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I recently wrote about Lembeh Straits and its abundance of black sand flats that attract divers from all over the world for their rare and unusual underwater creatures. One might get the ever so slight impression that critter hunting was a pasttime for anoraks – fish spotters and people with species check lists to tick off.

The Red Sea

Soft coral

Coast near Marsa Alam

The Red Sea is much more your ordinary sort of dive spot. The water is warm, blue and clear, the fish are colourful and plenty and the reefs are huge and densely overgrown with corals. Jacques Cousteau would have had a field day there. Well, actually he did…

… and so did I !

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Did you say muck ?

Stargazer

Why would you travel thousands of miles to the other end of the world to go diving in one of the best diving regions on the planet only to see muck ?

Let me explain – When the films by Jacques Cousteau and Hans Hass brought the underwater world to the attention of the masses they introduced those early audiences to a world of blue water and colourful corals. Since then people are conditioned to associate diving with the splendour of coral reefs.

Nembrotha feeding on sponge

Diving along colourful reefs and their schools of fish is like gazing at herds of wildebeests against a Kilimanjaro backdrop – it is simply awesome sight. However, just think of those who ignore the big stuff and venture into the undergrowth with insect net, magnifying loupe and pinning forceps. They would be hunting for the small stuff … the weird critters … the extraordinarily colourful on the scale of the astonishingly minuscule.

Macro capital of the world

Parrotfish fin

The small stuff – that is the world of macro photography. A small area along the north eastern tip of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is where divers find that world. The critter hunter usually comes to Lembeh with an underwater camera, a powerful strobe and a macro lens for extra magnification.

The region being dotted with active volcanoes, the dive sites are characterised by black volcanic sand, rather than white coral sand of the postcard variety. There isn’t even much there in the way of corals and schools of fish. Just hidden in the black sand are some of the weirdest things a diver can find. Few places on the planet have so many rare and unusual species per square foot of dive site as Lembeh. This is where muck diving was invented and it is still its epicentre.

Lembeh Resort

Mouth of pincushion seastar

Catering almost exclusively to purveyors of fine-art critterology, this resort is an “oasis of luxury” in an area where decent hotels are hard to find, let alone running water and round-the-clock electricity. Lembeh Resort overlooks the eponymous Straits and enjoys the wonderful view of the Dua Saudara volcanoes on Sulawesi mainland. It is set in a small cove and there are very few flat surfaces, but the layout puts the steep and rocky landscape to great use and makes the place feel much bigger than it really is. The resort makes no secret of its dedication to photography – there are piles of coffee table books at the bar and photos of previous guests in all the rooms.

My stay at the resort coincided with Mark Webster’s Underwater Photography Workshop. Mark presented a series of lectures on photographic techniques tailored to critter hunting and was at hand with tons of helpful advice on everything from gear troubles to artistic suggestions.

My Photos

I have selected 55 of my favourite photos taken at Lembeh.

See the whole Lembeh Straits 2007 album below:

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I still haven’t got round to posting underwater photos of my last Lembeh trip. Another photographic assignment kept me from uploading my best critter shots.

Right now I am off to the Red Sea for another dive trip. There should be no black sand and murky water – I am looking forward to colourful reefs, corals and deep blue sea.

Photos of that and the Lembeh trip will appear in my gallery at some point – promised!