Mucky Secrets - A video to share about Lembeh Strait marine creatures

Nick Hope · 10/10/2013, 12:33 PM

The Lembeh Strait, at the heart of the Coral Triangle in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, is truly a remarkable place. Nowhere else offers a "muck diver" the same diversity of weird and wonderful marine creatures.

I have been working on a 90-minute documentary about it, called "Mucky Secrets". It's not quite finished yet, but today I uploaded a short prologue video. So many of the creatures there are truly exotic and have strong personalities, which I have tried to convey. Mantis shrimps and mating mandarinfish play starring roles.

The names of the species can be found in the captions with the CC button under the video. I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcgT_eZuN5o

KafudaFish · 10/10/2013, 12:54 PM

Very cool and congrats on the wonderful work.

r-balljunkie · 10/10/2013, 05:45 PM

Nick,

great videography work. id be happy to get footage as good as a single frame shot, yet you captured so many scenes.

obviously you are shooting with an impressive rig. care to share what kind of setup you are using, namely the lighting?

c

firebirdude · 10/10/2013, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by r-balljunkie

Nick,

great videography work. id be happy to get footage as good as a single frame shot, yet you captured so many scenes.

obviously you are shooting with an impressive rig. care to share what kind of setup you are using, namely the lighting?

c

Agreed and seconded on all accounts.

buildinboats · 10/10/2013, 07:21 PM

Absolutely incredible footage, spellbinding!

Nick Hope · 10/10/2013, 11:12 PM

Thank you!

r-balljunkie, the footage was actually shot in 2007 with a Sony HVR-Z1P HDV camera in a Light & Motion Bluefin HD housing with Light & Motion Elite halogen lights. I had a Century Optics +3.5 diopter screwed to the camera, and a flat port. In camera terms it's an antique now. I spend a lot of time in post-production, fixing the levels in Sony Vegas Pro with color curves, and then deinterlacing and resizing in AviSynth.

r-balljunkie · 10/11/2013, 05:24 AM

thats a hellova rig, even if its "dated" by todays terms. the lighting looks great for halogen. do you think the newer LED's or HID's throw off a nicer white?

do you manually set your white balance on shoots?

im a fan of light and motion. i use the Sola's for multi-purpose lighting, night dives, video, wreck exploring...really good product.

all that post processing jazz, blah blah blah waay over my head. all i know is the end product looks great.

i did some diving in Bali this year, mixed bag for me, some good some bad....but any time in the water is a good time.

Sugar Magnolia · 10/11/2013, 07:00 AM

Spectacular! Thanks for sharing!

Nick Hope · 10/11/2013, 10:27 AM

Thanks again r-balljunike and thank Sugar.

r-balljunkie I couldn't really say about the newer LED lights as I haven't used them. I know in the early days of LEDs there was talk that the CRI was inferior to halogen, but I suspect things have improved by now. I am thinking of spoiling myself with a pair of Keldan Luna 4V lights for my next rig. My experience with L&M lights has been a bit "patchy".

For wide angle ambient-light shoots I always manually white balance regularly on the palm of my hand, through a blue-water color correction filter. For this macro work I can't really remember what I did. Probably auto-white balance for most of it. I couldn't use the filter at all because the diopter was in the way.

Personally I'm really looking forward to going back to Bali again. I'm fond of Seraya Secrets and Puri Jati on the north coast, and I've heard glowing reports about Secret Bay in the north west, so I'm very keen on going there and lying in muck for a few days, critter-whispering and twiddling my knobs.

Nick Hope · 09/02/2014, 01:22 AM

So after serialising the documentary over 20-weeks, I finally uploaded the whole 90-minute thing in its entirety.

It's packed with marine biological information. I did my utmost to be factually correct, but I always welcome additional information and/or corrections from those who know more than me. I am sure there are many on this forum!

