Muck Diving Photography

Type: Photography technique / diving discipline
Related techniques: Macro photography, Strobe/flash photography, Blackwater photography
Key locations: Lembeh Strait, Anilao, Ambon, Dumaguete, Milne Bay (PNG), Blue Heron Bridge (Florida), Gulen (Norway)

Overview

Muck diving photography is the practice of photographing small, cryptic marine creatures on sandy, silty, or otherwise unremarkable substrates — environments that lack the visual appeal of coral reefs but harbor extraordinary biodiversity. As Alex Mustard and Adam Hanlon described it on Wetpixel Live, muck diving is “a genre of diving in areas where the fascinating inhabitants live in areas that are not especially beautiful or photogenic” (^[1]). Researcher Maarten de Brauwer defined it more precisely: “a type of diving on mostly sandy environments, looking to find (and photograph) rare marine life” (^[2]).

Origin of the Term

The term “muck diving” was coined by Bob Halstead, a pioneering dive operator in Papua New Guinea. Halstead qualified to dive in 1968 in the Bahamas and moved to Papua New Guinea in the late 1970s, becoming the first person to promote dive tourism in PNG. He and Dinah Halstead built the liveaboard dive boat MV Telita and started exploring Milne Bay in the mid-1980s. Halstead is “widely credited as having invented the genre (and coined the term) of ‘muck diving’” (^[3]). He was described as “the popularizer of, and the man who put a name to, muck diving, introducing visiting divers from around the world to rhinopias, pygmy seahorses, flamboyant cuttlefish, all manner of nudibranchs, octopus, cuttlefish, squid, crabs, and shrimp” (^[4]). In 1991, he was already passing around slides of an unknown striped octopus (later identified as the mimic octopus) to see if anyone could identify it (^[5]). Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock, who helped “Larry Smith discover sites and ‘critters’ in Lembeh,” were among the early pioneers who developed Lembeh Strait as a muck diving destination (^[6]).

Growth of the Discipline

The discipline grew from a niche pursuit in the early 2000s into one of the most popular specializations in underwater photography, driven by the Wetpixel community’s enthusiasm for macro imaging, the proliferation of dedicated muck diving resorts in Southeast Asia, and the sheer photographic appeal of the bizarre creatures found on muck sites. Within the Wetpixel community, muck diving photography was a central topic from the mid-2000s through the 2020s, with dedicated workshops, shootout competitions, Wetpixel Live episodes, technique videos, and extensive forum discussion.

By 2005, crowding at Lembeh was already a concern. Forum member Drew Wong noted that “in the 90s when Lembeh was still not ‘in’ yet” a diver could have sites to themselves, but by 2005 liveaboards stacking 12-16 divers on sites like Jahir were causing problems (^[7]). Kungkungan Bay Resort (KBR) was described as “the first real resort there (before that, it was Bitung hotel and your own compressor from Manado)” and the opening of Lembeh Resort brought competition that improved conditions and reduced prices (^[8]).

Techniques

Buoyancy and Environmental Awareness

Precise buoyancy control is the foundational skill for muck diving photography. Because muck substrates are composed of fine sand and silt, even small disturbances can destroy visibility and stress marine life. Community members frequently emphasized that “the photography community could learn a lot from Cave/Wreck divers when it comes to fin technique and etiquette” (^[9]). Steve Fish and the Critters@Lembeh team at Lembeh Resort produced educational videos on responsible muck diving practices, intended for use by dive centers across the region to promote responsible behavior among visiting photographers (^[10]).

NAD Lembeh produced a separate tips-and-techniques film, filmed by Sonja Geier, listing dos and don’ts for muck diving and translated into Indonesian for local dive operations (^[11]).

Subject Finding and Dive Guides

The role of dive guides and “spotters” is critical in muck diving photography. Unlike reef diving where subjects are often visible, muck critters rely on camouflage and concealment. At the Wetpixel/Mustard macro workshops in Lembeh, the guest-to-guide ratio was 2:1, ensuring each photographer had expert assistance in locating subjects (^[12]). The guides at Critters@Lembeh were described as “absolutely amazing at spotting incredibly well camouflaged or small creatures” (^[13]). Nicholas More noted that when shooting at Anilao, his guide “would have already found the next cool critter before I had finished photographing my initial subject” (^[14]).

Ned DeLoach made special mention of Liberty Tukunang from Kungkungan Bay Resort in Lembeh, who “could not only find the most cryptic species, but he also knew what we had already had in the can, and what we were still looking for.” DeLoach noted: “Unless we were on a particular mission, I let Liberty’s instincts dictate a dive. Often, I wouldn’t see him for an hour or so. When he finally returned he invariably had found a crackerjack animal to take me back to” (^[15]).

Alex Mustard’s workshop talks emphasized subject selection as a key skill. The goal was “not to create a catalog of creatures that the photographer has seen, but to produce eye catching images of suitable ones. This sometimes means that you chose not attempt to capture interesting creatures as they are in a position that makes it impossible to create an image” (^[16]).

Lighting Techniques

Lighting on muck sites presents unique challenges. The dark sand and rubble substrates can create unappealing backgrounds, making creative lighting essential.

Single strobe technique: At each macro workshop, Alex Mustard issued the “one strobe challenge,” encouraging participants to carry a single strobe for “precise control of where the light falls, and to utilize shadows to obscure otherwise unsightly backgrounds” (^[17]).

Snoots: Snoot lighting became a popular technique for isolating muck critters from cluttered backgrounds. Nicholas More used a Retra LSD snoot extensively in Anilao, finding it “very versatile and useful for isolating subjects from potentially cluttered backgrounds” (^[18]). Workshop topics included “using snoot lighting and other tools to eliminate distracting backgrounds” (^[19]). Martin Edge experimented with combining a Retra Prime snoot with a “soft fill light from a single flash to blend together” at Ambon, achieving subtle combinations that revealed the background environment behind snooted subjects (^[20]).

Cross-strobes, backlighting, and inward lighting: These were covered in Alex Mustard’s 2018 workshop presentations as specific techniques for muck photography, alongside wide-angle macro using fisheye lenses in small dome ports (^[21]).

Background control via aperture: Fabian Schorp demonstrated how varying aperture on muck sites controls backgrounds: “a small aperture with some space between the subject and background allows for a completely black background,” while “a slightly larger aperture blurs the background to focus the viewer’s eye on the primary subject” (^[22]). Martin Edge experimented extensively with bokeh at Ambon, noting that with his Nikon 105mm “I usually prefer a bokeh start point of f8” but pushed to f5.6 and lower, finding the technique “successful in controlling my backgrounds behind the subject but difficult when it came to controlling sharpness with both eyes and mouth on the same plane of focus” (^[23]).

Super Macro and Diopters

Many muck critters are extremely small — often under a centimeter — making super macro diopters essential. Sascha Janson, resident photo pro at Lembeh Resort/Critters@Lembeh, stated: “You can’t go diving here without a super macro converter” (^[24]). Commonly used diopters on muck dives included the Nauticam SMC (Super Macro Converter), SubSee +5 and +10, and INON UCL-165 (^[25]).

Filmmaker Kay Burn Lim shot his macro video in Lembeh with a Sony a7S and Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro, frequently adding the Nauticam SMC wet diopter to increase magnification. He noted: “Most of the creatures shown ranged from the size of a grain of rice to perhaps 2 inches at most” (^[26]).

Specialty Optics

Eric Cheng experimented with the INON Underwater Micro Semi-Fisheye Relay Lens UFL-MR130 (known as the “bug eye” or “insect eye” lens) in Lembeh in 2010, using it with a Canon 7D and 60mm macro lens. The lens produced “images with a perspective otherwise impossible to achieve — like seeing the macro world from a small critter’s perspective” (^[27]). During the Wetpixel Ambon Night Safari later that year, three insect eye relay lenses were in use simultaneously; Eric Cheng used his INON lens to capture video of anemonefish eggs showing “tiny hearts beating and eyes moving” at a scale where “each egg houses a late-stage baby anemonefish” (^[28]).

Night and Dusk Diving

Night dives are central to muck diving photography. At the Wetpixel workshops, night dives were part of the daily routine, following three or four daytime dives. “Many of the critters that are very active in daytime tend to slow down and there is a whole night shift of different creatures that emerge” on Lembeh’s sites after dark (^[29]). Dusk mandarin dives were another regular feature at sites like Bianca (^[30]).

