If you want a guaranteed chance of finding nudibranchs in Oman, then head to a little wreck just off of Ras Abu Daud called the Mimosa. “Mimosa?” One of our French  guests once asked, “Like ze fleur?” My mind had gone the popular brunch cocktail, but sure, if you prefer flowers to champagne and orange juice, then like the flower it is. 

Now half the fun of any wreck dive, of course, is learning the history behind it. Unfortunately this one was quite mysterious. Stefan and Tanja had searched for any info they could find on the ship’s skeleton lying in 15 meters of sand, but had been unsuccessful. I did a little researching myself and found out that the name is actually MS Mimoona, or the Quriyat wreck. So not like the flower or the cocktail after all. Beyond that, the ship’s origin remains as mysterious as the faded clothes still scattered inside, billowing in the current like ghosts. 

What is not a mystery is the amount of life that has congregated on the three sections of wooden remnants. Schools of normally solitary porcupinefish stare at you with their big, puppy dog eyes. Honeycomb moray eels as thick as watermelons twist their way around masts and rails. The deck of the bow section is so thick with snappers and other small, colorful reef fish that you almost can’t see where you are going. The sand around the wreck is full of electric rays, visible only by their coin-sized spiracles opening and closing as they breathe. Occasionally a massive stingray can be seen, gliding around and foraging through the sand like he owns the place.  

All these marvelous creatures only play a supporting role in the wreck’s colorful cast of wonders. The real stars of the show are the nudibranchs. You can spend an entire hour scouring the wreck for the small sea slugs, and never see the same one twice. Some are the size of a dollar bill. Some are smaller than my already minuscule fingernails. I read somewhere that the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea are home to some 300 species of nudibranchs, 10% of the species that exist worldwide. I have a suspicion that a large majority of those can be found on the Mimosa. Here are just a few of them for you to enjoy scrolling through:

My dollar bill nudi photo received quite a few questions on Facebook, so I suppose it’s worth explaining again here. No, I do not always dive with a dollar bill in my pocket (although now I’m considering it). I dove the Mimosa wreck many times over the course of my six weeks in Oman, and so knew that those fat, red, steaks of nudis were always there. When I finally got the chance to bring my camera to the wreck, I wanted to bring something down with me to show the size comparison. I chose a dollar bill because they are consistently 6.14″ long, easier to fold up than a ruler, cheaper to replace than a ruler, and they are made out of completely organic materials should I accidentally lose it.

I also received a few comments asking how I managed to shoot the photo and hold down the bill with two fingers. “You must have a team down there.” Really? Does it really take a whole team to produce two fingers? One finger is mine, one belongs to my buddy, and I shot the photo one-handed.

So there you have it, how to shoot your very own, dollar-bill nudi photo.

I only have two stories left to share on Oman. One is about a face that lived down a well in the sand, and one is about an old war wreck and a candy cane of a fish that lived there. Until next time!

Did you miss my first Gallery of Nudis from Lembeh, Indonesia? Click here!