Walking Fish & Long-Nosed Monkeys
We were in two minds about whether to stay in Tarakan, Indonesian Borneo, today. But I’m extremely glad we did.
Because 300 metres down the road from our hotel is a little mangrove sanctuary. Home to two weird and wonderful creatures. Proboscis monkeys, and walking fish.
Ever seen a fish walk?! Us neither. For video, read on.
Now, cute these critters ain’t. With their bulging eyes sat on top of their heads, camouflaged in the slurpy, popping mangrove mud, they’re frankly quite disturbing even before they start running on their pectoral fins like the original missing link.
Their common name is mudskippers. And watching them move, you can really see why.
These are, genuinely, amphibious fish. Members of the goby family, they breathe through their skins and mucal membranes, and can stay out of water for over three days, provided the environment is damp enough.
As for the monkeys? Well, proboscis monkeys are found only in Borneo. So watching this long-nosed gang playing at swinging from the mangroves was a real result.
[wpvideo QawNo2im]
And, at 50 cents admission, about fifty times cheaper than alternative options across the border in Malaysia.
Thanks to Debbie at Delicious Baby for hosting Photo Friday. )
I showed the video of the walking fish to my 6 year old and he wanted to know if it was real!
Ah! I wish I’d made a better video… We had lots of footage. They are the most comic creatures, and in this stretch of Kalimantan you can’t miss them… Anyway, tell him I have many, many more.
Wow, what fun! Thanks for sharing.
Wow, the fish is kind of spooky but cool! 🙂
I know what you mean. I wouldn’t want to be surrounded by them, let’s put it that way… They look rather alien, don’t they?
That looks very interesting – maybe we went to the wrong country for wildlife! Hope the diving is fantastic, and look forward to skyping next week when you’re back.
Absolutely! We’ve bottled the overland and sea journey to Sulawesi and are flying. Plenty of internet where we’re going, though…