Mucky Secrets - The Marine Creatures of the Lembeh Strait (full)

pyithar · 09/02/2014, 01:44 AM

thanks for sharing! i've been watching your youtube videos ever since i found your "myanmar magic" video on youtube. i was born in mergui(myeik), burma(myanmar) by the way. your video made me wanna go back to my hometown!

scubadan206 · 09/02/2014, 10:47 AM

I'm subscribed. I've been watching the short pieces for a while. The full length version should be cool. I want to replicate environments like this in my system.
Thanks for sharing

Daniel.

knight2255 · 09/02/2014, 12:01 PM

Preview looked great....will watch the doc. tonight!

snorvich · 09/02/2014, 02:14 PM

Brings back many memories. Your pygmy seahorse segment was totally out of sight with the gorgonian polyps extended. Wow! I believe your Rhinopias is actually Rhinopias eschmeyeri rather than Rhinopias frondosa. Mandarin mating shots were superb. I have almost 50 hours on that site myself but never tried video. Very difficult shots! Very, very well done!!

TigeBell · 09/02/2014, 02:44 PM

I'm still watching the 90 minute video you last posted Nick. I have been subscribed to your channel for awhile but I can't find 90 straight minutes to watch

However, I will get through it and have enjoyed what I have watched so far. Please keep up the work with your video's. I enjoy them.

billdogg · 09/02/2014, 05:15 PM

WOW! Just finished the long version. It has always been on my bucket list of dive destinations. I just moved it up quite a few notches.

Thanks very much for not only taking the countless hours needed to produce it, but also for posting it here for all of us to see.

Nick Hope · 09/02/2014, 11:35 PM

Thank you everyone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by snorvich

...I believe your Rhinopias is actually Rhinopias eschmeyeri rather than Rhinopias frondosa...

There are 2 Rhinopias in the video. Based on all the information I could find, I identified the first one (at 58:04) as Rhinopias eschmeyeri and the 2nd one (at 59:07) as Rhinopias frondosa. Do you think they are both Rhinopias eschmeyeri?

The whole business of distinguishing between those 2 species can drive you nuts. My final comment about them being morphological variations of the same species is based on Teresa Zubi's view, which makes a lot of sense to me.

duperdave · 09/03/2014, 02:47 AM

awesome videos can't wait to see the full version

snorvich · 09/03/2014, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick Hope

Thank you everyone.

There are 2 Rhinopias in the video. Based on all the information I could find, I identified the first one (at 58:04) as Rhinopias eschmeyeri and the 2nd one (at 59:07) as Rhinopias frondosa. Do you think they are both Rhinopias eschmeyeri?

The whole business of distinguishing between those 2 species can drive you nuts. My final comment about them being morphological variations of the same species is based on Teresa Zubi's view, which makes a lot of sense to me.

I spent a few years discussing the subject of which Rhinopias I was photographing at Lembeh. I was eventually convinced that the one I was seeing in Lembeh was Rhinopias eschmeyeri. I also photographed many Rhinopias in Milne Bay Papua New Guinea, the vast majority of which were R. Apanes; there were two in that location that I thought were R. frondosa. I am still not convinced one way or the other. To be convinced I would have to see two side by side that were at the same level of maturity. I seemed to find the ones at Lembeh around 60 feet, usually at Nudi Falls.

Rybren · 09/03/2014, 11:29 AM

Thank you for taking the time and effort to make the video. It is incredible!

ocram · 09/03/2014, 03:00 PM

Watched it today. Very good work!! Incredible pictures and and very informative, too! Thanks

rbla51 · 09/03/2014, 03:08 PM

love these types of videos. Thank you

JoelA7 · 09/03/2014, 08:26 PM

Great

whiteshark · 09/03/2014, 08:42 PM

Amazing video! Great work! Thanks for sharing!

Nick Hope · 09/03/2014, 10:29 PM

Thank you everyone!

Quote:

Originally Posted by snorvich

I spent a few years discussing the subject of which Rhinopias I was photographing at Lembeh. I was eventually convinced that the one I was seeing in Lembeh was Rhinopias eschmeyeri. I also photographed many Rhinopias in Milne Bay Papua New Guinea, the vast majority of which were R. Apanes; there were two in that location that I thought were R. frondosa. I am still not convinced one way or the other. To be convinced I would have to see two side by side that were at the same level of maturity. I seemed to find the ones at Lembeh around 60 feet, usually at Nudi Falls.

On my trips there from 2006-2007 mine were all at Aer Perang and shallower than 60 feet. Hopefully someone will eventually do some DNA testing and clear up the ID confusion. I understand that is being done with frogfishes, which can be even more confusing.

