One of our favourite subjects to see on night dives is the Bobtail Squid! Here in Lembeh we often see Berry’s Bobtail Squid, sometimes known as the Hummingbird Bobtail Squid (Euprymna berryi). These tiny cephalopods are always fun to try spot and then shoot, as their jewel like appearance makes for a great colours.
Berry’s Bobtail Squid are one of the smaller cephalopods you can see here in Lembeh, growing only to about 3 cm in size. This means you have to have a keen eye to be able to see them, especially as they like hiding in the sand! They are mostly active at night, and spend the daytime burrowed in the sand, emerging at night to feed. The squid have eight arms and two tentacles (arms have suction cups along the entire length of the arms, tentacles only have suction cups near the end of the limb) and they use their tentacles to scoop up sand to cover themselves.
Bobtail squid feed on crustaceans, like small shrimp. They are also known to eat some small fish and annelids, which are a type of underwater worm. The squid tends to bury itseld in the sand, and wait for a suitable prey to move close enough for them to attack. Once close enough, the squid will strike with its two tentacles hoping to catch the prey. If they miss, they simply bury themselves again and wait for the next opportunity.
One of the most interesting things about Bobtail Squids, is that they quite literally glow in the dark! They have a symbiotic relationship with a bioluminescent bacteria, which live inside a special light organ inside the squids ink sac. The bacteria is provided with sugar and amino acids from the squid, and the squid gets light in return! The bacteria is called Vibrio Fischeri, and it is the only bacteria able to thrive within this light sac, making this symbiotic relationship even more special! You might think, why would a small squid want to light itself up at night as it would seem counter productive when they spend so much of their time hiding from predators? The bacteria is actually mimicking how much moonlight is hitting the Bobtail squid from above and it will then replicate the same amount of light on the underside of the squid! The brighter the moon is, the brighter the bacteria will shine, making it impossible for predators to see the squids silhouette from below. This is an ingenious form of camouflage known as “counter illumination”.
Hopefully you learnt something new about these beautiful little cephalopods, we are lucky to see them often when we go night diving here in Lembeh, so if its on your wishlist make sure you plan for a night dive on your next stay with us!
Why Dive with NAD-Lembeh Resort?
NAD-Lembeh Resort is a small, owner-operated, photography-oriented dive resort in the Lembeh Strait. We are situated in a private bay on Lembeh Island, away from the hustle and bustle of the mainland. We guarantee a 2:1 guest to guide ratio as standard, which makes for a private dive experience and lots of time to take pictures.
ROOMS & BUNGALOWS
All our rooms (10 Beachfront Rooms, 5 Seaview Bungalows) offer ocean view, air conditioning, hot water, wifi, including full board. Our resort has only few steps, which makes our layout extremely convenient to get from your room to the restaurant, camera room, bar and floating jetty.
Our dive team consists of 15 full-time guides, with over 100 years of combined experience! Air as well as Nitrox and various cylinder sizes (both DIN and Yoke are available onsite).
BOATS & FLOATING JETTY
NAD-Lembeh has 4 large, purpose-built dive boats. Each at around 15m long, they offer lots of space and comfort for the divers. Boats feature onboard toilets, towels, drinks and snacks and first aid/ oxygen.
Our jetty allows our guests dignified and quick boat entries – all our dive boats can be moored simultaneously, so there is no wading through the shallows to get on the boat for the dive!
Our focus at NAD is to take your underwater photography to the next level. We offer 1:1 photo classes and our guides are all proficient with photography, using our rental equipment for fun dives when not diving with guests.
We shoot video up to 8K, along with Nikon/ Canon SLR and mirrorless setups. This gives us a rounded knowledge of all cameras. We are also the go-to location for natural history filming in the Straits.
Our newly renovated, huge camera room offers one work space for each and every guest. The spacious, individual benches with lots of power points were purposely built for underwater photographers. NAD’s dedicated camera room is also the perfect place to work on and edit your pictures.
Several rental cameras and strobes are available onsite. We have basic tools and spare parts in our gift shop in case of minor camera problems as well as a drying cabinet, and computer for you to work on and edit your photos.