December Diving Safari: Spanish Dancers, Octopus and New Divers
On the 17th of December, after a long two-week break without diving, here we are again, this time with a full boat. We have some family members onboard as well, which will make the trip even more fun…
We also have plenty of courses to run. Thierry has three specialties to complete: Deep, Night and Nitrox, so he is going to be busy, for sure!
Then we have two Open Water courses for Romain and Caroll Ann. For our two new divers, this is going to be a pretty exciting introduction to the underwater world.
A Fantastic First Day of Diving
Our first day was absolutely fantastic. Throughout our four dives, we found giant pufferfish, octopus, loads of nudibranchs, sponge crabs and three Spanish dancers.
What a great start for our new divers!
With four dives packed with marine life, there was plenty to keep both experienced divers and students busy. While Romain and Caroll Ann were beginning their journey as divers, the rest of the group could enjoy searching the reef for some of the more unusual creatures that make diving in the Andaman Sea so rewarding.
The Spanish Dancer
The Spanish dancer, scientific name Hexabranchus sanguineus (literally meaning “blood-coloured six-gills”), is a dorid nudibranch: a very large and colourful sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Hexabranchidae.
In a normal situation, when the animal is crawling, the edges of its mantle are curled upwards, creating a peripheral blister. If the animal is disturbed, it unfolds its edges and can swim through contractions and undulations of its body to move away from whatever is disturbing it.
Its common name, Spanish dancer, comes from this particular defensive behaviour, which makes it look remarkably like a flamenco dancer moving through the water.
Open Water Training and Marine Life
For Romain and Caro, this first day was about more than simply discovering the reef. They were beginning their Open Water training, learning the essential skills and gaining their first experience of diving in the sea.
At the same time, the experienced divers onboard had plenty to discover. The combination of training and exploration makes a liveaboard particularly memorable: while new divers build confidence underwater, the whole group can still enjoy the incredible marine life around them.
Four Dives, Plenty of Discoveries
Among the highlights of the day was a marble octopus, alongside the giant pufferfish, sponge crabs and the many nudibranchs we encountered along the way.
And then there were the three Spanish dancers. Seeing one of these spectacular nudibranchs is always a treat, but finding three during the same day made for a particularly memorable start to the trip.
After two weeks without diving, getting back into the water with a full boat, a great group of divers and so much marine life was exactly the kind of welcome we were hoping for.
