Merry and I just returned from three and a half weeks in Analao. We stayed at Crystal Blue Resort. SoCal native Mike Bartick has done a ton of work improving the facility. It was a very nice trip, especially compared to our last trip to the Philippines. Each room includes a shower with plenty of water pressure and air conditioning. The only work we did was walking up and down steps all day. The crew carries your tanks/BC and camera to and from the boat. The guides are adept at finding critters from octopus to nearly microscopic shrimp and nudibranchs. The first ten days included four day dives and an occasional night dive. The next seven days included one day dive and two blackwater dives. Between diving, meals, and photo workshops, there was little time for sleep. We caught up when we got home yesterday.

One of the divers in our group, Britta Siegers from Germany competed in four Paralympics, winning eight gold, four silver, and one bronze medal. It was difficult to keep up with her underwater. We spent our trip with several divers already known to us including Audrey Garbacik from Washington and a Southern California contingent that included Merry and me, Mike Bartick, Richard Salas, John and Fletcher Forbes, Nannette and Bill Van Antwerp, Linda Blanchard, and Walter Marti.

Visibility was good every day with water temperature as high as 86°.

Our guide, Jhomer Demayo

Antennarius commerson

Gymnothorax meleagris, Whitemouth moray eel

Tridacna gigas, Giant Clam

Taeniura lymma

Plotsus lineatus

Phycocaris simulans

Lactoria cornuta, Longhorn Cowfish

Hippocampus bargibanti, Pygmy Seahorse

Cypraea tigris

Balistoides viridescens, Titan triggerfish. This is the largest triggerfish in the Indo-Pacific. They are very aggressive. This one attacked my camera three times before I gave up and swam away. I did get one closeup of its dental work.

Antennarius maculatus

Acanthaster planci

Melibe colemani, the coolest looking transparent nudibranch

Sagaminopteron psychedelicum, psychedelic batwing slug,

Phyllodesmium tuberculatum

Phyllodesmium parangatum

Phyllodesmium kabiranum

Phyllidiopsis xishaensis

Phyllidiella pustulosa

Nembrotha sp. 1

Nembrotha milleri

Nembrotha kubaryana

Nembrotha Cristata

Hypselodoris kaname

Hypselodoris bollandi

Gymnodoris rubropapulosa

Goniobranchus sp.

Goniobranchus kuniei

Goniobranchus fidelis

Goniobranchus coi

Glossodoris buko

Flabellina exoptata

Chromodoris willani

Chromodoris joshi

Chromodoris colemani

Chromodoris annae

Aegires villosus

• Re: 2022 Anilao Trip seahunt 15:09:10 06/10/22 (0)