Photo by Rantje Allen
Photo by William Tan
Photo by Rantje Allen
Photo by William Tan
Photo by Rantje Allen
With no macro photographers in sight, Miguel’s Diving concentrated by request on larger marine life and current diving over the last several days. From the first dive’s glimpse of a Scalloped hammerhead to today’s jumping marlin, Gorontalo delivered big time. We stopped counting Nap.olean wrasse and couldn’t count the hundreds of Bigeye trevally spirally up the… Continue Reading
Diving in Gorontalo brings surprises every day. On the way to the second dive site this morning, we encountered several pods of Risso’s dolphins, basking on the surface and shallow diving. One was even a baby! Risso’s lack a protruding nose and become whiter in color with age. Distinctive scarring occurs when attacking deep-sea squid and… Continue Reading
Yesterday’s diving in Gorontalo included encounters with Green sea turtles. On the way to our first dive site,Miguel’s Diving crew spotted some unusual flapping on the still blue ocean surface: a pair of turtles mating. We proceeded past the happy couple then stopped in order to watch them from a discreet distance and so not to… Continue Reading
Manado-based marine biologist Sebastian from Germany got his first look at the biodiversity found underwater in Gorontalo yesterday. Miguel’s Diving staff was able to show him some of our endemic fishes and new shrimp discoveries. What made the biggest impression on him was the dense and diverse hard coral colonies that are a hallmark of… Continue Reading
Time has taken its toll on some of the largest attractions in Gorontalo. The dozens of Foxtail colonial tunicates, featured in our new book Gorontalo: Hidden Paradise, have been swept away during the half year of rough weather that hits our area during off-season. Most of these streamers were almost 1.5 meters long. New colonies are growing… Continue Reading
Fisher friends off a point where Miguel’s Diving offers some dive sites were catching large Yellowfin tuna for export early this morning. They were in the process of hauling in an 81-kilo tuna when a large shark decided it wanted breakfast. A tug of war ensued between the two fishermen and the shark. Eventually, men were able… Continue Reading
Sea pens are a special group of octocorals that live in sandy bottoms. A sea pen has a foot that keeps it anchored into the sand and an above ground rod that contains the feeding coral polyps. Many sea pens are beautifully branched, creating a shape reminiscent of a quill pen. Although most are nocturnal, some… Continue Reading
Yesterday Miguel’s Diving staff went exploring a new location. Among the wonderful marine creatures seen during the dive was a very secretive and puzzling filefish. It turned out to be the cryptic and rarely seen Black-lined filefish (Pervagor nigrolineatus). She was hiding inside a black crinoid but soon disappeared into Gorontalo’s dense coral growth. Found only in… Continue Reading
Today’s dive at one of Gorontalo’s multiple pinnacle dive sites turned up a number of surprises. But the most impressive was a shy White-mouth moray (Gymnothorax meleagris). Although this species can grow over a meter in length, the one today was clearly a juvenile. Found in tropical waters, this beautiful moray is uncommon in most… Continue Reading
As diving season in Gorontalo draws to a close, whales are showing up just off areas where Miguel’s Diving takes guests diving. Several days ago Miguel’s Diving staff thought a bomb exploded only to see a 12 to 14 meter long Bryde’s Whale (Balaenoptera edeni) blowing, sending spray up almost four meters. It played on the surface for half… Continue Reading
