TRAVELSPECIAL
Crinoid cuttlefish , Lembeh
Starry octopus , Lembeh benthic creatures can be found in relative abundance . Muck diving , while primarily aimed at providing additional value for the underwater photographic community , added a ‘ now frontier ’ in diving , albeit within well-established areas .
In fact , muck diving originated in Milne Bay , Papua New Guinea , at a site known as Dinah ’ s Beach , where liveaboard owner Bob Halstead decided to try a dive at a low energy site where his boat , MV Telita , was moored . The dive yielded a multitude of small creatures , many of which are naturally cryptic and hard to find on coral reefs .
It turned out that vast tracts of South East Asia ’ s shallow coastal waters held potential for muck diving , and it found natural homes at locations such as Bali , Komodo Island in Indonesia and the Semporna coast of Sabah , Malaysia ( to name a few ). The location most often associated with muck diving is Indonesia ’ s
Lembeh Strait . In certain circles , Lembeh ’ s proliferation of diving resorts has led to a misleading origin story , that Lembeh itself was the first home of muck diving .
In truth , Lembeh ’ s first resort was built in 1994 , prompted by manta rays moving through the plankton-rich waters of the strait . The manta population was decimated when industrial fishing ships moved through the area in 1996 , placing vast nets across the migratory routes of all the region ’ s big animals . It was death on a mass scale ; over 11 months some 1,424 manta rays , 577 pilot whales and 326 sharks had been killed .
Yet from this slaughter , something new was born . Divers found that Lembeh ’ s black volcanic sand and nutrient rich waters provided the perfect mix of habitats for small benthic creatures to thrive . The area is so biologically dense that visitors must learn not to settle on the sand , as it too is a living environment .
Hairy frogfish , Lembeh
Future fascinations
Perhaps Lembeh is an example of the diving community ’ s tendency to adopt new fixations , when other types of diving lose their novelty appeal , or if the animals themselves begin to disappear . The past decade has seen renewed interest in cave and cavern diving , evidenced in the popularity of Mexico ’ s Riviera Mara . And there is the phenomenon of black water diving , a search for exotic types of plankton and open water cephalopods , carried out in the middle of the night over abyssal water .
Whatever the next craze will be , it seems likely the leading resorts will be expected to display sound ecological credentials . Calling yourself an eco-resort and cutting the electric every evening will not cut it anymore . Visitors will expect provable recycling and desalination schemes , investment in local communities and a role in
protecting the local environment . That ’ s my prediction for 2030s diver tourism – long-haul travel may ultimately become rationed , but we will see a rise in holidays with genuine environmental credentials . By visiting such places , we will be directly contributing to their preservation . �
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