BIG IS IN AT MNEMBA

At Moonvalley-Aquarium, just 5 minutes away, todays dive was a dive with BIG stuff. First a huge female turtle with two remora's attached to it swam away right in front of us, to show up again a mere two minutes later, resting on a sand patch while getting cleaned by cleaner wrasses. A couple of minutes later we found the biggest ever ornate spiny lobster hiding under a coral ledge. Hopefully it keeps itself well hidden so it does not appear on one's plate one day. They are almost extinct and still heavily overfished. A little later we spotted a long trail in the sandy bottom. Following it we discovered a very very big red hermit crab. Normally completely nocturnal, this one was on a mission in the middle of the afternoon. And just before it was time to surface, we almost swam straight in to an oversized white tip reef shark, 6 to 7 feet long, 180 to 210cm, taking a nap in the middle of a sandpatch. Sneeking up along the bottom, I managed to take a couple of pictures before it sluggishly moved away. Definitely the biggest one I've ever seen! Jan christiaens

Posted: Mnemba by Jan Christiaens, Date: 18 March 2008

 
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