A Heart 'Drenching' Hantu Trip

Sunday, 11 June 2006

It was already drizzling to begin the day with. Met Xiangyi at 8.30am to find out that she didn't bring along her I/C for security clearance at the pier. The forgetful me did not inform her of such necessary procedure at the pier. So it was no I/C, and no diving.... She had to take a cab to and fro to get her identity card. By the time she made it to the pier, she was late and everyone waited for us onboard. Kind of feel bad cos it's my fault.

The sky started to clear when we were headed for Hantu. As usual, Debby made introductions and gave a short but informative briefing en route Hantu. It is nice to see Huibing and Chay Hoon again on this trip. Xiangyi and I was assigned to Huibing. I had heard she is apt at finding numerous macro subjects. Both Xiangyi and I shared the same passion with Huibing at looking for macro critters, so naturally we were more than happy to follow her.

The Dive Sites of Pulau Hantu

We started the dive at about 10.50 a.m. Dive site was The Western Fringing Reef a.k.a Flabellina Garden. We went about criter hunting slowly underwater. The visiblity was about 2m initially.. but suddenly plumeted to less then a metre when a large cloud of silt just tumbled down the slope and obscured everything! Xiangyi and Huibing was right in front of me but i can't see them! I had to literally go face to face with them to keep track of their presence. We finned on and finally got out of the large cloud but in due process we had ascended and descended a couple of times following the lost buddy procedures. We did not see much initially except for a couple of Phylliids and flatworms. Towards the end of the dive when we were at shallower depths (3-4m), we came across alot more stuffs like shrimps, razorfish, and a Juvenile sweetlips. The undulating swimming movement of the Juvenile Sweetlips resembles that of a swimming flatworm to deceive would be predators. It was very difficult to capture the much desired frontal or side frame of this beautifully decorated fish. Well....I only managed all the backside shots while Huibing got some good face shots.

We surfaced at about 11.53 a.m. Had lunch and was about to hit waters again when massive storm clouds accompanied by strong gale moved in. The waters quickly swelled with fast moving currents and crashing waves. The raindrops shelled on our little bumboat and battered us badly such that we have to hide inside the hold. So we waited for the passing of the storm. It looked a bit promising after 30mins of adjourning. Debby jumped into the water for a quick test of the currents when a flash of lightning tore apart the sky in the far horizon warning us not to continue. Its horrendous roar thundered into our hearts moments following the flash, discouraging us from proceeding with the second dive. So we all decided to head back to the mainland when the second wave of storm promised to strike. The ride back was a bumpy one with my face turning green from motion sickness... Xiangyi was in a worse condition. She just sat quietly at the bow of the boat.

Debby and Joseph braving the Storm

It was still raining when we reached mainland. Huibing was very kind and offered to drive us out of West Coast Pier. We alighted at Fong Seng prata shop and had a hearty meal. Xiangyi told me she almost had the idea of giving up diving for good because of her prone sea sickness. She was ready to throw up on the way back and kept thinking whether it is worth it to go through the inevitable succumb to sickness everytime she go diving. Of course, I had to reassure her that it was just bad weather cos I felt sick too (which i usually don't cos i'm a seasoned seafarer). I was more disappointed that we had to abort the 2nd dive. Hmmm there goes my money's worth... :( $93 for only 1 dive at Hantu was really a heartpain(ouch). I could feel the pinch but then again it is all unpredictable and inevitable... so i guess i have to let go a little and stop thinking about it monetarily and focus on what I gained during that 1 precious dive. So here it is:

Eight-banded Butterflyfish (Chaetodon octofasciatus)

A Blue-lined Pseudoceros Flatworm (Pseudoceros sp.)

A tiny shrimp perching motionless on the branching Acropora corals

A beautiful Split-banded Cardinalfish (Apogon compressus), distinguished by its neon electric blue eyes

The Elusive Juvenile Harlequin Sweetlips

The Juveniles of the the Harlequin Sweetlips are very much different from their parents. They looked totally different in terms of their body markings, swimming movement and feeding habits. It is a challenge to capture good shots of the Juveniles as they are always on the move, dancing about in or near corals/ rock crevices. They exhibit wild, swift undulating, vigorous and gyrating style of movement and almost certainly always away from you. This and their unusual juvenile colouring may be intended to persuade possible predators that they are swimming flatworms, which are often toxic. Below are some nice shots of the Juvenile Sweetlips that Huibing managed to capture. Check it out!

Copyrighted photos courtesy of Reef Xplore Guide Huibing

Wriggling Beauty: Juvenile Harlequin (Clown) Sweetlips (Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides)