Muck diving has gathered worldwide fame in recent years, underwater photographers and scuba diving enthusiasts will travel across the world to experience the weird and wonderful world of muck diving.
Southeast Asia currently boasts the best muck diving sites in the world, top destinations such as Lembeh Strait and Ambon in Indonesia as well as Anilao and Dauin in The Philippines, attract thousands of divers every year. Traditionally this relatively new diving world has been ignored by the majority of marine scientists, scientific research has focused primarily around the rich ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangrove swamps, with good reason too.
2014/15 marked the start of PhD research which asked questions solely on this cryptic habitat, Maarten De Brauwer of Curtin University in Western Australia has set out on a quest to answer some basic and some very thought provoking questions. As the first person worldwide to dedicate their research to this unique habitat, questions addressing the diversity and abundance of creatures (cryptobenthic fauna as Maarten refers to them), diver impact on the unique marine life and the socioeconomic benefits of the industry will be looked at.
2014/15 marked the start of PhD research which asked questions solely on this cryptic habitat, Maarten De Brauwer of Curtin University in Western Australia has set out on a quest to answer some basic and some very thought provoking questions. As the first person worldwide to dedicate their research to this unique habitat, questions addressing the diversity and abundance of creatures (cryptobenthic fauna as Maarten refers to them), diver impact on the unique marine life and the socioeconomic benefits of the industry will be looked at.
With the industry surrounding muck diving gathering worldwide attention it should be a priority for us to understand the lifecycle and threats that face these weird and wonderful organisms.
For more information on this unique world and insights into the research currently being conducted visit https://crittersresearch.com. A huge thank you to Maarten De Brauwer and Curtin University for allowing me to be involved in this research project, a huge thank you also to Atmosphere Resort & Spa and all of their staff members for allowing me the opportunity to document this and their story. A special thank you to Adam Detre, Ulrika Kroon, Saila Kitola and of course Atmosphere’s marine biologist Daniel ‘Frogfish’ Geary.
See my website for more underwater photography.