Eric Cheng and Tony Wu organized the first-ever “Night Safari Lembeh” at Kasawari Lembeh Resort in 2010, where the entire resort switched to a night schedule, allowing photographers to dive late into the night. “When the sun goes down, critters of the night take over the waters of the Lembeh Strait, and the party begins. Octopuses, bobbit worms, stargazers and much more come out to hunt, fight and reproduce” (^[31]). A second Night Safari was held later that year at Ambon, described as “being immersed in a soup of the bizarre creatures that inhabit the waters of Ambon” (^[32]).

Ned DeLoach, who spent five years with his wife Anna photographing critters for the Reef Creature Identification: Tropical Pacific guide, noted that night diving was essential for crustacean photography: “Every evening we had access to our own boat, we would be in the water from sunset until eleven, just in time for Liberty to catch the last bus home. I’ve never night dived so much in my life, and loved every minute” (^[33]).

Fluorescence Photography

Fluorescence photography became an emerging technique applied to muck diving subjects. Alex Tyrrell, who operates Dive4Photos on Koh Tao, Thailand, began shooting fluorescent images in 2010 using Nightsea filters, describing how special blue-filtered lights combined with yellow barrier filters made corals and anemones “glow” — “transforming dull coloured marine creatures into vibrant green and yellow hues, as if they had just been plugged into the mains electric” (^[34]).

Macro Videography

Muck diving drove significant innovation in macro videography. Shane Siers produced the Macronesia series, filming nudibranchs in Guam exclusively with a Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 100mm macro in a Sea & Sea housing. He used a homemade tripod for stability and shot at f22-32 and ISO 640-1250, noting that “with nudi-lust every dive is like an Easter-egg hunt” (^[35]). EunJae Im produced acclaimed super macro video at Lembeh using a Canon 5D Mark III and 100mm lens in a Nauticam housing, with Adam Hanlon commenting “This is making me want to switch to video shooting” (^[36], ^[37]).

Equipment

Cameras and Housings

Muck diving photography was practiced with every category of camera system. Common setups documented in Wetpixel sources include:

• Full-frame DSLRs: Nikon D750 in Nauticam housing with 105mm macro lens (^[38]); Nikon D800 used by Ned DeLoach with 50mm or 60mm micro lens for maximum versatility (^[39])
• APS-C DSLRs: Nikon D500 in Nauticam housing, Canon 7D/7D2 in Subal housing (^[40], ^[41])
• Mirrorless: Sony a7R2 in Nauticam housing with Sony 90mm macro (^[42]); Sony a7S in Nauticam housing for video (^[43])
• Micro Four Thirds: Alex Mustard noted that smaller M4/3 systems have “significant advantages” for wide-angle macro techniques on muck sites (^[44])

Lenses

The 105mm macro (Nikon) and 100mm macro (Canon) were the standard choices for muck diving. Fabian Schorp noted that a 60mm macro was also useful for “larger, easily approachable subjects like adult frogfish” (^[45]). Ned DeLoach and Paul Humann preferred shorter 1:1 lenses (Sigma 50mm, then 70mm) for their versatility: “Because you never know what you will find on the next dive, we prefer a shorter 1:1 lens for versatility. They provide good depth of field with just a touch of telephoto, which allows us to photograph moderate-sized animals as well as tiny subjects with a single set up” (^[46]). Many photographers swapped lenses between dives to vary their portfolios (^[47]). See Macro photography for comprehensive lens coverage.

Strobes and Lighting

Strobes commonly used for muck diving photography included Inon D2000 and S2000 (^[48]), Inon Z-240 (^[49]), and various video lights including Venom C92, SOLA 2100, and Scubalamp MS30 (^[50]). The Retra LSD snoot was popular for creative macro lighting (^[51]). Ned DeLoach and Paul Humann preferred minimal setups with a single strobe, believing in “keeping things compact and simple” (^[52]).

Key Locations

Lembeh Strait, Indonesia

Lembeh Strait is widely regarded as the world capital of muck diving. The strait is approximately 18 kilometers long and 2 kilometers wide, with around 50 dive sites ranging from coral and wall dives to dedicated muck sites like Hairball 1-3 (^[53]). It has been described as “the mecca for muck diving” (^[54]) and “the world’s strangest square mile due to the abundance of rare critters” (^[55]).

