Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
TillyTec LED 1000 underwater light
Having a movie project in mind needing illumination, I once more turned to TillyTec, maker of lights for divers venturing into darkness. And came back home with a bright new TillyTec LED 1000.
⊕ Modularity & expandability.
⊕ Power: 100W halogen equivalent output according to the manufacturer's specifications (5000°K, 25000 Lux).
⊕ Burn time: 195' on my Green Force Flexi II NiMh battery.
⊕ Robustness.
∅ It is not possible to dim the light's output, nor change the beam's angle from e.g. spot to flood. Remark that while you can slightly adjust the beam's focus while underwater, it's not really recommended to do so, due to the risk of flooding should any dirt have lodged itself on the lens's o-ring.
⊕ The clear glass lens can be replaced by a frosted one for more diffused lighting purposes.
⊕ A Goodman handle is available as optional accessory, and highly recommended for e.g. cave or wreck diving, where having one's hands free for other tasks may be crucial.
⊕ Great light both for recreational & technical diving.
→ LED 1000 in action while night diving with & filming white tip reef sharks around Cocos Island
→ LED 1000 (with diffuser) in conjunction with a HID 35 (with flood reflector) while cave diving in Mexico
⊕ Modularity & expandability.
⊕ Power: 100W halogen equivalent output according to the manufacturer's specifications (5000°K, 25000 Lux).
⊕ Burn time: 195' on my Green Force Flexi II NiMh battery.
⊕ Robustness.
∅ It is not possible to dim the light's output, nor change the beam's angle from e.g. spot to flood. Remark that while you can slightly adjust the beam's focus while underwater, it's not really recommended to do so, due to the risk of flooding should any dirt have lodged itself on the lens's o-ring.
⊕ The clear glass lens can be replaced by a frosted one for more diffused lighting purposes.
⊕ A Goodman handle is available as optional accessory, and highly recommended for e.g. cave or wreck diving, where having one's hands free for other tasks may be crucial.
⊕ Great light both for recreational & technical diving.
→ LED 1000 in action while night diving with & filming white tip reef sharks around Cocos Island
→ LED 1000 (with diffuser) in conjunction with a HID 35 (with flood reflector) while cave diving in Mexico
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
DYK Rejsespecial 2007-2008
In April 2006 I did some deep wreck exploration in the Gulf of Thailand from the M/V Trident live-aboard.
A year later, Jamie Macleod, owner & captain of the Trident, asked me if I could help out Dmitri Gorski by letting him use some of my underwater photos taken during that trip. Honored by the request, I of course obliged :o)
This month, Dmitri's five page article about technical diving in Thailand, together with four of my photos, got published in Scandinavia's main dive magazine: DYK (Rejsespecial 2007-2008).
A year later, Jamie Macleod, owner & captain of the Trident, asked me if I could help out Dmitri Gorski by letting him use some of my underwater photos taken during that trip. Honored by the request, I of course obliged :o)
This month, Dmitri's five page article about technical diving in Thailand, together with four of my photos, got published in Scandinavia's main dive magazine: DYK (Rejsespecial 2007-2008).
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
PADI
I became a PADI certified diver in 1993 and an instructor three years later. I officially remained a PADI pro till the end of last year, after which I stopped paying for the honour. (read why below)
From 2000 to 2006, I paid my yearly membership fee to PADI Europe (headquartered in Switzerland), even though I lived in Denmark and thus technically belonged to PADI Nordic (headquartered in Sweden). The reason being that I wanted to be kept up-to-date in English, an option not offered by PADI Nordic.
My affiliation to another region was not a problem until 2006, when I tried to order some teaching material from PADI Europe. My online order was processed alright, but got cancelled later on by PADI Europe, which subsequently also decided all by itself to transfer my membership to PADI Nordic. For seven years PADI Europe cashed in my membership fees, sent me self-promoting newsletters, self-congratulatory magazines & eternal guideline updates; but when I actually wanted to use their services to get some teaching done, they suddenly remembered only local headquarters were allowed to sell me anything. As if I care where a manual actually comes from when I order online. A week later I got a welcome letter from PADI Nordic. In Swedish. And I no longer had access to the online shop. So I had to tell my student to get the necessary course material from a Danish dive shop at twice the price.
