International Sea Slug Workshop, Bali, February 2019

I attended the International Sea Slug Workshop in Bali, organized by nudibranch researchers I'd connected with through Facebook. The event was held in Tulamben, a dive site I've visited four times before.

This time I stayed at a European-style dive resort instead of my usual Japanese-run hotel. With zero other Japanese participants and my limited English skills, it was challenging — but everyone was incredibly welcoming.

The workshop included presentations on new species discoveries, taxonomic revisions, and the latest molecular phylogenetics research. It was inspiring to meet the researchers whose papers I regularly read.

The diving was excellent too — Tulamben's famous Liberty Wreck and surrounding sites are rich in nudibranch diversity. Several undescribed species were spotted during the workshop dives.