The topography varies from “gorgonian encrusted reefs in the north to classic black sand slopes further south,” with different environments hosting individually specialized organisms (^[56]). The environment is unusual: “the water is murky and there is litter strewn across the seabed but look closer and you will discover countless benthic marine creatures making their homes and thriving in this unique environment. For example, discarded beer bottles are home to an array of blennies and gobies and Coconut octopus make their homes in coke cans and old clamshells” (^[57]).

Major resorts and dive operations mentioned in Wetpixel coverage include Kungkungan Bay Resort (KBR, the first resort in the area), Lembeh Resort with Critters@Lembeh dive center, NAD Lembeh (which came under management by Wetpixel members in 2008; ^[58]), Kasawari Lembeh Resort, and YOS Dive Lembeh. In January 2010, the Bitung government instituted a diving entrance fee of 50,000 Rupiah (approximately $5 US) for all divers entering Lembeh Strait (^[59]).

Anilao, Philippines

Anilao, in the Batangas region of the Philippines, is a world-class muck diving destination accessible via a three-hour drive south of Manila. Nicholas More described the reefs as “rich and the seabed is teeming with life. The sheer number, variety and diversity of fish and critters is quite amazing” (^[60]). Diving was conducted from bangka boats, with four dives per day including dusk or night dives (^[61]).

The Anilao Underwater Shootout, run by the Philippines Department of Tourism, became a regular competition from 2017 onward, with Lilian Koh and PJ Aristorenas winning the grand prizes in the inaugural event (^[62]). A “Lembeh vs Anilao Shootout” was announced for December 2020, pitting the two muck diving heavyweights against each other (^[63]). Anilao also became a center for blackwater photography, with Fan Ping filming “Diving into the Unknown Galaxy” there in 2019 using a RED Helium 8K camera (^[64]).

Ambon, Indonesia

Ambon, in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, developed as another major muck diving destination. Maluku Divers marketed itself explicitly as a muck diving operation (their URL was muckdivingindonesia.com). Martin Edge led a workshop there in March 2014, noting that Ambon is “justly famed for its amazing critters” though subjects can be unpredictable; during his visit the expected species had “deserted the area” requiring photographers to “think ‘out of the box’” (^[65]). Eric Cheng led the Wetpixel Ambon Night Safari in 2010, where the group conducted three night dives each evening, noting that “unfortunately, the nasty stuff thrown into the bay is part of what creates such an interesting underwater habitat” (^[66]). Eric Cheng also led the 2012 Wetpixel Ultimate Indonesia Expedition aboard the Damai II, which journeyed from Ambon to Kaimana (^[67]).

Dumaguete, Philippines

Atlantis Dive Resort Dumaguete, accessible via a 1-hour-20-minute flight from Manila, hosted the annual Atlantis ImageMakers event from 2017 onward. Organized by imaging ambassador Marty Snyderman, the 2019 event brought together established professionals including Howard Hall, Michele Hall, Doug Perrine, and Adam Hanlon to sample the macro and critter photography opportunities in the region (^[68], ^[69]).

Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea

Milne Bay was the birthplace of muck diving as a named discipline. Don Silcock wrote that “Milne Bay was what put Papua New Guinea on the global scuba diving map back in the mid 1980s, when Bob and Dinah Halstead built their liveaboard dive boat the MV Telita and started exploring this very special part of the country” (^[70]). The province covers almost 270,000 km2 with over 600 islands (^[71]).

Borneo

The “Borneo from Below” web series featured episodes on muck diving subjects, including “Crazy Critters in the Muck” (featuring snake eels, stick pipefish, and cockatoo waspfish) and dedicated episodes on frogfish and seahorses (^[72], ^[73]).

Gulen, Norway

Norway’s Gulen became an unlikely muck diving counterpart to Lembeh through the Lembeh vs Gulen Critter Shootout. The first event in May 2016 saw two teams compete in real time, with each team given one practice day before spending a day shooting entries. Team Gulen won the nudibranch round, while Team Lembeh won both the invertebrate and fish categories and were the overall winners (^[74]). The 2018 event featured 25 participants competing in nudibranchs, fish/invertebrates, and wide angle categories, with only 66 votes (out of over 4,000) separating the teams. Individual winner was Galice Hoarau of Gulen, followed by Nick More of Lembeh (^[75]).

