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crustaceans, which we fondly dub “30-minute shrimp.”
During our shrimp hunt we also encountered
symbiotic fishes occupying the same tight quarters —
mostly gobies, colorful and cute. Dive travel always
brings something new, as happened the following year in
Ambon, Indonesia. We spent the week at Maluku Divers,
a seaside resort fronting some of the best critter-hunting
grounds in the region. Making things even better, we
were shown around by Semuel Bukasiang, a veteran
guide of distinction. On the next to last diving day,
Semuel and I prowled the slopes, while Anna struck gold
in the shallows, finding redhead coral gobies scampering
around the branches of plate-coral colonies. It was
exciting news; the fish had eluded us for years, and the
current printing of our Pacific fish guide displayed only
a yellow variant of the species. We were on a mission.
The following morning we awoke to a freshening
gale that at 7 a.m. had already sent spray over the
seawall. Word of worsening conditions arrived with
coffee. It seemed our only chance to visit the gobies
would be during the next couple of hours, and even
then conditions would be sloppy. After conferring with
Semuel, Anna and I decided to go for it.
As expected, the sandy shallows were awash with surge.
Even though we had full tanks and extra weight, the swells
had their way, tossing us like leaves. Fortunately we had
plenty of space to maneuver between the outcroppings,
and within minutes of our arrival Anna spotted a pair of
the gobies. Purging the last bubble from my BC, I came to
rest inches from their home. Nimble as mice in a maze, the
occupants darted off to the far side of their platter-sized
world. Noting my predicament, Semuel positioned himself
across from me and sent the gobies scrambling back in my
direction. There they settled side by side in a hollow with
their green-tinged, golden-rimmed eyes starring back at me
like puppies in a pound. It was too much.
Before I could burrow my elbows into the bottom and
focus, the gobies vanished. Semuel waved them back
around, but no sooner did they arrive than they were
off again. Every time I attempted to hold focus on their
fuzzy little heads, the surge swept my legs off the bottom
and wrenched my eye away from the viewfinder. All
would have been lost without Anna — the best buddy a
fellow ever had. She came to the rescue by draping her
tank-heavy body across my wayward limbs, just the trick
to get the shot. AD
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From far left: fingerprint coral shrimp, Coralliocaris sandyi;
redhead coral goby, Paragobiodon echinocephalus;
Gerlache’s coral shrimp, Philarius gerlachei;
superb coral shrimp, Coralliocaris superba