Diving: Sipadan
After checking in to Kapalai and sitting down to breakfast, this was the view over the balcony from the restaurant. Instantly relaxing, we knew we were on holiday.
Gymnothorax flavimarginatus (yellowmargin moray eel). Notice the cleaner shrimps - one on his nose, two swimming to the right, and is that another one just under the start of his neck? This chap was hiding out near to Kapalai's house reef.
Cheilinus undulatus (napoleon, aka maori, aka humphead wrasse). The blue water has not been touched up - Sipadan's visibility really was that good!
Nemateleotris decora (decorated dartfish). If you get too close, they dart into their sandy holes.
A special encounter with a waving cleaner shrimp. Just resting my hand near his anemone, he drifted over and started to pick the muck off my fingers. Although they're really tiny and I could barely feel him drifting across my skin, I could feel it when he picked at it. Cute.
Aulostomus chinensis (trumpetfish) sticking his nose into my camera.
Inquisitive nudibranch.
Pterois volitans (common lionfish), posing.
My first ever frogfish, an Antennarius commersoni (giant frogfish), but there were many all around this area.
The eye of the cuttlefish. This fellow let me get to within three inches whilst he was signalling to me by changing colour. It did cross my mind whether he thought of me as a mate, but I declined to take it any further...
Schooling Lutjanus ehrenbergii (blackspot snapper) underneath the jetty at the house reef. Point being, with views like this from the house reef, how could the rest of the diving not be perfect?
This little Amblyglyphidodon aureus (golden damsel) was having a good scrap with me as I invaded his territory.
My buddy, Jeremy, showing how close the Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos (gray reef sharks) allowed us to get.
Amphiprion ocellaris (false clown anemonefish).
Green? turtle gliding before crash landing into his resting place (they're extremely clumsy landers).
This little nudibranch was climbing up the coral on the left then had a change of heart and decided to stretch across to the other piece of coral just as I got my shot.
Rhinomuraena quaesita (ribbon eel).
Juvenile Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides (many-spotted sweetlips). Swims with a really weird undulating motion, spinning round in small circles, but really, really fast. At just over an inch long, this was quite a tricky photo to catch!
Synanceia verrucosa (reef stonefish). This was a very lucky snap, as these are rarely seen swimming, and the fantastic fins are flashed only briefly.
My first ever octopus would not come out from his hiding place deep in the coral. You can just see one eye and half of his beak.
Playing tug o' war with the little shrimp. They would grab hold of the grass and I could pull them a little way out of their holes.
Spawning Synchiropus splendidus (mandarinfish). Every day, they come out just before dusk in the same place. The male and several females play a game of hide-and-seek peeking at each other round the rocks until the light starts to completely fall off. Then they start to come together, and as they perform, they shiver and float upwards. However, they won't do it if a light is shining on them, so one has to wait until they start the act, then swing the camera focus light across, focus, and get a picture all quite quickly. Not as simple as it might sound!
Boxer shrimp.
Echeneis naucrates (sharksucker) stuck to the underside of a turtle (a little confused, maybe?).
It took five people a good five minutes searching the two metre span of fan coral to find this little fellow. He's facing away from the camera - they are well known for being camera shy - and his tail is wrapped around a branch of the coral. This is a Hippocampus bargibanti (pygmy seahorse), about five millimetres tall, quite rare, and, IMHO, quite beautiful.
A flabellina. Related to the nuibranch (basically underwater slugs,which are much prettier than land slugs!).
Ostracion meleagris (spotted boxfish).
Sphyraena ??? (??? barracuda).
Looking up from the side of one of the walls at Sipadan.
Looking across at our group enjoying some relaxing pre-dinner drinks.