There have been some spooky sightings in Lembeh this week. Halloween has caused an air of mystery and magic to descend over the waters of Lembeh and has resulted in a lot of scary and creepy animals to come out of the sand.
A lot of people seem to be scared of sharks for no reason but if you talk to the divers of Lembeh, it is the creatures here that give them the heebie-jeebies. With creatures such as the Stargazer, a fish which buries itself in the sand, leaving only its teeth and soulless unblinking eyes on show or the Bobbit Worm, named after an unsavoury character and consisting of a 2m worm like body with razor sharp jaws ready to ambush any animal to get too close. It is no surprise that a lot of divers here call the animals ‘creepy’.
The aptly named Devil Scorpionfish hides in the sand as well with only its spines protruding and they don’t swim like a normal fish. To make them even scarier, they have these long bony looking ‘fingers’ which they use to crawl slowly across the sand, spreading fear in to whoever comes across them.
Octopus so often seen as harmless, intelligent creatures with a lot of personality, are ferocious and efficient hunters. Nowhere is safe from them as all 8 of their long tentacles can extend down a number of holes in the sand or gaps in the coral, mercilessly trapping its prey, leaving them with no escape!
The Peacock Mantis Shrimp, a fantastic Lembeh photo subject is beautifully coloured and can be referred to as the clown of the sea. And as we know, clowns are terrifying and so is this Shrimp! Their eyes have 16 photoreceptors which mean they can see things we cannot imagine, such as the fear in their enemies eyes as they punch them with the force of a rifle bullet!
Here in Lembeh, the Frogfish can be covered in warts and much like an evil warty Witch can seem to remain invisible due to its incredible camouflage ability, until they strike of course. The frogfish can open its mouth incredibly wide and swallow prey bigger than itself in a matter of milliseconds so watch out!
And finally the scariest thing to find under the ocean is the evidence of humans. I’m not talking about seeing divers (although some of them can be pretty frightening) but all around the world the human impact on the planet can be seen under the water. From Indonesia to the Caribbean, the Arctic to the Antarctic we are finding discarded fishing nets, car tires, oil drums, plastic straws, plastic bottles, plastic bags and more and more. The list goes on!
We must try to limit our impact we have in our day to day lives.
It is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Now THAT truly is a frightening thought.