Blue Heron Bridge, Florida

Blue Heron Bridge in West Palm Beach, Florida, was recognized as an exceptional muck diving site in the western Atlantic. Ned DeLoach called it “the exotic critter capital of the eastern seaboard,” with subjects including frogfish, seahorses, nudibranchs, stargazers, garden eels, and blennies (^[76]). Suzan Meldonian published Under the Bridge (2010), a 250-page book with over 500 images celebrating the diversity of this single dive site, described as “a world-class muck dive.” The Wetpixel community helped secure over 800 signatures to make Blue Heron Bridge a protected No-Take Zone (^[77]).

Notable Critters

Muck diving sites harbor a distinctive assemblage of cryptic and unusual species that are the primary photographic targets:

• Frogfish (various Antennarius species) — among the most sought-after muck subjects, including hairy/striated frogfish (A. striatus), painted frogfish (A. pictus), warty/clown frogfish (A. maculatus), and giant frogfish (A. commerson) (^[78], ^[79])
• Flamboyant cuttlefish (Metasepia pfefferi) — noted for hunting, feeding, and egg-laying behavior (^[80])
• Pygmy seahorses (Hippocampus bargibanti, H. denise) — tiny seahorses living on gorgonian sea fans, subject of Dr. Richard Smith’s code of conduct (^[81])
• Ghost pipefish (Solenostomus paradoxus and relatives) — ornate ghost pipefish were particularly plentiful in Lembeh during October (^[82])
• Blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena maculosa) — highly venomous and photogenic (^[83])
• Coconut octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) — known for using shells and man-made debris as shelter (^[84])
• Wonderpus and mimic octopus — found on black sand slopes; Bob Halstead was circulating slides of an unidentified mimic octopus as early as 1991 (^[85], ^[86])
• Rhinopias (weedy and paddle-flap scorpionfish) — rare and highly prized subjects (^[87]); Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock photographed the first one found in Komodo in 1994 (^[88])
• Bobbit worms (Eunice aphroditois) — ambush predators active at night (^[89])
• Nudibranchs — hundreds of species, a major subject category with dedicated identification books. The revised Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification - Indo-Pacific (2015) cataloged 1,953 species with 2,248 photographs (^[90])
• Mantis shrimp, Coleman shrimp, emperor shrimp — crustaceans with symbiotic relationships (^[91])

Critter Identification Resources

The identification and cataloging of muck critter species became a significant intersection between underwater photography and marine biology. Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach’s Reef Creature Identification: Tropical Pacific (2010) identified 1,600 marine creatures with over 2,000 photographs across 500 pages. The five-year project required over 60 contributing photographers and 44 scientists, with Indonesian dive guides described as “the project’s biggest asset” (^[92]). The Critter ID forum on Wetpixel served as “an amazing venue for sharing and identifying tricky subjects” (^[93]). Ned and Anna DeLoach described their muck diving approach as ecological: “We feel strongly that we owe it to our subjects to present them in their best light. Our images are primarily portraits that, if all goes right, show an animal at a pleasing angle, in full focus and in its natural habitat with its distinguishing characteristics clearly displayed” (^[94]).

Ethics and Conservation

Diver Impact Research

Maarten de Brauwer conducted research (published via Curtin University and Hasanuddin University) on how underwater photographers affect muck dive environments. His findings showed that “the biggest factor that causes divers to touch or do more damage to the environment is whether or not they are close to small critters.” Photographers with dSLR cameras spent an average of close to three minutes with individual critters (versus 30 seconds for divers without cameras) and “touched the bottom up to five times more often than divers without a camera” (^[95]).

De Brauwer documented disturbing practices including “breaking off arms from brittle stars to get a better picture of commensal shrimp, harassing animals carrying eggs, or breaking coral to get a closer look at mandarin fish.” He noted “probably the worst example was a photographer who slapped a Rhinopias multiple times, apparently to daze the animal so it would stay put” (^[96]).

His three guidelines for photographers were: (1) educate yourself and dive buddies about impacts; (2) tell dive centers you do not want guides to manipulate marine life; (3) insist that competitions and publications have clear guidelines on ethical behavior (^[97]).

Subject Manipulation Debate

The ethics of animal manipulation in muck diving photography generated intense debate within the Wetpixel community. Lauren Siba, dive center manager at Critters@Lembeh Resort, wrote a detailed critique of National Geographic photographer David Liittschwager, who requested to capture octopuses and photograph them in aquariums. Critters@Lembeh refused, stating their policy: “No animals should be manipulated in order to see or photograph them.” Their ethical program included showing educational videos to guests, requiring signed pledges not to manipulate marine life, and regular guide training (^[98]).