After having done the theory, we travelled to Thailand to do the actual open water training. While the Thai dive shop we used as a base fully assisted me, PADI however once again left me standing alone & fuming, refusing to accept my instructor credentials for instant online certification of my student. The reason: in order to be able to certify new divers in Thailand you have to be a member of PADI Asia (headquartered in Singapore). Meaning, I guess, I'm supposed to temporarily transfer my affiliation each time I want to teach & certify while on holidays somewhere outside my region?
When a year ago I moved to Germany, PADI Nordic & Europe joined forces and professionally screwed up again. Starting with PADI Nordic ignoring my request for re-transfer to PADI Europe (probably waiting to cash in my membership fee first) and followed by PADI Europe mishandling my membership renewal for 2007 (despite direct e-mail contact). So I stepped out. After 10 years as a PADI pro.
Today, out of the blue, PADI Europe sent me a congratulatory letter, thanking me for my continued support of the organization, significant role in its growth and felicitating me -about one year late- with my tenth anniversary as a PADI member. I guess they haven't realized yet I've left the association. That or they're in total denial. They also assume I must be pleased to know that I'll even be listed in the 2nd quarter "Undersea Journal" in recognition of my commitment. Second quarter? Either it already came out several months ago, or it sure is several months late. Not that it matters, at least I'm not getting that nonsense any longer.
Hyped-up recognition is alas what PADI is very much about: badges for anything, certificates for whatever and pins to prove it.
From 2000 to 2006, I paid my yearly membership fee to PADI Europe (headquartered in Switzerland), even though I lived in Denmark and thus technically belonged to PADI Nordic (headquartered in Sweden). The reason being that I wanted to be kept up-to-date in English, an option not offered by PADI Nordic.
My affiliation to another region was not a problem until 2006, when I tried to order some teaching material from PADI Europe. My online order was processed alright, but got cancelled later on by PADI Europe, which subsequently also decided all by itself to transfer my membership to PADI Nordic. For seven years PADI Europe cashed in my membership fees, sent me self-promoting newsletters, self-congratulatory magazines & eternal guideline updates; but when I actually wanted to use their services to get some teaching done, they suddenly remembered only local headquarters were allowed to sell me anything. As if I care where a manual actually comes from when I order online. A week later I got a welcome letter from PADI Nordic. In Swedish. And I no longer had access to the online shop. So I had to tell my student to get the necessary course material from a Danish dive shop at twice the price.
After having done the theory, we travelled to Thailand to do the actual open water training. While the Thai dive shop we used as a base fully assisted me, PADI however once again left me standing alone & fuming, refusing to accept my instructor credentials for instant online certification of my student. The reason: in order to be able to certify new divers in Thailand you have to be a member of PADI Asia (headquartered in Singapore). Meaning, I guess, I'm supposed to temporarily transfer my affiliation each time I want to teach & certify while on holidays somewhere outside my region?
When a year ago I moved to Germany, PADI Nordic & Europe joined forces and professionally screwed up again. Starting with PADI Nordic ignoring my request for re-transfer to PADI Europe (probably waiting to cash in my membership fee first) and followed by PADI Europe mishandling my membership renewal for 2007 (despite direct e-mail contact). So I stepped out. After 10 years as a PADI pro.
Today, out of the blue, PADI Europe sent me a congratulatory letter, thanking me for my continued support of the organization, significant role in its growth and felicitating me -about one year late- with my tenth anniversary as a PADI member. I guess they haven't realized yet I've left the association. That or they're in total denial. They also assume I must be pleased to know that I'll even be listed in the 2nd quarter "Undersea Journal" in recognition of my commitment. Second quarter? Either it already came out several months ago, or it sure is several months late. Not that it matters, at least I'm not getting that nonsense any longer.
Hyped-up recognition is alas what PADI is very much about: badges for anything, certificates for whatever and pins to prove it.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Stories from the blue
Via X-Ray magazine’s blog I came upon an amazing account by Scott Cassell of an incredible underwater encounter with giant Humboldt squids: Dancing with Demons - definitely not for the faint of heart!
Talking about thrilling experiences, here's a movie to look forward to: Sharkwater, a documentary by Rob Stewart about sharks & us.
Talking about thrilling experiences, here's a movie to look forward to: Sharkwater, a documentary by Rob Stewart about sharks & us.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Shark finning: One more victim
Barely two months ago I compiled "Shark finning: A soup story", an article about the meaningless extermination of sharks all over the world to satisfy the ever growing -primarily Chinese- demand for shark fin soup.
