Ambon - X-Ray Magazine

travelCLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE:Ambonshrimp and rhinopias, my eyesinstantly lit up like a Christmas tree!I also had a chat with three guestswho had arrived from Singapore afew days earlier. After hearing theirenthusiastic accounts of the diving,I was beginning to wonder if the restday was a bad idea…Muck divingEarly the next morning, with visionsof harlequin shrimps and rhinopiasdancing in my head, we headedout across Ambon Bay. At first, weseemed to be headed straight forthe airport. I mistakenly assumed wewere on our way to pick up somemore guests before the dive! Wesoon anchored a few metres fromshore near a concrete jetty, withan array of fishing boats providinga colourful backdrop. Underwater,my eyes were greeted with a barren,rubble-strewn slope descendingdown to 22m. While seemingly devoid of life, therewas more here than meets the eye; for this wasLaha, Ambon’s premier muck-diving site.Within moments of entering the water, the crittersstarted coming fast and furious. The stony bottomprovided the perfect habitat for snake eels. Alongwith the more familiar crocodile and Bonaparte’sspecies was another variety with a massive, greyhead. Underneath the muffled roar of the fishingboats, the slope was home to a collection ofseahorses in colours of yellow, orange andchocolate brown.Care had to be taken however, as theentire area was crawling with scorpionfish;devil scorpionfish, Ambon scorpionfish andfalse stonefish mingled with pygmy lionfishin colour phases of red, copper and yellow.The critter parade continued; during thenext 50minutes, we saw hingebeak shrimp,emperor shrimps on sea cucumbers, cowfish,morays and flying gurnards. During our safetystop, we came across an enormous cluster ofurchins. Many creatures could be seen hidingamong and adjacent to the protectivespines, including blue-eyed cardinalfish,banded pipefish, leaf scorpionfish, dragonets,nudibranchs and a pair of giant frogfish, onegreen and the other black.Back on the boat, I was grinning ear to ear!However, Toby looked rather sad, as he hadsearched in vain for the elusive harlequinshrimps. He came to the unfortunateconclusion that the hapless creatures had37 X-RAY MAG : 16 : 2007 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED