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View Full Version : Muck Rocks!!!



allisonfinch
01-16-2007, 12:07 AM
Yes, PNG excells in muck diving. For those of you who are not aware of "muck", it is diving on bottoms not featuring major hard coral formations. Sometimes the bottom seems to be just plain sand.

AH! But look closer. You will often find critters you will see nowhere else. From all forms of frogfish and seahorses/pipefish, to the wonderful saddleback anemone fish (sometimes called the Panda).

If given a choise of reef or muck, I think I would have to go with the muck.

RebreatherDave
01-16-2007, 12:33 AM
Allison,

Last year I went twice to the Philippines. 2nd dive had all of us on rebreathers diving the shllows with short eel grass. Water wasn't as clear as could be.

After the dives, the trip organizer and the rest were complaining what a sucky dive it was.

I said, what are you talking about?! Did you see those cool razorfish?! And did you see that dancing cleaner shrimp on that stalk anemone?! Or the napolean snake eel?!

Their reply was; We didn't see any sharks, no big fish, yada-yada.

I was the only one who thought the muck dive was really great.....

allisonfinch
01-16-2007, 02:54 AM
:D

You are the diver I would prefer to buddy with, one who enjoys critters who don't SCREAM to be looked at. I love sharks and the big pelagics, but I also love the wee stuff.

caymaniac
01-16-2007, 05:34 PM
:D

You are the diver I would prefer to buddy with, one who enjoys critters who don't SCREAM to be looked at. I love sharks and the big pelagics, but I also love the wee stuff.

I agree with you...
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k115/caymaniac/IMG_0435.jpg

As you look at the Fathers volcano, can you imagine the activity under the surface? I mean, anyone can see the land/rocks and trees...that's the easy part. To see what is going on below the surface is so much more interesting.
The colors can be dazzling and the shapes of the animals are so much more diverse than above the water.

There's only one way to see...
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k115/caymaniac/File0042.jpg

allisonfinch
01-20-2007, 01:08 AM
Caymaniac!!!
Glad to see you made it to this site (scubamagazine, that is). It will be fun to help build it up, huh?

Great pics of the volcano. My last trip I got some spewing smoke/lava shots of the erupting volcano in Rabaul. Boat was covered with ash every day. YUCK! Hard on the gear.