曼卡Island
曼卡岛被称为非季前珊瑚天堂。水肺潜水员和度假者被鲁滨逊克鲁索岛（Robinson Crusoe Island）吸引，以远离喧嚣，在白色的沙滩上放松身心，然后跳入流程，有机会在鲜艳的柔软珊瑚中潜水。
曼卡岛位于苏拉威西半岛北端。该岛具有宁静的氛围，有些东西使我们一次又一次地回到这个偏僻的天堂。这次最近的旅程是由Polyp Lab赞助的coral spotting expedition记录岛上各种珊瑚栖息地。
The geographic position of Bangka Island means it is exposed to strong daily currents. These currents bring nutrients from the deepsea carrying planktons which feed the abundant nonphotosynthetic corals and colorful soft corals.
软珊瑚
柔软的珊瑚命名为柔软的柔性身体珊瑚，里面充满了果冻状的中糖和刚性的刺刺结构，称为硬化岩，使它们形成。在海洋各个角落，软珊瑚富含1500多个有记录的物种。
与硬珊瑚相比，软珊瑚可能更难以识别，因为某些物种降低了果冻体内的多刺激物的形状。如果您已经阅读了我的文章一段时间，您会知道我们将大部分内容集中在硬珊瑚上，因为它们往往更简单地识别。
One day we will tackle soft coral identification but until then this article will give you a simple introduction to a few common species around Bangka island and a few fun facts to impress your friends with coral knowledge!
The biggest difference between hard and soft corals is that hard corals are based on a six-fold symmetry while soft corals are based on an eightfold symmetry. Meaning hard corals have polyps with multiples of six while soft corals always have eight tentacles.
Soft Coral Feeding
As with hard corals, most soft corals are photosynthetic and get their nutritional requirements through this symbiotic photosynthetic relationship. There are some soft coral species, which are completely nonphotosynthetic and catch planktons and other organic matter drifting in the currents.
实际上，所有珊瑚柔软，硬，光合作用或非光合作用捕获和吃食物，这仅取决于他们从喂食与光合作用中需要获得多少能量。
One fun fact we learned in Bangka while diving withVincent Chalias，那是孟加拉周围常见的软珊瑚（Dendronephthya）仅当电流处于一定速度时才适应。对于当前或几乎没有电流和五颜六色的珊瑚而言，无非就是一个萎缩的分支。但是，曼卡潜水是最好的。这种确切的水速度对某些属而言更为重要，但对其他属的速度不太重要。
而且，由于我们是一个有趣的事实话题，因此我们从文森特获得的另一个珊瑚知识是，这些软珊瑚实际上是从息肉的后面进食的。开放和充气的珊瑚在用电流的情况下使珊瑚膨胀，以使营养丰富的浮游生物流过并被困在息肉的背面。从那里，小纤毛将颗粒围绕八个松果之一引导到息肉的中心进入口腔。
Diving Around Bangka
曼卡岛附近有几个尖峰，是发现柔软珊瑚的理想潜水。从海底的尖峰突出，在电流中为Corals Smack Dab创造了一个固定速度。
If you are visiting Sulawesi as part of the Passport to Paradise trip, theBunaken墙are a great place to refresh your drift diving skills. Currents pick up considerably around the pinnacles and reef walls of Bangka Island so you want to be prepared for this style of drift diving.
您会发现的最常见的软珊瑚是Dendronephthya。根据日常状况，它们可以开放，浮肿或小小的小块。
As you move closer toward the island the bathymetry shallows out into patchy reef flats. Here you can find a mix of hard and soft corals, but it’s the soft corals that steal the show at Bangka. Pastel colored leather corals, dominating the shallow reefs around Bangka with carnation corals,Dendronephthyaare found hanging out in the current.
Leather Corals
We’ve never seen so many colors of leather corals as we have in Bangka.
There is an exceptional dive site at the back of Bangka Island calledTanjung Merah, which isn’t often on the dive roster and can only be accessed with calm weather. This site is best at high or rising tide.
The dive starts with shallow fields of leather corals between 6 and 15 feet (2-5m) deep, heading down to more hard corals past 15 feet (5m). Unfortunate we weren’t able to revisit this site on our most recent trip due to weather, but it still stands out as one of the best coral spotting dives around the island.
Closer to the Bangka Island Hotel you will find Tanjung Usi. This drift dive starts along rocky pinnacles for the chance to see nonphotosyntheticDendronephthya并以五颜六色的皮革珊瑚礁结束，靠近曼卡房屋礁。
And to be honest, on our most recent trip we had a slight love affair with the Bangka House Reef, opting for several house reefs dives over boat dives. The house reef is great with a high diversity of corals withAcropora在低潮时打破水的表面Euphyllia16-23英尺（5-7m）的珊瑚深桌Acropora沿礁坡的珊瑚。
经过五次在房屋礁上潜水后，我们仍在发现新的珊瑚MICROMUSSA。仅仅因为这个房屋礁是海岸进入的潜水，就不会比周围的礁石更少。如果您发现自己在曼卡，请确保至少安排一个房屋礁潜水。
我们要感谢Murex潜水胜地为了向我们展示Sulawesi和Polyp Lab，这是这次探险的一部分。下周，我们将回到大陆，看看北苏拉威西北部的石块巨石珊瑚栖息地。
