The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – Part I
With a newly purchased film camera, I first visited Lembeh Strait in 1997 when the legendary Larry Smith promised me mandarin fish encounters. I soon discovered the Strait is more than just mandarin fish. I was mesmerized by its rich biodiversity, but my dives were all very short – interesting subjects were everywhere, and I ran out of film frames way before I ran out of air! Larry taught me the relationships between the critters, “this is the good guy, that is the bad guy” and “boy, isn’t he ugly!” Adding the few Damsels in distress within the coral rubble, all my visits to the Strait became exciting adventures to the Wild Wild West!
Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) are doctors in the ocean, this one was cleaning parasites off a little Maori Wrasse (Oxycheilinus bimaculatus)
Striped poison-fang blenny (Meiacanthus grammistes) will not hesitate to use its fangs if threatened.
(shot with blue and green excitation lights)
Tasseled Scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis oxycephala) in a territorial fight.
Yellowfin Demoiselle (Chrysiptera flavipinnis) can normally be found below 20m in Lembeh’s coral rubble.
Tuco: “I bet they didn’t even pay you a penny for your arm.” A Trumpetfish (Aulostomus maculatus) meets resistance from a crab it was trying to swallow.
Tuco: “you can feel the Devil bite your ass.” A harlequin Crab (Lissocarcinus orbicularis) seeks refuge inside the anus of a sea cucumber
William Tan has
been fascinated with the creatures of the sea since childhood. While studying at the Johns Hopkins University (USA), much of his spare time was spent gazing at the extensive marine collection of the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
A violinist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, William earned his scuba diving certification in 1994. Thereafter, without his prized antique Italian violin, he travels extensively between concert seasons throughout the Pacific region judging competitions and photographing marine life for scientific institutions, camera companies, underwater housing manufacturers, tourism organizations, dive magazines. See more of his work in his facebook