There was plenty of very healthy coral in Tulamben as usual. And there was occasionally very blue and clear water.
We were lucky to catch a small school of razorfish passing by…
… and were even luckier to discover an electric clam in a crevice on one of the walls of the wreck. Check out the blue-white lines on the clam – those are the electric bits. I wouldn’t advise putting a finger anywhere close!
Other things in crevices included this octopus that didn’t make any attempt to conceal itself.
All it did was to curl its bulbous head in a bit more to look like a giant, doleful nose.
Another one was far less gregarious. I wouldn’t call this one shy, given its evil eye peering malevolently from its hole.
Cleaning stations had plenty of crevices too. Here, many different types of shrimp were proffering their services, including this one coming right up to my hand. It tried to give my glove a good clean, but in vain.
Others had more business with this giant moray eel, giving it a good dental check up.
Some were so zealous about their job that they went into the jaws of the eel quite fearlessly. And the eel never bothered trying to eat it.
The shrimp obviously had to be quite smart in getting out before the eel’s jaw closed, just like this one making the eel look rather foolish.
Wayan did a reprise of the last trip and demonstrated how the shrimp would even go into his mouth with sufficient coaxing. Here’s an incredible action shot of not one but two (!) shrimp making a beeline for his lunch leftovers.
And here they are making sure they’re doing a thorough job. Wayan kept at this till he could hold his breath no longer.
The show was over and we went on to the next cleaning station. Here, a shrimp took a breather atop a coral grouper’s head before going back into its mouth for more dental action.
And a midnight snapper waits its turn, mouth open in anticipation of the cleaning to come.
eat. drink. cook. travel. 