The community debated where manipulation lines should be drawn. Forum members raised examples such as “tapping a fan to get a pygmy to turn toward you,” “using a muck stick to get a hairy squat lobster out of a crevice,” and “moving nudis to a white board.” Others argued for absolutism: “You either photograph a critter where you find it or you manipulate your subject for the sake of a photo” (^[99]).

Pygmy Seahorse Code of Conduct

Dr. Richard Smith published a code of conduct for diving with pygmy seahorses in 2011, based on four years of PhD research observing diver-seahorse interactions. The code included seven rules: do not touch pygmy seahorses; do not touch their gorgonian; do not use a torch/flashlight; five-photo limit per diver; no artificial light for video; no night diving with pygmy seahorses; and beware of the surrounding environment (^[100]).

The code generated significant debate in the Wetpixel community, with some members questioning the scientific basis for the lighting restrictions while supporting the no-touch principles. Smith responded that the code was based on “primary research conducted as part of my PhD, which involved observing the interactions of divers with pygmy seahorses” and statistical analyses of stress behaviors (^[101]).

Economic Value of Muck Diving

De Brauwer’s earlier research investigated the economic importance of muck dive critters, noting that “muck diving does not rely on reefs, but instead occurs over sandy habitats. The focus of muck diving is on finding small, cryptic species such as frogfishes or ghost pipefishes that are rarely encountered on coral reefs.” Many species important for muck diving also have high value in the marine aquarium trade (^[102]).

The research aimed to demonstrate that dive tourism provided a sustainable alternative to extractive industries. As a comparison, shark diving in Palau was estimated at US$18 million per year, versus less than US$11,000 if the shark population were harvested for fishing (^[103]).

Environmental Threats and Tourism Pressure

Lembeh Strait faced environmental threats from both industrial development and over-tourism. In 2006, a British-based gold mining company planned to dump an estimated 6-8 million tons of cyanide waste into the sea near the strait. The article noted that Lembeh’s dive sites harbored “Ambon scorpion fish, stonefish, sea robins, stargazers, devil fish and even the weedy scorpionfish (Rhinopias frondosa), as well as at least seven different species of seahorses, pegasus, ghost pipefish and the endemic Banggai cardinalfish” (^[104]). Drew Wong rallied the Wetpixel community to oppose the mining operation (^[105]).

Forum discussions in 2005 highlighted concerns about crowding, with members noting that liveaboards could “stack 12-16 divers on a site” where “inevitably some sort of harassing of the sealife for the photographers will occur.” One member warned that “Lembeh will end up like any other ‘hot place’ with an overload of crowds and declined diving quality” and noted that whale sharks once passed through the strait but “were fished out of existence” (^[106]). Steve at KBR was credited with retraining guides who had been “cowboys, heavily harassing marine life to get them to ‘behave defensively’ for the photo” (^[107]).

The Lembeh Foundation, founded by Lembeh Resort, worked on local sustainability and conservation. Helen Pananggung won the ADEX 360 Blue Green Personality of the Year Award in 2019 for her work in sustainability and community education in the village of Pintu Kota Kecil adjacent to the strait (^[108]).

Wetpixel Workshops and Events

Wetpixel/Mustard Macro Workshops

Wetpixel’s most significant contribution to muck diving photography was its series of macro workshops at Lembeh Resort, co-led by Alex Mustard, Adam Hanlon, and resident photo pro Sascha Janson (Jansen). Bookings opened in May 2012, with the trip timed “to coincide with an especially critter rich time of the year in Lembeh, with plentiful encounters with ghostpipefish, hairy frogfish and octopus likely” (^[109]).

The first workshop in October 2013 was “an outstanding success” with 30 underwater photographers from around the globe gathering for 10 days of diving and instruction. Alex Mustard produced an end-of-workshop slideshow showcasing participants’ work (^[110]). Species photographed included Rhinopias, ornate ghost pipefish, blue-ringed octopus, coconut octopus, hairy frogfish, pygmy seahorses, bobbit worms, and the Lembeh seadragon (Kyonemichthys rumengani) (^[111]).