10/10/2013, 12:33 PM	#1
Nick Hope Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Bangkok Posts: 35	Mucky Secrets - A video to share about Lembeh Strait marine creatures The Lembeh Strait, at the heart of the Coral Triangle in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, is truly a remarkable place. Nowhere else offers a "muck diver" the same diversity of weird and wonderful marine creatures. I have been working on a 90-minute documentary about it, called "Mucky Secrets". It's not quite finished yet, but today I uploaded a short prologue video. So many of the creatures there are truly exotic and have strong personalities, which I have tried to convey. Mantis shrimps and mating mandarinfish play starring roles. The names of the species can be found in the captions with the CC button under the video. I hope you enjoy it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcgT_eZuN5o

10/10/2013, 05:45 PM	#3
r-balljunkie Registered Reefer Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Doha, Qatar Posts: 2,059	Nick, great videography work. id be happy to get footage as good as a single frame shot, yet you captured so many scenes. obviously you are shooting with an impressive rig. care to share what kind of setup you are using, namely the lighting? c __________________ ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ 58G Oceanic Illuminata rimless with GH overflow , Mazarra LED x 3, Tunze 6095 x 2, Eheim 1260, BM-180 skimmer, TLF reactors, Apex LT .

10/11/2013, 05:24 AM	#7
r-balljunkie Registered Reefer Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Doha, Qatar Posts: 2,059	thats a hellova rig, even if its "dated" by todays terms. the lighting looks great for halogen. do you think the newer LED's or HID's throw off a nicer white? do you manually set your white balance on shoots? im a fan of light and motion. i use the Sola's for multi-purpose lighting, night dives, video, wreck exploring...really good product. all that post processing jazz, blah blah blah waay over my head. all i know is the end product looks great. i did some diving in Bali this year, mixed bag for me, some good some bad....but any time in the water is a good time. __________________ ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ 58G Oceanic Illuminata rimless with GH overflow , Mazarra LED x 3, Tunze 6095 x 2, Eheim 1260, BM-180 skimmer, TLF reactors, Apex LT .

10/11/2013, 07:00 AM	#8
Sugar Magnolia Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Northern VA Posts: 17,691	Spectacular! Thanks for sharing! __________________ Adrienne The only thing to fear is fear itself....and spiders.

09/02/2014, 01:44 AM	#11
pyithar Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: yangon,burma(myanmar) Posts: 1,786	thanks for sharing! i've been watching your youtube videos ever since i found your "myanmar magic" video on youtube. i was born in mergui(myeik), burma(myanmar) by the way. your video made me wanna go back to my hometown! __________________ take it easy, pyithar Current Tank Info: 150G display, 50G sump, mixed reef

10/10/2013, 12:54 PM	#2
KafudaFish Cyprinius carpio Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 4,496	Very cool and congrats on the wonderful work.

10/10/2013, 07:21 PM	#5
buildinboats Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Shelter Island, NY Posts: 369	Absolutely incredible footage, spellbinding!

10/10/2013, 11:12 PM	#6
Nick Hope Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Bangkok Posts: 35	Thank you! r-balljunkie, the footage was actually shot in 2007 with a Sony HVR-Z1P HDV camera in a Light & Motion Bluefin HD housing with Light & Motion Elite halogen lights. I had a Century Optics +3.5 diopter screwed to the camera, and a flat port. In camera terms it's an antique now. I spend a lot of time in post-production, fixing the levels in Sony Vegas Pro with color curves, and then deinterlacing and resizing in AviSynth.

10/11/2013, 10:27 AM	#9
Nick Hope Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Bangkok Posts: 35	Thanks again r-balljunike and thank Sugar. r-balljunkie I couldn't really say about the newer LED lights as I haven't used them. I know in the early days of LEDs there was talk that the CRI was inferior to halogen, but I suspect things have improved by now. I am thinking of spoiling myself with a pair of Keldan Luna 4V lights for my next rig. My experience with L&M lights has been a bit "patchy". For wide angle ambient-light shoots I always manually white balance regularly on the palm of my hand, through a blue-water color correction filter. For this macro work I can't really remember what I did. Probably auto-white balance for most of it. I couldn't use the filter at all because the diopter was in the way. Personally I'm really looking forward to going back to Bali again. I'm fond of Seraya Secrets and Puri Jati on the north coast, and I've heard glowing reports about Secret Bay in the north west, so I'm very keen on going there and lying in muck for a few days, critter-whispering and twiddling my knobs.

