MILLIONS OF MANTAS!!

Liveaboard trip 30 May - 8 Jun 2010

Bali - Komodo
INDONESIA

Mermaid I

OK, maybe not millions, but what first came into my mind was ”infested”. Coming back from one of our Manta dives, and feeling really lucky having seen at least 15 of the big flappy things, our dinghy driver pointed out where the other groups now were snorkelling with maybe 30-40 Mantas. Absolutely unbelievable!! And this was, as it turned out, just the beginning…

After a good dose of big action, we tried with some success to look for smaller critters in the famous Horseshoe Bay at Rinca Island. We DID indeed find some really rare stuff, but got somewhat distracted by Eagle Rays, Turtles, huge Stingrays and, guess what, more Mantas!

Nevertheless, we pinned down a pair of Coleman Shrimps, sitting, as they do, on top of a fire urchin, a very yawning, all orange, Frogfish, a juvenile Baramundi Cod and the impressive Long-cirri Phyllodesmium, a.k.a. ”The Solar-powered Nudibranch”.

Plus loads of other Nudis, Zebra Crabs and an extremely pregnant Pygmy Seahorse. Nightdives here are usually very rewarding, and sure enough, we found not one but TWO Bobbit Worms, Upside-down Jellyfish ontop of Decorator Crabs, Thorny Seahorses and Skeleton Shrimps.

Heading for South Komodo and Manta Alley, we didn’t expect to top the Manta dive we’d done earlier in the trip, but man, were we wrong! However, sometimes beeing wrong is not a bad thing.

Over the two dives here, we saw the Mantas feeding at the surface, getting fixed at the cleaning stations and flexing their wing muscles in the current in the alley itself. Great interaction, and a lifetime memory for everybody present!

PJ Widestrand

Video-Pro
Mermaid I

Liveaboard diving Thailand, Myanmar, Bali - Komodo and the Andaman Islands.