Subsequent workshops were held in 2016 (^[112]) and as back-to-back sessions in 2018 (^[113]), with further sessions planned for 2020 (^[114]) and 2022/2023 (^[115]).

Critter Shootouts and Competitions

The Lembeh vs Gulen Critter Shootout (2016-2018) pitted photographers at Lembeh against those at Gulen, Norway, competing in categories of nudibranchs, invertebrates, and fish (^[116], ^[117]). The 2017 rematch was announced (^[118]), and the 2018 event added a wide angle category (^[119], ^[120]). The Anilao Underwater Shootout ran annually from 2017, organized by the Philippines Department of Tourism (^[121]). A Lembeh vs Anilao shootout was planned for December 2020 (^[122]).

Notable Films and Media

• “Mucky Secrets — The Marine Creatures of the Lembeh Straits” (2013/2015) by Nick Hope — a 92-minute documentary exploring the marine biology of dozens of Lembeh species, shot with a Sony HVR-Z1P HDV camera. Released on DVD in 2015 at $24.95 (^[123], ^[124])
• “Stars of Muck” (2019) by Sascha Janson — critter clips from Lembeh shot with Sony A7R2 and Canon 7D/7D2, awarded second place in the World Shootout Video Clips of the World 2018 (^[125])
• “Muck Madness” (2011) by Steve Fish and Critters@Lembeh — educational film about responsible muck diving practices (^[126])
• “Lembeh Straits — A Macro Symphony” (2015) by Kay Burn Lim — macro video shot with Sony a7S and Canon 100mm macro (^[127])
• “Creatures of the Lembeh Strait” (2012) by Howard Hall and Michele Hall — video capturing flamboyant cuttlefish behavior, hairy frogfish feeding, and hairy octopus (^[128])
• “Ocean Essay” series (2012-2013) by EunJae Im — super macro video at Lembeh shot with Canon 5D Mark III and 100mm lens in Nauticam housing (^[129], ^[130])
• “Macronesia” (2013) by Shane Siers — series of nudibranch films from Guam, shot exclusively with Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 100mm macro in Sea & Sea housing (^[131])
• “Diving into the Unknown Galaxy” (2019) by Fan Ping — blackwater film shot at Anilao with RED Helium 8K camera (^[132])
• Wetpixel Live episodes on muck photography primer (Ep 150, 2021), Lembeh Straits (Ep 169, 2021), underwater imaging in Lembeh (2021), and Lembeh reference books (2021) (^[133], ^[134], ^[135], ^[136], ^[137])

Notable Practitioners

Muck diving photography attracted specialists who returned repeatedly to sites like Lembeh and Anilao:

• Bob Halstead — pioneered muck diving in Papua New Guinea in the 1980s; coined the term “muck diving” (^[138], ^[139])
• Alex Mustard — co-led Wetpixel’s Lembeh macro workshops from 2013 onward
• Adam Hanlon — co-led the Lembeh workshops and produced extensive editorial coverage
• Tony Wu — offered free workshops in Lembeh (2007), co-organized the Night Safari (2010) (^[140], ^[141])
• Eric Cheng — led Wetpixel diving trips to Lembeh (2009), tested specialty optics there (2010), organized Ambon Night Safari (2010), led Ultimate Indonesia Expedition (2012) (^[142], ^[143], ^[144], ^[145])
• Howard Hall — filmed behavior sequences in Lembeh (2012) (^[146])
• Ned and Anna DeLoach — marine life identification experts who spent five years diving at Lembeh and throughout the Indo-Pacific for their Reef Creature Identification guides; wrote the BlennyWatcher column for Wetpixel (^[147], ^[148])
• Martin Edge — led workshops at Ambon, pioneered bokeh and snoot combination techniques (^[149])
• Sascha Janson — resident photo pro at Lembeh Resort/Critters@Lembeh, workshop instructor, award-winning filmmaker (^[150])
• Lauren Siba — dive center manager at Critters@Lembeh, advocate for ethical muck diving practices (^[151])
• Nick Hope — produced the 92-minute “Mucky Secrets” documentary on Lembeh marine life (^[152])
• Nicholas More — prolific muck photographer who published Wetpixel Full Frame features from both Lembeh and Anilao (^[153], ^[154])
• Alvin Ho — dedicated muck diving photographer who made yearly trips to Lembeh from 2004 onward (^[155])
• Maarten de Brauwer — researcher at Curtin University who studied muck diving’s environmental impact and economic value (^[156], ^[157])
• Suzan Meldonian — documented Blue Heron Bridge as a muck dive site in her 250-page book Under the Bridge (^[158])
• Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock — helped discover critter sites in Lembeh and pioneered sites across Indonesia (^[159])

