STORM! powered by Gaia

This was one of my proudest moments in my diving career, I discovered a Lembeh Sea Dragon while diving at Wreck Point. It was a wall dive, hence to be able to zero in and spot this miniscule creature amongst the vastness of the coral encrusted precipice is a miracle in itself. I furiously banged my tank to get the other divers' attention. I tried my very best to get at least a few focused shots of this tiny critter, and was rewarded with ONE perfect shot. I knew getting a clear shot was the only way to corroborate my find. When the other divers turned back to where I was at, I pointed out the Lembeh Sea Dragon to them, an old German couple nodded their heads and gave me the OK sign. The other divers and even the Dive Master who has been leading dives at Puerto Galera for 12 years, kept signing, "WHAT? WHAT?". I carefully and patiently pointed the Lembeh Sea Dragon out to them. The other divers could not even make it out and just assumed it was a filament of sea algae and finned away. The Dive Master examined it closer and finally gave me the OK sign. Upon surfacing, only the elderly German couple and I were super excited! The 3 of us have all seen a Lembeh Sea Dragon before, as the couple had dived in Lembeh on a previous dive trip, and we knew instantly what it was. The other divers were completely clueless and baffled pertaining to what we saw. The Dive Master brushed it off and insisted that it was a pygmy pipefish, which it most certainly was not, though it belonged to the same genus. The 3 of us were trying to explain and convince the other divers, including the Dive Master, that it is a very rare find, and we are familiar with the animal's unique appearance and distinctive spinal protrusion. Once we returned to land, I showed the entire dive shop my photos. Unconvinced, they searched on Google, and it finally dawned on them that it was indeed a very exciting brand new find in Puerto Galera! And I was honoured to have been featured on their blog and newsletter. As an amateur underwater photographer, there is nothing more gratifying than having your photos published! Copy the link to view their blog in it's original form.

http://blog.asiadivers.com/another-great-week-at-asia-divers-for-ccd-dive-club/

The screen grabs:






And my original photos: