Tag: marine life - Coralia Liveaboard Indonesia

July 31, 2021August 6, 2022News

SS Duke of Sparta Wreck in Ambon

In Ambon Bay there is a little-dived shipwreck and there’s an interesting story behind it. The wreck lies with her stern at around 15 metres and her bow down at 35 metres. It is a huge ship, and the wreck is over 100 metres long. Due to the wreck being close to the busy port of Ambon, the visibility is rarely great! But the shipwreck is intact and covered in amazing coral growth. Sponges, hard coral, and soft corals, along with the wreck itself have created amazing spaces for a wide variety of marine life. The mast and the upper parts of the wreck are covered in colourful soft corals. It’s in these areas where the light will be best […]

March 25, 2021March 18, 2021News

5 Fun Facts about Frogfish

Frogfish are found almost everywhere around the world. They are fascinating fish. This is why we are going to give you our favourite five fun facts about frogfish! Frogfish have their own fishing rod! Frogfish are members of the anglerfish family Antennariidae. They are also known as anglerfish. One of their dorsal spines is a lure. At the end of the lure is a bait. The bait can look like a small fish, a shrimp or a worm. In the photo above, the frogfish is wiggling its bait shaped like a worm. The frogfish can dangle and flick its lure in front of its head. Its prey will approach thinking there’s a tasty snack to be had. Once close, the […]

January 28, 2021January 23, 2021News

Sea Turtles in Indonesia

Green turtle on a reef in Raja Ampat surrounded by tiny fish

Turtles in Indonesia Indonesia is a great place to see turtles! Sea turtles are really ancient. The oldest known sea turtle fossil is 120 million years old! This makes sea turtles some of the oldest creatures on the planet! There are seven species of sea turtles in the world. Six of those species live in Indonesia: Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate) Olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) Flatback sea turtle (Natator depressus) Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) For those who are curious, the seventh species is Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), found primarily in the Gulf of Mexico. The two most encountered sea turtles while scuba diving or snorkelling in Indonesia are the Hawksbill turtle […]

December 24, 2020December 8, 2020News

Pygmy Seahorse ‘Santa Claus’ & its Friends

Santa Claus denise pygmy seahorses in Raja Ampat with Coralia Liveaboard in Indonesia

Santa Claus Pygmy in Raja Ampat There is a very special little seahorse who lives in Raja Ampat. It is red and white and particularly popular on social media at this time of year! It is of course the Santa Claus Pygmy Seahorse! The Santa Claus pygmy seahorse is actually a special colour variation of the Denise pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus denise). When they are born pygmy seahorses are released into the water column by their father pygmy. Like all seahorses it is the male who carries the brood. The tiny baby pygmies will float around in the currents for two to three weeks. They will then settle on a gorgonian sea fan of their own. Once the little pygmy settles […]

November 26, 2020September 24, 2020News

Fish Change Colour

Batfish with different colourations in Triton Bay with Coralia Liveaboard in Indonesia

Did you know that fish change colour? Some species do not change colour but many do. This change can be slow or fast. Next time you are out scuba diving, pay close attention to the fish and see if you can spot any changing colour! Coralia Liveaboard cruises all over Indonesia. Our very experienced dive guides can show you some fish colour changing action! Watch carefully, in this video you can see a long nose emperor fish changing colour while hunting. It goes from silver to a camo pattern and back to silver in a few seconds! Slow Colour Changing Fish Slow changes are generally under the control of hormones. These colour changes are usually semi-permanent. Slow colour changes often […]

October 29, 2020September 24, 2020News

Black Water Diving

fish circeling a jellyfish with black background

Black water diving is a special type of night dive. Typically a night dive is close to shore, either on a reef or sandy slope. On a black water dive you will dive in deep open water and wait for platonic creatures to come floating past on the currents. What’s Black Water Diving like? This kind of night dive is a very specialist type of dive, usually attracting photographers. It involves hanging out under the boat, in the black water, and waiting to see what floats by. Marine life that scuba divers could see on a black water dive are usually very small. We are looking for planktonic creatures, most of them in their larval or juvenile stage of life. […]

October 1, 2020July 25, 2020News

Shrimps in Indonesia

Shrimps in Indonesia Shrimps in Indonesia come in all shapes, sizes, colours and forms. There is a wide range of amazing shrimps that can be found while scuba diving. Coralia Liveaboard can take you on cruises all over Indonesia. We can find you some of these magnificent shrimps! This article is more like a gallery of shrimps. Because what can we say about shrimps, except they are totally wonderful and fun to see! We will show you some of the more common shrimps. Plus the weird and wonderful ones that are a bit harder to find and rarer to see! Squat Shrimp Squat shrimps (Thor amboinensis) are a fairly common sight in Indonesia. They constantly wiggle their bums and so […]

August 6, 2020July 23, 2020News

Juvenile to Adult – the Amazing Transformations of Fish

Adult barramundi cod with corals with Coralia Liveaboard in Triton Bay in Indonesia

Juvenile to Adult – the Amazing Transformations of Fish There are so many fascinating things to see in the ocean. One of the most intriguing is the difference between the adult and juvenile stages of some fish. There are some fish who completely transform and you wouldn’t believe that it is the same fish! In this blog we will show you some great examples of the most often encountered fish with the most outstanding transformations.

June 11, 2020June 20, 2020News

Top 5 Big Marine Life Encounters in Indonesia

Giant manta ray with diver in Raja Ampat with Coralia Liveaboard in Indonesia

Big Marine Life in Indonesia Indonesia has so many great liveaboard scuba diving destinations to satisfy all divers. But if ‘big stuff’ is what you are looking then Indonesia can tick all those boxes too. Big marine life encounters in Indonesia can be found in many destinations. Manta rays in Komodo and Raja Ampat. Hammerhead sharks in the Forgotten Islands, Banda Sea. Whale sharks in Cenderawasih Bay. Molas, sunfish, in Alor. Whales and dolphins – everywhere! Manta Rays in Raja Ampat & Komodo The two best destinations to see manta rays are Raja Ampat and Komodo. In Komodo there are multiple dive sites that can be visited by manta rays. Coralia Liveaboard will cruise in Komodo from May to September […]

May 21, 2020June 20, 2020News

Marine Life Cleaning Stations

Coral grouper at a marine life cleaning station in Raja Ampat with Coralia Liveaboard in Indonesia

Various marine life regularly visit cleaning stations. A cleaning station is where a special type of cleaner fish or shrimp live. At these areas on the reef these cleaners offer their services! On a scuba diving liveaboard in Indonesia, such as Coralia Liveaboard, you can witness this amazing behaviour at many dive destinations. In the photo above a coral grouper has a cleaner shrimp inside its mouth. We find it amazing the trust between the cleaners and the fish. One big gulp and this shrimp could be a tasty meal for the grouper!! Coral groupers are a regular on the reefs in Raja Ampat and other places like Komodo. They are usually quite shy fish but here our Cruise Director […]