The Reticulated Stargazer continues to mesmerize our guests here in Lembeh. These two great shots were taken by our guests, Paul and Jo and Kev and Sim.
The night dive in Lembeh is one to remember and the Reticulated Stargazer almost always makes an appearance. Also known as the Pop-eye fish or the Tube Nosed Stargazer, they grow to around 25 to 30 centimetres in length and are found anywhere from 5 to 50 metres depth.
The Stargazer likes to bury itself in the sand, leaving only his mouth and eyes out to spot and capture his prey which are Fish, Octopus and Squid. Aside from being able to camouflage themselves cleverly in the sand, they also have electric organs just behind their eyes which they use as a defense mechanism. These organs can discharge up to 50 volts, depending on the water temperature, so they are not to be fooled with!
Paul and Jo will have to return next year as the Hairy Octopus eluded them this trip. It did, however, show itself the very next morning to another one of our return guests, Alan. Our guests are now seeing more Octopus. Although the water temperature is not as cold as it should be this time of year, the Octopus are still out and about. We’ve had sightings of Blue Ringed (with and without eggs!), Mimic and Wunderpus Octopus.
Our guest Estelle completed her Advanced Open Water course here with us in Lembeh this week. One of the adventure dives she chose was the Wreck dive. We had a lovely dive on the Mawali wreck, so much to see and were delighted a huge school of Chevron Barracuda decide to join us!
It was a really fun week in Lembeh with so many return guests, Paul and Jo, Alan, Sandra and Bob and Ben and Ceci. Sad to see them go but, because Lembeh is so amazing, we know they’ll be back!
Happy Bubbles!
