SHAUN THE SHEEP
Photo by Kewin Lorenzen
Sheepish about muck diving no more!
By Kewin Lorenzen Destination The Philippines with Sea Explor- ers, Amun ini, and Kids Sea Camp. This was a first for me and my wife, neither had ever been to the Philippines. Margo and Tom Peyton, fellow dive industry friends, had invited us multiple times. Tom talked about a strange alien life he found mesmerizing and how incredible it would be to experience. It’s just impossible to describe, he said, but mind-blowing and life-changing, a world you will become obsessed with explor- ing. My first muck dive in the Philippines was amazing. Marcio, another guest, fellow pho- tographer, and an avid loyal Kids Sea Camp adventurer, spoke of a sheep. I was curious. He had my attention. The guides you see can show you almost anything you request, but who knows what to request in a land of aliens? Marcio named the critter focus of this trip for himself and perked my curiosity. Shaun the Sheep.
As I descended below the surface of the clear Philippines water, I was not fooled by the desolate grey bare sand. Tom Peyton said this is the home for some of the most incredible creatures I will ever laid my eyes on. With all the colors of the universe residing on the most minuscule of animals like the hundreds of nudi- branchs found here or pygmy squid, there are the mesmerizing colors of the mandarin fish. Tom was correct; the obsession began as I saw the true master of camouflage, the pygmy Seahorse. While the Philippines underwater is nothing short of experiencing a new planet, one critter in particular stole my heart even before we met: Shaun The Sheep. Marcio showed me a photo from his dive, and I was hooked. Keep in mind my wife, Cristina Zenato, and I dive with sharks for a living, so it was pretty in- teresting to watch myself get so excited about a creature I could barely see with the naked eye. When you see how cute this little guy is, you will understand why.
A tiny leaf slug (Costasiella kuroshimae) that grows to a length of 7 millimeters. They graze on algae and suck its chloroplasts and retain it within their tissues, allowing them to supple- ment their diet through photosynthesis. This process is called kleptoplasty. How could I not become obsessed with an animal the size of a grain of rice capable of using photosynthesis? To feed my obsession, I needed to acquire more knowledge. Shaun has multiple siblings, like the Bumble bee-looking (Costasiella Sp), and distant cousins living in the Caribbean. But how do you find something so small in the vastness of the ocean? In the same way you find any small crea- ture in the Philippines, you find their home. Shaun the sheep lives on a specific algae called Avrainvillea. Find the algae, see the sheep. Rest assured, my quest for Shaun the Sheep is not over. I am looking forward to seeing and photo- graphing its Caribbean cousin.
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