Moucha Island Trip

On December 5^th I went on an MWR trip out to Moucha Island.  This is an island about 10 miles North of Djibouti in the Gulf of Tadjoura.  The google maps GPS location of the place I went is:

11.722619, 43.177584

If you look on the map, you can clearly see all the great reefs around the island.  We met early in the morning, loaded up on a bus that took us down to the fishing pier in Djibouti.  We got onto a small launch bound for the island.  It was about a 20 minute ride out there.  The island is set up with a small resort, a dive center, restaurant, and huts along the beach.  As soon as I hit the island I got to the dive shop and signed up for the morning dive. 

Here are pictures from the hut I ‘claimed’ along the beach.  The tide range was about 4-5 feet, which made the beach change from sand to coral during the day.  The water was very warm due to the shallows all around the island. 

I went out on the dive trip to a location called the ‘aquarium’ and it was an apt description.  It was absolutely beautiful.  We got geared up and were underwater for about an hour and 15 minutes, a max depth of about 50 feet.  Being my first tropical Indian Ocean dive, I was about to see varieties of fish I had never seen before.  Below is a sampling of the 300 underwater photos that I took during the day, both diving and snorkeling.

Here is a small puffer, similar to ones I used to see in the Keys, but with slightly different coloring.

There were unusual anemones and sponges.

All the coral was actively growing and brilliant in color.

Small Damselfish inhabit every inch of the reef.

The feather duster worms were absolutely huge, upwards of 4 inches across.

The Strawberry Groupers had beautiful coloration and bravely defended their holes.

Some of the coral formations were large enough for me to swim under… absolutely stunning. 

A small Goby on the bottom.

Brilliant white tipped coral.

The other group of divers going by, they sucked down their air much quicker than us.

Another grouper hiding out in the rocks.

Huge trigger fish were just hanging out at the edge of visibility.  I am used to them being about 18 inches long and thin, these were about 3 feet long and very thick.

Our divemaster put his hand into a couple of different varieties of sea anemones, which was not something I was going to try without knowing which type and the possible sting.

An unusual formation of minerals, I have never seen anything like this before.

Another great example of the healthy coral on the reef.

A medium sized grouper hanging out in his hole.

There were many moray eels on the reef, this one was about 3 feet long.

Christmas tree worm, these were all over the coral heads in a wide range of colors.

Another unusual creature, it was soft like an anemone, but had the polyps of coral, I will have to investigate further.

This coral had a school of tiny fish all throughout its branches, they were so small and translucent, you can barely make them out.

Another moray eel, this one was larger and moved from hole to hole.  Snorkelers above us could see it moving around the reef.

Another moray, I wasn’t kidding, they were everywhere.

A nudibranch, or seaslug.  Its bright colors made a clear statement that I wasn’t going to be touching it.  It’s only about an inch long.

Another interesting sponge.

Scrawled filefish, an old pal from the reefs of the Florida Keys.

One of the bright angelfish varieties from these waters.

Coral with some neon wrasses. 

A very territorial grouper, who charged me twice as I tried to get the picture.

A mated pair of the black and white damselfish, they were swimming quickly through all these fingers of coral.

A first for me, seeing clownfish in the wild.  This mated pair was in a large blanket anemone, with a school of juveniles in the very center.  They were basically an eyeball and tail.

Another lionfish, these fish purposely turn every time I try to get a picture so I can’t capture its face.

A healthy piece of coral in only about 4 feet of water just off the beach.

 

A pipefish, relative of the seahorse, with a damselfish in the background.

Magnificent head of coral, with the shimmering waves of light.

This was the first giant clam I had ever seen.  I originally saw it from the small overhangs to the side of the beach.  When the tide came in I was able to swim over there and get these shots.  It closes so quickly and powerfully, I wouldn’t want my fingers inside when it shuts.

Lizardfish, dangerous and poisonous, these lazy camouflaged fish have small spines with a nasty toxin.

Butterfly and damsel fish in the shallows.

Another pipefish, these are only about 3-4 inches long.

 

We left the island alittle later (1.5 hours) than we planned, and cruised back to a awesome setting sun through the desert dust.  Unfortuntely the seas were bad and it was tough to be steady enough for a good shot.