My recent Bali trip

[Achilles Tang]

January? why not now? it is the Mola Mola season! I heard my friend said she saw 15 molas at one location!!! How cool is that?!!!

[divinesloth]

Now....no moola to see the molas lah. Work, tight schedule

[samchenz]

Wow! totally stunning photos AT! Nothing beats seeing them in the ocean.

: )

[w3ish3ng]

my bro said mola mola make good dishes.. yum yum

[Achilles Tang]

Out of the blue... came a sunfish or a Mola-Mola... my heart pounding with excitement at my first ever sighting of this very rare fish.....

[Achilles Tang]

Approaching the reef wall that stretched down into the darkness... many common reef fishes came up to greet it, eager to start pecking on the many parasites that seemed to plague sunfish...

[Achilles Tang]

Unafraid of the divers surrounding it... including two carrying cameras with strobes.... just eager to have fishes start their work....bannerfish, angels, moon wrasses, cleaner fishes swarm the Mola Mola!

[Achilles Tang]

I actually got close enough to reach out and touch its tail and feel how rough the skin was.... through a hole in my glove! I could see white dots on its body... "my gosh... what giant ick it got!" and the scrapes & open wounds on its tail probably from scratching against rocks to get rid of the parasites!

[Achilles Tang]

The fish was totally unafraid and I went over, under, sideways, even face to face!

[Achilles Tang]

My favourite shot of the Mola!

Notice the scar on its face... did a boat propeller hit it?

[Achilles Tang]

Bellyshot.

[Achilles Tang]

Gorgeous fish!

This Mola was a medium-sized specimen... about 2 metres long and probably 2 metres tall as well.

A truly weird looking creature - floating fish head!

[Achilles Tang]

Here's a video of the Mola Mola... its 5mb... so take your time to download but its worth it!

http://www.sgreefclub.com/video/video-molamola.avi

[Achilles Tang]

Here's the final shot of the Mola to share with you guys.... and the many reef friends he has! and if you look closely at its skin... you'll see why he needs help!

[Achilles Tang]

Now back to the small things!

Baby white-eye moray barely thicker than a thin marker pen.

[Achilles Tang]

Flounder.... perfectly camouflaged!

[Achilles Tang]

Another master of camouflage! The octopus!

[Achilles Tang]

oops... this should have come first... the side profile of the flounder before he got annoyed and scurried off....

[royal gramma]

Beautiful shots!

what an experience to be able to swim with the sunfish which i could only see it at the Osaka aquarium.

Any sps spotted?

[Achilles Tang]

Wow! You were at the Osaka aquarium? I have yet to see a whale shark so if I don't see one soon... I'll be buying a ticket to see one!

[royal gramma]

Will try to pose a decent picture of a whale shark if i could find it.

[Achilles Tang]

While shooting the mola mola, with my back against the rich reef wall... i saw my THIS!!!

THE BIGGEST AND REDDEST SCORPIONFISH I HAVE EVEN SEEN IN MY LIFE!!!

Thank goodness it was red because I could have easily put my hand on it if it was brown instead!

[Achilles Tang]

It's absolutely gorgeous... and deadly.... duh... do i sound like Steve Irwin here?! (God rest his soul).. take a look at its tassels and fins!!

[Achilles Tang]

Check out its body!! Does it say... "KEEP AWAY! DANGER!" to you?

[royal gramma]

here it is, hope it is not spoilling your thread.

A whale shark.

pardon my photography skill. (somebody's shoes)