| Within
a single dive
in Sipadan, divers may observe many of the 150 species
of butterflyfish. Used by marine biologists as indicators
of coral reef health, a great number and species diversity
of butterflyfish reflects the abundance and diversity
of corals. Pristine coral reefs not only play landlord
to countless butterflyfish but also other reef dwellers
such as angelfish, snappers, wrasse, sweet lips, parrotfish
as well as the larger pelagics, barracudas, mantas,
schools of hammerhead sharks, dolphins and whales.
Pulau Sipadan
is famous for its vast numbers of Green and Hawksbill
turtles which feed and breed within its waters before
the females climb ashore to lay their eggs in the
white sandy beaches.
Diving near the coral
reefs surprises with incredible phenomena such as
thousands of schooling chevron barracuda
and big-eye trevally or 'Jacks'. Floating inside such
a tornado of fish is a truly breath-taking experience
that is very hard to beat.
Sabah is also
becoming a world famous location for 'muck
diving' - the term used by divers to describe
the search for rare and exotic small marine animals.
Many rare and newly identified gobies can be found
living in the corals, sand, mud and mangroves of Sabah,
along with the little understood and rarely seen mimic
octopus, neon patterned blue-ringed octopus, delicate
flamboyant cuttlefish, psychedelic mandarin fish and
ghost pipefish.
Dive guides are specifically trained to find such rarities and can show divers several of these oddities on a single dive. Many new islands and reefs are being explored around the coast of Sabah and with this exploration comes the discovery of new dive sites and rarely seen marine creatures.
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