliva. The toxin is as lethal as that of a blue-ringed octopus!
Recent studies indicate cuttlefish are among the most intelligent
invertebrates!

Cuttlefish change colour and pattern (including the polarization
of the reflected light waves), and the shape of the skin to
communicate to other cuttlefish, to camouflage themselves, and as
a deimatic display to warn off potential predators.

Panther grouper/polka dot grouper, juvenile. Nuori meriahven.
Cromileptes altivelis.
Since 2007, C. altivelis is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red
List of Threatened Species.

Nudibranch. Vapaakiduskotilo. Nembrotha purpureolineata.

Nudibranch. Vapaakiduskotilo. Nembrotha milleri.

Nudibranch. Vapaakiduskotilo. Nembrotha kubaryana.

Nudibranch. Vapaakiduskotilo.

Leaf scorpionfish. Taenianotus triacanthus.
The leaf scorpionfish resembles a dead leaf lying in the water.

Keinujasimppu muistuttaa kuollutta lehteä.

Nudibranch. Vapaakiduskotilo. ‘Doriprismatica’ atromarginata.

Hard coral. Kivikorallia.

Nudibranch. Vapaakiduskotilo. Phyllidia varicosa.

Cuttlefish camouflage. Seepia naamioituu.

Cuttlefish on the move and changing colours.
Seepia liikkeessä ja värimuuntelua.

Striped eel catfish. Plotosus lineatus.
The first dorsal and each of the pectoral fins have a highly
venomous spine. They may even be fatal.

Juovakorallimonnin selkäruodon piikkien pistosta voi saada
tuskallisen, tai jopa tappavan, myrkytyksen.

 Yellow-edged moray eel. Pantterimureena. Gymnothorax flavimarginatus.

Wire/black coral. Cirrhipathes. This coral is carnivorous!
Kivikorallia, joka on lihansyöjäkoralli.

Leather coral close to surface.
Pehmytkorallia pinnan lähellä.

Nudibranch. Vapaakiduskotilo. Chromodoris magnifica.

Goofy fish:) Barred/whitespotted filefish. Cantherhines dumerilii.
Hönökala:) Harmaaviilakala.

Toadstool leather coral, which is quite peaceful, but some can
produce toxins harmful to other reef inhabitants.

Pehmytkorallia, joka on melko rauhallinen. Jotkut voivat erittää
muille riutan asukkaille vaarallisia myrkkyjä.

Hard coral. Kivikorallia.

Nudibranch. Vapaakiduskotilo. Phyllidiella pustulosa.

Hard coral. Kivikorallia.

Finger coral. Kivikorallia.

Raggy scorpionfish. Scorpaenopsis venosa.
The spines of the dorsal, anal and pelvic fins all have venom
glands at their bases.

Skorpionisimppu. Selkäevän, vatsaevien ja peräevän ruodot ovat yhteydessä myrkkyrauhaseen.

Nudibranches. Vapaakiduskotiloita. Chromodoris annae.

Table/staghorn coral. Pöytäkorallia. Acropora hyacinthus.

Sixbar angelfish. Keisarikaloja. Pomacanthus sexstriatus.

Table/staghorn coral. Pöytäkorallia. Acropora hyacinthus.