Tag: nature

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Critters in Indonesia – Weird and Wonderful Creatures

a dark red Rhinopias sitting on rubble ground

Indonesia – A Critters Paradise Indonesia is a great place to come scuba diving to see weird and wonderful critters. Some divers already know about the existence of some of these creatures and they are on their diver’s bucket list. Others have never heard, let alone seen, of these strange underwater creatures. We have put together a list of the best weird and wonderful critters in Indonesia. This list is according to Coralia’s favourites plus the ones that you are quite likely to see during a liveaboard cruise with us! Rhinopias – The Holy Grail of Fish! Our cover photo is of a paddle-flap scorpionfish or rhinopias (Rhinopias eschmeyeri). Many scuba divers consider this elusive fish the holy grail of […]

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Tambora – The Volcano that created Frankenstein

the ocean and the Tambora volcano that led to the creation of Frankenstein can be seen in the background

The eruption of Tambora volcano, Indonesia in 1815 was one of the largest explosive events in the world in the past 10,000 years. A very serious event, but as a fun fact, the Tambora volcano eventually also led to the creation of Frankenstein novel! We will explain it later… Eruption The eruption was more powerful than the more widely known eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. Tambora is on the island of Sumbawa, east of Lombok and Bali. Before the eruption, Tambora was 4,300m/14,100ft high. The cone lost 1,400m/4,600ft in height during the eruption. Tambora’s eruption commenced on 5th April with rumblings and small eruptions. The main 24 hour long paroxysm (sudden and violent volcanic eruption) occurred on 10th April 1815. […]

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Wobbegong Shark Raja Ampat

an adult-size wobbegong shark resting between corals in Raja Ampat

In Raja Ampat, Indonesia it is fairly common to see the wonderful tasselled wobbegong shark while scuba diving. Raja Ampat is right in the centre of the coral triangle and has the highest biodiversity of fish and corals in the world! Coralia Liveaboard can take you on a diving cruise to look for wobbegong sharks! Origin of the Name Experts think the name wobbegong could come from the Australian Aborginal language, meaning ‘shaggy beard’. Its scientific name Eucrossorhinus dasypogon also refers to the growths around the mouth of this amazing shark. Discovery A Dutch ichthyologist first described the tasselled wobbegong shark in 1867. The name dasypogon comes from the Greek ‘dasys’ meaning hairy and ‘pogon’ meaning beard. In 1908 a […]