Author: Hananta T Source: KOMPAS
"Go! Go! Goooo!” dive master’s yell made us race to jump to the water.
All at once, four diver jumps to the water with back roll technique, sit down on ship side and fallen down to the water with backbone touch the surface first. From the surface of water, we directly go down to the depth.
Blue Corner, that place is where we belong. This site exists at the corner of Nusa Lembongan, one of three islands at south east of Bali Island. Two others island are Nusa Penida and Nusa Ceningan.
Sea is very friendly, the skies are blues.......but..there is something different...the water surface, there is moving....
Yesss!! Your right! The sea of Blue Corner almost have fast stream! The stream could reach 3-5 knot. No way againts th stream, we dive follow the stream. The air buble flow out not to upstair but to the edge. We like fly away.
The sea water transparent, the appear are 20-30 meters to front, but the temperature is cold. Could reach 17 Celcius.
Speedy stream made the corals shorty, mostly stone corals. Fish always like streamy water, thereis a lot of food here. Ten minutes we dive, there are a lot of fish we have seen. Kuwe fishes, measuring 60-80 cm through away in 15 meters depth, also surgeon fishes, flag fishes, and others thousand fishes which could not account.
Three white fin shark observed in 20 meters depth. A couple of rayfish through from the distance. The uniquely sequent, the fishes swim againts the streams.
What purpose did we want to discover in Nusa Penida?The main purpose is not watch the fishes above which we’ve seen. We want see and if we luck, we want hold peculiar fish because the uniquely shape. We called that fish as ”Molie’ Mola!!!!
.............................After 15 minutes passed away, in 20 meters depth we go to 30 meters depth, where Mola-mola fish belong. The stream go slowly, so we can relax. Suddenly, our divemaster index finger in front of us.....Wow!How excited thing we see!!!two mola-mola in front of us.
The right one is more bigger, the diameters about 2 meters more, maybe male. The other one have 1, 5 meters of diameters. The skin is gray with black dot. What are they doing in 25 meters dept???
Both of they surrounde by cleaner fishes, little fish with blue skin, blak lines. That little fish clean up mola-mola skin from parasit and skin bugs. We also saw yellow flag fishes with black stripes take action in this ceremony.
Five minutes we observed those two mola-mola. The mouth like circle hole and always open, seems funny. The eyes which also circle seems watch us. Seducting to touch the skin, we move close to that fish.
Seems that we just met, mola-mola move far from us. It is not easy to touch them!!! They still lookout from us.
Slowly, but sure, mola-mola move to the depth...27...30...32...until 35 meters...and we aware, we couldn’t go to the depth. Thiny air backup can make difficult situation to us if we resist move down. According to safety procedur, we have to move up. With a broken heart...we move up, leave away the funny, funky, peculiar mola-mola.
Mola-mola fish
Mola-mola fish is peculiar fish. The shape is peculiar...strange...is not common if we compare about fish shape in our mind.
The head and body , flat circle, 1-4 diameters (the fish is huge!!!), have two fin erect up and down with the measuring almost as wide as its body. A couple of little fin at side of head, circle eyes, and circle mouth, not in lips shape. And the tail?No..no.. mola-mola fish have no tail!!!
Because of its shape, so people called that fish according to the shape. Mola is roll rock in Latin language. Schwimmenderkopf, Germany said, it means, swimming head. Yes, mola-mola only shaped from head and fin. This fish also known as oceanic sunfish because the shape is round like sun, or its fovourite, take sun bath at the surface of ocean.
Mola-mola is the biggest hard bone at this time. Shark fish is bigger, but shark classified as soft bone fish. Whale fish also bigger, but whale is classified as mamalia. Once, ther is mola-mola catched, the size is 3,35 meters and 2,235 tons weight!!!!
Without tail, mola-mola move with their fin. Althought the size is big and the weight can reach over than 1,000 kilograms, the expert classified this fish as puffer fish family.
Mola-mola like cold temperature, and live in subtropic ocean. For defend of cold temperature, they have thick skin. Their favourite meals are jellyfish.
This fish often seems in group, tame, and not afraid with human. At Nusa Penida, once watched a group of 5, 10, 16, even 20 mola-mola. Their slowly movement, make this fishes become prey. But thanks God, their big size and thick skin (about 10-15 cm) protect them.
Why Nusa Penida?
There are a lot of diving area in Indonesia, lot of beautiful and excotic diving area in Indonesia, but you only see mola-mola in Nusa Penida. And you only see mola-mola at July-October. This couples years, made Bali, The island of Gods, Gods island become mola-mola season. More cold the water temperature, mola-mola more like to appear theirself.
Why they like third island in Bali? Because a lot of meals or the cold water? Why not in Lombok, Flores, or Timor which the location is more south. Where they belong at November-June? At nusa Penida they find their couples?
Bali, in fact, also beautiful in down of waters...the mola-mola is value added to tourism in Bali. Mola-mola is diving icon in Bali.
Bali is Gods Island. Maybe mola-mola is dearly love of Gods?Because only in Bali we easy to see them............................
Who wants meet mola-mola, prepare yourslef with divind skill, diving course, and be sure that meet mola-mola is the great experience!!!Note it in your journey memory!!!!
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