Photo by Rantje Allen
Photo by William Tan
Photo by Rantje Allen
Photo by William Tan
Photo by Rantje Allen
Sperm whale carcass is a rare site worldwide. Imagine the surprise when one drifted onto a remote reef in Gorontalo! New but Temporary Attraction In early May, Miguel’s Diving staff received word that a mysterious whale had died in west Gorontalo. As a result, we made a whirlwind trip to its remote location. We were… Continue Reading
Indonesia�s position as the nation with the most biologically diverse waters on earth increased with the announcement of 70 recently discovered fish unknown to science. A month long expedition jointly conducted byIndonesian and Japanese researchers of deep water fishes off the coasts of Sumatra and Java turned up an astonishing number of undescribed fish species. These… Continue Reading
Seven described flasher wrasse species (Paracheilinus) live in Indonesia waters. Sometimes flasher wrasses are called fairy wrasses, given their magical appearance. Two of the seven are considered endemic to Indonesia. One is the Togean flasher wrasse (P. togeanensis), pale white in color with outlined fin segments. The other is the iridescent Cyan flasher wrasse (P. cyaneus), found in Papua, Kalimantan,… Continue Reading
The newest edition of Indonesian Reef Fishes (Kuiter & Tonozuka 2004) includes an undescribed specie of dottyback. The Togean dottyback (Pseudochromis sp.) is thought to be confined to Tomini Bay, Sulawesi, making it endemic to these waters. Rudie Kuiter first noticed this fish during an expedition to the Togian (Togean) Islands in 1994. Photographed in Gorontalo in 2003 by Italian marine… Continue Reading
One dark and starry night in January a local college professor was ready to quit fishing off the deep-water docks in Gorontalo City. As he reeled in his empty hook, suddenly he snagged something. After patiently bringing his catch to the surface, he discovered that his empty hook had snagged the eye socket of a huge,… Continue Reading
An unpredictable but annual visitor to Gorontalo is what we affectionately call the Blue chip plankton. Seen only in the first couple meters of the water column, this marine creature looks like a chip of iridescent blue paint. It measures about five millimeters. If you approach one with your finger, it will swim away a bit… Continue Reading
Gorontalo is close to Sulawesi diving hot spots of Bunaken Marine Park, Lembeh, and the Togian (Togean) Islands. However, we are often finding things unknown to those familiar with diving in these adjacent locations. One striking example is what Phuket?s dive guru calls White foxtails after a recent visit. These are colonial tunicates whose translucent white… Continue Reading
One of Gorontalo?s cuter residents is the Signalfin goby. Growing up to three centimeters in length, this translucent fish has tiny dark spots sprinkled over its body. Its iris is red-brown and a green light shines from its pupil. Its first dorsal fin has matching red-brown markings. Although it sits motionless on the sand near clumps of… Continue Reading
Sulawesi waters teem with life of all sizes, including cetaceans. Last week a pod of 18 whales beached near the border of Gorontalo and North Sulawesi provinces, only a few hours east of diving sites. Miguel’s Diving staff confirmed with fishermen friends that these were Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus). For some reason the pod entered a small cove… Continue Reading
Right before sunset on February 29th, more than ten Shortfin devil rays (Mobula kuhlii) were jumping in the small bay where the Sentinels dive site is located. Large schools of tiny fish also filled these waters. In fact, local fishermen had just netted many bucketfuls for sale in the local market. Not only were the devil rays jumping,… Continue Reading
