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| Pelagic Jellyfish swimming by |
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| Sap Sucking Slug |
Maui has many beautiful reefs, shipwrecks,caves and other places for scuba divers to explore, but many areas covered by sand and silt are left to the hardiest and most determined explorers. This is called muck diving. In places like Indonesia and the Philippines many divers flock to muck diving locations for the amazing variety of rarely seen macro sea life that can be found. On our constant hunt for new nudibranchs Heidi and I headed off to a place talked about only in a few nudibranch enthusiast circles for a exploration dive.
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| Gloomy Nudibranch |
We drive by sugar beach in Ma'alaea Bay all the time. It is a long stretch of sandy beach and apparently where alot of rare nudibranchs have been seen. Heidi and I headed out into pretty bad visibility, silty bottom, and a very real chance of seeing nothing at all. A huge pelagic jellyfish swam by, pumping its bell as its many tentacles hung dangerously below it. The translucent body made picture taking very difficult.
Shortly after on some rocky substrate we spotted a very well camouflaged sap sucking slug. We had seen these before on the big island. Then Heidi found the ultimate find, a gloomy nudibranch. The black and turquoise colors creating a never before seen pattern for us. Kangaroo nudibranchs, 7 in total, a swallow tail slug, white margin nudibranch, white spotted nudibranch, and a trembling nudibranch. What a dive!
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| Swallowtail Slug |
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| Trembling Nudibranch |
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| White Spotted Nudibranch |
We drive by sugar beach in Ma'alaea Bay all the time. It is a long stretch of sandy beach and apparently where alot of rare nudibranchs have been seen. Heidi and I headed out into pretty bad visibility, silty bottom, and a very real chance of seeing nothing at all. A huge pelagic jellyfish swam by, pumping its bell as its many tentacles hung dangerously below it. The translucent body made picture taking very difficult.
This is why I love muck diving. I am really excited for our next PNG muck dive. I hope everything will go well.
ReplyDeleteI hope to have the same experience here at papua new guinea muck dive
ReplyDeleteGreat article. Muck diving is an activity that captures my attention because it gives an experience like no other. The happiness and peace I felt every time I do papua new guinea muck diving is one of a kind.
ReplyDelete