Diving in Lembeh this week – interactions galore!

Have you ever glanced over at your dive buddy, only to notice a Remora stuck to their tank? This week diving in Lembeh, we were accosted by a small “gang” of Remoras who chased about from diver to diver, attempting to attach to fins, knee-pads, bellies and dive tanks! The Remoras would normally attach to larger fish, such as turtles and sharks, latching on for a free ride about the reef and feeding on the food scraps of their hosts. But for lack of larger animals in their immediate vicinity, the Remora’s attention turned to the divers!

At first it was a bit alarming, as they bumped about between us, but we soon realized that their curiosity made for the perfect photography subject! Unfortunately, none attached themselves so firmly to any divers that we got to practice the art of releasing a Remora. To do so, grasp the sides of the fish firmly and push them forward. This will break the suction-like grasp the Remora has on your buddy’s tank or fin, allowing them both to swim away freely!

But that wasn’t the only interactive animal we ran into on our reefs this week. During a recent night dive, an Eagle Ray created quite the stir when the diver’s lights confused it: it went barreling head first into the dive guide’s chest, before turning and doing the same to a guest! For future reference, if a shark or a ray ever gets caught in your light beam and begins swimming directly at you, a simple flick of you your torch to the side will release them from their apparent fascination with your light. But never fear; outside of these few anomalies, the animals of Lembeh have all been behaving quite well this week. Countless varieties of Frogfish, Octopus, Pygmy Seahorses, and Nudibranches have all been putting on quite the show and affording variety that can only be enjoyed when diving in Lembeh.