MARIA MUNN'S COLUMN: A Magical Mimic Octopus Encounter

Last week was another time when I needed to remember what I tell everyone on my underwater photography courses - always remember to back-up your images at the end of each day's diving. So why do I always get so excited about diving, talking about diving afterwards, sharing pictures later with other divers and putting off what is such an important task for any budding underwater photographer? My piece on UK diving down at Cornwall will be with you just as soon as my hard drive is recovered from my local PC hospital, I promise…

So, this week I am going to share a very special story of a mimic octopus encounter from a couple of weeks ago in Lembeh Straits, Indonesia. This place is definitely one of those that every diver must visit if they are into the smaller stuff - it’s one of the macro magic capitals of the diving world and boasts a real mix of the weird and wonderful. For those not used to muck diving, entering for the first time into an underwater realm where good vis is not important, nor pretty corals, with bottles and cans across the sandy bed can leave the most passionate divers wondering if there really is anything woth seeing at all! But the fun of muck diving is training your eye to look for those hidden gems in the sand waiting for you, all kinds of shapes and colours, shy creatures and ones which will pose happily for you.

Mimic octopus changing shape

I'd always dreamed of seeing a mimic octopus. Little is known about these incredibly shy, 2ft-long creatures as they were only discovered in 2001 or thereabouts, according to National Geographic. Octopuses, of course, change their colours to blend in with their surroundings to avoid predators, but mimic octopuses are the first kind of octopus known to actually impersonate other sea animals such as lion fish, starfish, sole fish, sea snakes and maybe many others too. They can even mimic crabs so that another crab will approach it completely unaware that it will end up on the mimic's dinner plate. I was completely amazed to find four mimics in just two days diving there - one was disguised as a sea snake with two of its arms poking out of its burrow.

Normally these creatures are seen with their eyes protruding, but on this particular day - the last dive of my trip, in fact - one was out moving through the surrounding algae bottom. I kept completely still at first so as not to frighten it, and then moved slowly alongside it, breathing really slowly, as I was absolutely petrified that my bubbles would scare it away. I had just my compact camera in its housing set to underwater mode with the flash switched off and used an ISO of 200 to keep the picture sharp. I also used my macro button for focusing, even though it was a larger macro subject than usual. It moved slowly, changing shapes every few minutes before stopping, twirling its elongated body into all manner of forms and moving slowly again. As you can see from the pictures, it changed from one animal to another swiftly within seconds. I switched the camera to video mode to capture these dramatic, unforgettable movements and watched the little mimic change colours before posing in all its glory once again. Check out my Ocean Visions Photography Courses Facebook Page to see the video.

Mimic octopus near its burrow

Having eye-to-eye contact with such an amazing unique creature will stay in my mind forever and I was completely speechless at the end of the dive. Those of you who know me well know that that in itself is a difficult feat! If you have had experiences with these amazing creatures, I would love to hear about them, so do get in touch.

This Sunday I will be heading down to Babbacome to continue my quest to get to know the beautiful dive sites here better, as well as heading to Fathom & Blues in Dorset on 23/24 September with Thomas my new Volkswagen Splittie Photobus. Don't forget to get in touch if you would like me to come and join your dive club to give a talk or go diving and help you all take beautiful photographs.

Have a lovely week,

Maria

For more information on compact cameras and techniques, don’t forget to grab a copy of Maria’s award-winning book “Underwater Photography for Compact Camera Users”, join her on one of her free demo days in London and Leeds, or treat your compact to a fabulous day of learning in a fun and relaxed style in tropical 32 degree indoor pools. Visit www.oceanvisions.co.uk for more information.

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