Garden Eel

Photo: Philipp · CC BY-NC

Colonies of Hasselt's garden eels extend from burrows in the sandy plateau adjoining the slope, swaying in unison in the prevailing current to filter zooplankton. As divers approach slowly, the eels retract progressively into their burrows from the near end of the colony outward, creating a ripple effect that has become one of the iconic behavioural sights of Kapalai diving. The sandy flat hosts one of the denser garden eel aggregations in the Celebes Sea, numbering several hundred individuals in a single colony.