Timeline

• Mid-1980s: Bob and Dinah Halstead begin exploring Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea aboard the MV Telita, coining the term “muck diving” (^[160], ^[161])
• 1991: Bob Halstead circulates slides of an unidentified striped octopus (later identified as the mimic octopus) (^[162])
• 1994: Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock photograph the first Rhinopias found in Komodo (^[163])
• 2004: Alvin Ho makes his first muck dive at Lembeh Strait as a day trip from Manado (^[164])
• 2005-07: Forum discussions raise concerns about crowding and guide behavior at Lembeh (^[165])
• 2006-05: Gold mine threat to Lembeh Strait reported; Drew Wong rallies Wetpixel community (^[166])
• 2007-01: Tony Wu offers free informal workshop in Lembeh (^[167])
• 2008-11: Wetpixel organizes group trip to Lembeh with Eric Cheng (^[168])
• 2008-12: Wetpixel members take over management of NAD-Lembeh Resort (^[169])
• 2010-01: First Night Safari Lembeh organized by Eric Cheng, Tony Wu, and Scubacam (^[170])
• 2010-01: Bitung government institutes diving entrance fee of 50,000 Rupiah for Lembeh Strait (^[171])
• 2010-06: Eric Cheng tests INON bug-eye lens in Lembeh (^[172])
• 2010-07: Suzan Meldonian publishes Under the Bridge, celebrating Blue Heron Bridge as a muck dive site (^[173])
• 2010-09: Humann and DeLoach publish Reef Creature Identification: Tropical Pacific with 1,600 species (^[174])
• 2010-11: Wetpixel Ambon Night Safari with Eric Cheng and Tony Wu (^[175])
• 2011-06: Critters@Lembeh releases muck diving tips-and-techniques video (^[176])
• 2011-07: Dr. Richard Smith publishes pygmy seahorse code of conduct (^[177])
• 2012-03: Howard and Michele Hall film “Creatures of the Lembeh Strait” (^[178])
• 2012-03: EunJae Im posts acclaimed super macro video from Lembeh (^[179])
• 2012-05: Bookings open for first Wetpixel/Mustard Lembeh macro workshop (^[180])
• 2012-12: Eric Cheng leads Wetpixel Ultimate Indonesia Expedition from Ambon to Kaimana (^[181])
• 2013-10: First Wetpixel/Mustard macro workshop at Lembeh Resort; 30 photographers over 10 days (^[182], ^[183])
• 2013-10: Nick Hope releases “Mucky Secrets” prologue (^[184])
• 2015-04: “Mucky Secrets” released on DVD (^[185])
• 2015-06: Maarten de Brauwer publishes survey on economic value of muck dive critters (^[186])
• 2015-10: Revised nudibranch identification guide published with 1,953 species (^[187])
• 2016-05: First Lembeh vs Gulen Critter Shootout; Team Lembeh wins (^[188], ^[189])
• 2016-10: Second Wetpixel/Mustard macro workshop at Lembeh (^[190])
• 2017-06: Lauren Siba publishes ethics of octopus imagery article from Critters@Lembeh (^[191])
• 2017-11: First Anilao Underwater Shootout (^[192])
• 2018-06: Third Lembeh vs Gulen Critter Shootout; Team Lembeh wins by 66 votes (^[193])
• 2018-10: Third Wetpixel/Mustard macro workshop (back-to-back sessions) (^[194])
• 2018-10: Maarten de Brauwer publishes research on photographer impact on muck dive environments (^[195])
• 2018-12: Bob Halstead, the man who coined “muck diving,” dies after illness (^[196])
• 2019-05: Helen Pananggung of Lembeh Foundation wins Blue Green Personality of the Year (^[197])
• 2019-06: Atlantis ImageMakers event at Dumaguete with Howard Hall, Marty Snyderman, Adam Hanlon (^[198])
• 2020-01: Lembeh vs Anilao Shootout announced for December 2020 (^[199])
• 2021-02: Wetpixel Live muck photography primer episode (^[200])

References

Wetpixel Live