09/02/2014, 01:22 AM	#10
Nick Hope Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Bangkok Posts: 35	So after serialising the documentary over 20-weeks, I finally uploaded the whole 90-minute thing in its entirety. It's packed with marine biological information. I did my utmost to be factually correct, but I always welcome additional information and/or corrections from those who know more than me. I am sure there are many on this forum! Mucky Secrets - The Marine Creatures of the Lembeh Strait (full)

09/02/2014, 10:47 AM	#12
scubadan206 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Kenosha WI Posts: 985	I'm subscribed. I've been watching the short pieces for a while. The full length version should be cool. I want to replicate environments like this in my system. Thanks for sharing Daniel.

09/02/2014, 12:01 PM	#13
knight2255 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 313	Preview looked great....will watch the doc. tonight!

09/02/2014, 02:14 PM	#14
snorvich Team RC member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Outlander Posts: 40,953 Blog Entries: 46	Brings back many memories. Your pygmy seahorse segment was totally out of sight with the gorgonian polyps extended. Wow! I believe your Rhinopias is actually Rhinopias eschmeyeri rather than Rhinopias frondosa. Mandarin mating shots were superb. I have almost 50 hours on that site myself but never tried video. Very difficult shots! Very, very well done!! __________________ Warmest regards, ~Steve~

09/02/2014, 02:44 PM	#15
TigeBell Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Fair Oaks, CA Posts: 974	I'm still watching the 90 minute video you last posted Nick. I have been subscribed to your channel for awhile but I can't find 90 straight minutes to watch However, I will get through it and have enjoyed what I have watched so far. Please keep up the work with your video's. I enjoy them. __________________ David B. Red Sea Reefer 350 \| Hydra TwentySix HD http://www.aquaticlog.com/aquariums/tigebell/1

09/02/2014, 05:15 PM	#16
billdogg Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Grove City, Ohio Posts: 10,806	WOW! Just finished the long version. It has always been on my bucket list of dive destinations. I just moved it up quite a few notches. Thanks very much for not only taking the countless hours needed to produce it, but also for posting it here for all of us to see. __________________ I'll try to be nice if you try to be smarter! I can't help that I grow older, but you can't make me grow up! Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef with 40b sump, RO 150 skimmer, AI Sol Blue x 2, and a 60g Frag Tank with 100g rubbermaid sump. 2 x Kessil A360w lights, BM curve 5 skimmer

09/03/2014, 02:47 AM	#18
duperdave Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: fredericksburg, VA Posts: 283	awesome videos can't wait to see the full version __________________ 55 gal.dt 20gal.sump.aquaeruousa 135 protien skimmer ,hydor 725 gph return,2-hydor 600 gph , and1 tunze 6045 mechanically adjustable circulating pumps, 65 lb liverock ,2AI hydra lights ,jbj ato Sq

09/03/2014, 11:29 AM	#20
Rybren Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 1,642	Thank you for taking the time and effort to make the video. It is incredible! __________________ 120G Mixed Reef, 28G AIO zoa/pipefish tank

09/03/2014, 03:00 PM	#21
ocram Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Switzerland, Zurich Posts: 62	Watched it today. Very good work!! Incredible pictures and and very informative, too! Thanks

09/03/2014, 03:08 PM	#22
rbla51 Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 80	love these types of videos. Thank you

09/03/2014, 08:26 PM	#23
JoelA7 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Brookline, MA Posts: 1,056	Great __________________ New 48x24x26.25 w Precision Marine R30 sump, Vertex Omega 150 skimmer, 2@Vertex 1.5L reactors for carbon & phosban, GEO Ca reactor w Aquarium Plants regulator. 2 MP40's 2@Radions. #120 live rock & #12

09/03/2014, 08:42 PM	#24
whiteshark Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bethlehem, PA Posts: 3,024	Amazing video! Great work! Thanks for sharing! __________________ Deep Blue 60 gallon cube: Setup in progress.