Have you ever marveled at how knowledgeable your Lembeh dive guide is? How do they know the names of individual Nudibranches off the top of their head? How do they know which animals are mating and which animals are fighting? And how do they know where to look for all the camouflaged animals they find? Their knowledge may stem from the many hundreds of dives they’ve done in Lembeh. But it may also be due to some of the wonderful resources at their disposal. For those of you that are interested in learning a bit more about the Lembeh critters yourselves, this blog is for you…
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First off, there is a wonderful You Tube video that every Lembeh aficionado should be aware of. Nick Hope’s Bubblevision series about Lembeh was filmed with Two Fish Divers a few years back. Mucky Secrets is broken into wonderful 5-8 minute bite-sized episodes, each one of which is absolutely fascinating! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHIMPwJ0kBk

For those of you already familiar with Mucky Secrets, check out the Secrets of Nature episode about Lembeh, aptly named the Sea of Creepy Monsters. It was filmed over a four-year period, during which time the videographers were able to capture some amazing animal behaviors on film.

But if You Tube isn’t your thing, and you prefer to curl up with a good book instead, consider treating yourself to one of the many wonderful books that the dive guides know and love so dearly here at Two Fish. The Reef Fish and Reef Creature Identification guides to the Tropical Pacific are a must have for any critter geek who is interested in becoming better at identifying the animals we see in Lembeh. And the newly released Nudibranch and Sea Slug-specific identification guide for the Indo Pacific contains updated information regarding the recent Nudibranch classification-system modification.
http://www.fishid.com

Chances are if you’ve made it this far down the list you are a true Lembeh Critter Geek, in which case Nudibranch Behavior might pique your interest. This book is all about the feeding and mating habits of Sea Slugs, as well as their evolutionary progression away from their closely related “shelled” counterparts. Check out this fascinating read in lieu of diving or, better yet, pick up a copy to bring along with you on your next Lembeh diving holiday!
http://www.amazon.com/Nudibranch-Behavior-David-Behrens/dp/1878348418

These are just a few of the resources available to you to sharpen your knowledge before visiting us here in the Lembeh straits. These type of resources (along with thousands of dives!) help hone the dive site and critter knowledge of each amazing Lembeh dive guide.

Bahasa Indonesian word of the week: Laut = Sea
(Couple this with last week’s word of the week and you know how to say Sea Star; Bitang Laut!)