The other highlight of being in Permuteran was diving at Secret Bay. I don’t think it’s that big a secret anymore, but not as many divers go there. It’s a muck diving place, meaning that less of the casual divers and more of the serious divers go there. Why? Because muck diving is all about diving in places with less than white sand and very little coral. The atmosphere can be very depressing because of the low light and poor visibility conditions. Nonetheless, there are plenty of weird and wonderful creatures to see.
I strongly suspect this to be the Kodipungi lionfish, with its separated pectoral fin rays. It’s so beautiful and flamboyant against the dull grey sand.
What surprised me next was the Banggai cardinalfish, something that is supposed to be very rare. When I’d last dived in Manado, I was told that these fish were only found at Banggai Island and the Lembeh Strait. Balderdash!
Their blue-black colouration with the almost fluorescent white spots was mesmerising.
There were also plenty of razorfish among the sea urchins. They were funny creatures that seemed to stand upside down on their noses to hunt for food.
When pursued, they’d turn ninety degrees so they could make a quick getaway, but were otherwise always nose to the ground.
Another rare find was the hispid frogfish. It was hilarious how each had a disarmingly charming white pompom on its forehead. This pompom acted like a lure to bring in prey. In a gulp, the poor fish would be gone.
Another odd fish was the cockatoo waspfish that liked to pretend to be a leaf swaying in the water. Very strange.
Less strange was this octopus that (for good reason) refused to budge from its hole. The best I could do was to take a blurred shot of its tentacles. Pity.
Other inhabitants of this freakish side show include the striped puffer with its dark blotch around the base of its pectoral fins making it look recessed and mutated.
Reflecting the green seaweed was this unidentified goby. It would’ve been difficult to spot if it was just a few inches into the seaweed.
Easier to identify was the spotted shrimpgoby with its distinctive white iris and black markings. It was surprisingly how I managed to get close enough without startling the shrimpgoby.
Almost completely camouflaged until it started moving was this peacock flounder with its weirdly asymmetrical eyes.
Another well-camouflaged fish was this orange and black dragonet, its only giveaway the orange lips.
There were more – this crocodile flathead, if left alone, would soon change colour to blend in with the sand below.
There was also this really ugly pipefish that looked like a piece of random trash in the water. No wonder it’s called muck diving.
Secret Bay was one of the few places where I saw full-sized seahorses, like this thorny seahorse. I was so thrilled by this find! Even though we’re told that pygmy seahorses are very rare, somehow I feel that full-sized ones are even more so because guides tend not to look out for them. What a great find.
Another unexpected find was this whole pile of schooling catfish in the wreck of a little rowboat.
Even more surprising was this ornate ghost pipefish floating along obliviously above the seething mass of catfish.
Other than that, there was a truly horrifying sea centipede, another first for me (and hopefully last).
And then there were the ubiquitous nudibranchs, though this time nothing I’ve seen before again.
Check out this scrum of beautiful blue and yellow ones too. Lovely huh.
And rounding things off, here’s a video of something not seen that often – a white-eye moray eel out of its hole in search of prey. Enjoy.
eat. drink. cook. travel. 