THE HOLY GRAIL – A RARE RHINOPIAS!

Liveaboard trip 6 – 15/7/09

Bali - Komodo Safari
INDONESIA

Mermaid I

What a treat! The rarest of the rare – the Rhinopias aphanes, or Lacy Scorpionfish as its common name is, makes photographers travel all over the world for the chance to add it to their portfolios. We were lucky enough to spend time with this colourful character in the Komodo National Park

This trip started off a couple of days earlier, though, at Moyo Island. We had large schools of Longfin Bannerfish, Red-tooth Triggerfish, Batfish and Fusiliers, but I have a feeling that what will be remembered from here, is the family of Denise Pygmy Seahorses. Tiny, tiny members of the Hippocampus family, they are hard enough to locate, but the real challenge is to get the guests to actually SEE them (and not just nod politely…).

The first Frogfish of the trip made an appearance at Satonda Island. All pink and beautiful, she was sitting in a Staghorn coral, waiting for dinner to pass by. We also found Giant Spearing Mantis Shrimps, huge Pleurobranchus nudibranchs as well as Robust Ghost Pipefish and a juvenile Batfish here.

At Sangeang volcano (still active!) we had a nice selection of rare critters: Pygmy Seahorses, Leaf Scorpionfish, Sawblade Shrimps, Ghost Pipefish, Xeno Crabs and Ribbon Eels. Oh, and LOADS of Nudibranchs, including Co’s Chromodoris, Red-gilled Nemrothas, Pale Chelinoduras and Much-desired Flabellinas, just to mention as few.

Entering the Komodo National Park itself, we were greeted by a group of Bottlenose Dolphins, playing at the bow of the boat. As it turned out, they liked us so much they joined us diving too! Four of them approached us at Takat Toko, before tending to more important issues, like hunting down Surgeonfish for an early lunch.

Everybody who comes to Komodo wants, obviously, to see the Komodo Dragons. We managed, with a little help from the park rangers, to track down four animals during our early morning trek. Later that day, we saw several more at Rinca island, also part of the national park.

At Manta Alley, a favorite in the south, we had the privilege of watching the big rays beeing cleaned by Butterflyfish at one of several cleaning stations here. Four meters across, up to nine at a time and coming really close, they made excellent fish-eye subjects for the photographers onboard, and a great experience for everybody.

We rounded this safari off with a dive at Sumbawa island. Thorny Seahorses, Roughsnout Ghost Pipefish, Snake Eels and a very rare Wonderpus made a great grand finale.

PJ Widestrand

Tourleader and Video-Pro
Mermaid I

Liveaboard trips to Thailand, Burma, Bali - Komodo and Andaman Islands.