Lembeh Strait
Lembeh海峡是水肺潜水员中的圣杯。这种相对较小的水渠道是海底在任何地方众所周知的疯狂小动物的最高浓度。来自世界各地的水肺潜水员涌向Lembeh,有机会发现许多稀有的裸核,章鱼,烟斗鱼和蛙鱼,但我们被问到,珊瑚呢?
The style of diving in the Strait is muck diving, and Lembeh is revered as the Mecca of muck. If you’re not familiar, muck dives are shallow between 30-60 feet deep (10-18m), above dark mucky sand. The dark sediments are left by centuries of nutrient rich volcanic soil which are perfect for growing a variety of seagrasses and marine vegetation.
然后,这个生产性的海草栖息地成为了您在莱姆贝(Lembeh)发现的奇怪而奇妙的小动物的家园,包括水肺潜水员!当潜水员想到Lembeh时,就会想到一只平静的蛙鱼蹲在黑暗的地方。
Divers and photographers all come to Lembeh with a wish list of critters they can’t wait to find. Yet, when it comes to corals you’d be hard to pressed to find a diver who knows how to spot a rare coral, let alone one who comes ready with a wish list of species.
I brought a coral wish list, does that make me weird?
The coral diversity in Lembeh is just as strange and it’s a shame more divers aren’t paying attention. Keeping a saltwater aquarium has allowed me to foster a deeper appreciation for corals, one that is hard to develop withoutgrowing your own.
The knowledge I have gained as an aquarist has opened a completely new dimension underwater. Searching for corals in the wild has allowed me to see the reef with new eyes and my scuba diving experience will never be the same again.
在Lembeh中,一些最稀有,最不寻常的珊瑚Acanthophyllia,和气齿thrive in these mucky habitats and nowhere else. However, if I wasn’t an aquarist, im sure like most divers these corals would go unnoticed.
The Perfect Example
在我在莱姆贝(Lembeh)的第一次潜水中,我们出发去寻找珊瑚。我们的指南,以及Critters At Lembehmarine biologist,agus, knew what I had my eyes on, and he took us to the Makawebe dive site to find disk corals andEuphyllia.
我们在船上进行了简报,导游使用了一本五颜六色的小动物书,以指出一些我们可能会在潜水中看到的青蛙鱼,烟熏鱼,怪异的鱼,裸子,虾和章鱼(无珊瑚)。
我们回到水中,马上就被板珊瑚和山丘招呼Euphylliajust as Agus had promised. He only mentioned theEuphyllia因为这是我要求的要点,我很惊讶这种珊瑚没有在简报中为其他潜水员欣赏。
我们花了前十分钟在珊瑚周围潜水,然后沿着沙质坡度驶向泥土中的小动物。向下30英尺(10m)的珊瑚多样性下降了,但是就像寻找稀有小动物一样,珊瑚的异常因素也加剧了。
在50英尺深的斜坡上沿着斜坡的一半,(15m)的阿格斯指出了一朵五颜六色的花,如珊瑚。我很快将其确定为气齿和gave him an underwater fist bump for finding such a prized species.
我从未见过气齿in the wild and I quickly fired up my camera to document this sighting.
One气齿变成了十几个,每个人比最后一个更复杂。五颜六色的标本直接坐在细小的沉积物上,是篮球大小的花盆的唯一其他珊瑚(Goniopora) and elegance corals (分类)。
After the dive, I asked Agus if he knew what those colorful corals were. He admits to seeing them before but never knowing the name. This was the perfect example, the guides didn’t even mention a few of the standout corals we could find on this dive.
Makawebe was an exceptional coral dive, however, after ten dives in the Strait I realized they were all above and beyond in terms of rare and unusual corals.
我们发现了几个有吸引力的LPS殖民地胚泡,micromussa,indophyllia,acanthophophophyllia,分类,和Goniopora,在岩石上生长或直接坐在泥土中。我从来没有在一个地方发现这么多珊瑚。
潜水员变成珊瑚书呆子
作为潜水专业和珊瑚爱好者,我经常想知道为什么潜水员不会花更多的时间看珊瑚。水产师已经掌握了这些因其迷幻美和优雅息肉而珍视的不寻常物种的名字,所以潜水员怎么没有赶上呢?
I guess this boils down to the professional side as divers primarily focus on what their guides are showing them. I’ve always been obsessed with corals, but being an aquarist lets me truly appreciate each species. I want to change how divers see the reef by combining my aquarist and scuba skills and have been traveling the world teaching people about corals, particularly dive professionals.
上个月我被评为PADI的珊瑚传播者(the largest organization of divers in the world), a step in the right direction for introducing corals to the masses. And, if you didn’t already know I also have my own website appropriately namedReefDivers,在这里我写有关珊瑚识别和潜水的文章。
幸运的是,我们开始看到转变。随着珊瑚成为头条新闻,潜水员和专业人士正在更多地关注这些动物,这是理所当然的。珊瑚是海洋环境的基础,值得我们注意。在珊瑚礁一词中,将它们全部结合在一起,对于如此多样化和不寻常的动物而言,它们太普遍了。
Next time you go diving in Lembeh stop and take a second to look past the pipefish and enjoy the unusual corals of Lembeh Strait. And, if you would like to join me on a future trip send me anemailor just let me know in the comments below.
快乐潜水