On the 8th of April 2007, while diving in Raja Ampat, West-Papua, Indonesia, I came face to face with yet another victim of this irrational hunger.
At the end of a wonderful dive along a pristine reef in front of Sauwandarek village on Mansuar island in Raja Ampat, West-Papua, Indonesia, something too white among the colorful corals caught my eye. As I approached and realized what it was, I was once again reminded of the dark side of humanity.
One more shark slaughtered for its fins and carelessly dumped overboard to slowly drown in the shallows.
Judging from its state this one was murdered very recently, probably just the night before by some poor bastard trying to make a living.
On the 8th of April 2007, while diving in Raja Ampat, West-Papua, Indonesia, I came face to face with yet another victim of this irrational hunger.
At the end of a wonderful dive along a pristine reef in front of Sauwandarek village on Mansuar island in Raja Ampat, West-Papua, Indonesia, something too white among the colorful corals caught my eye. As I approached and realized what it was, I was once again reminded of the dark side of humanity.
One more shark slaughtered for its fins and carelessly dumped overboard to slowly drown in the shallows.
Judging from its state this one was murdered very recently, probably just the night before by some poor bastard trying to make a living.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Sulawesi & Papua, Indonesia, March-April 2007
Indonesia is one of those destinations I always feel like going back to again and again...
For my fifth visit, I chose two ethnically & culturally very different regions: North-Sulawesi, an old favorite of mine, and West-Papua (former Irian Jaya), that I've wanted to check out ever since I first heard about it several years ago.
travel report
For my fifth visit, I chose two ethnically & culturally very different regions: North-Sulawesi, an old favorite of mine, and West-Papua (former Irian Jaya), that I've wanted to check out ever since I first heard about it several years ago.
travel report
North-Sulawesi: Sahaung island
Blue Bay Divers is a small dive resort owned and run by Anke & Salmon on Sahaung island, a tiny private island right next to Bangka island in northern Sulawesi.
We only spent our trip's first week here, in order to acclimatize and do some warm-up dives, but I wish we could have stayed another week.
With max two divers per guide and max two groups per boat, the diving is as private as can be. The dive guides don't speak much English but know their sites inside out, pointing out anything you might have asked for and showing you again exactly what you saw afterwards in the many fish identification books available for study in the resort.
Sahaung island and it's big brother Bangka offer all kinds of diving, from shore to boat, from muck to reef, from easy to drift. And should that not be enough, the Bunaken National Marine Park and Lembeh strait are only about an hour away by boat.
Right in front of the resort, the small bay offers some pretty good muck diving: juvenile fish of all sorts, elusive mandarin fish, harlequin ghost pipe fish, translucent shrimps, small moray eels, plenty of lion fish of various kinds, reef & estuarine stone fish, crocodile fish, blue spotted stingrays, sea snakes, spiny sea urchins and many more.
Around Bangka there are some really nice spots teeming with soft-corals and huge sponges thanks to the nutrient rich currents, and critters are just waiting to be found: frog fish pretending not to be there, cuttle fish flashing their volatile moods, mantis shrimps scurrying around, orang utan crabs squeezed in bubble corals, squat lobsters hidden in crinoids, scale worms underneath cushion stars, etc. Not to mention the robust ghost pipe fish I found all by myself!
Just a short hop away, mainland Sulawesi's coast also has plenty of very good sites. Below the Paradise pier we found flounders, wasp fish, anemone porcelain crabs, juvenile cat fish all balling together in an ever moving swarm, nudibranchs, etc. And on a nearby reef we saw a winged pipe fish, a leaf scorpion fish and two stone fish, one of them completely dug into the sand with only its eyes and mouth barely visible.
In other words, enough to keep you diving again and again for more. Even though visibility wasn't too great while we were there, varying from 5 to 10m at most, we really enjoyed our dives in the 28°C water.
And in between, the place is just perfect to relax and enjoy the view. The bungalows, all facing the bay, are basic but spacious and clean, each with its own veranda and mandi style bathroom. The Indonesian food is finger-licking delicious. The people friendly and ever helpful. What more could you wish for?
We only spent our trip's first week here, in order to acclimatize and do some warm-up dives, but I wish we could have stayed another week.
With max two divers per guide and max two groups per boat, the diving is as private as can be. The dive guides don't speak much English but know their sites inside out, pointing out anything you might have asked for and showing you again exactly what you saw afterwards in the many fish identification books available for study in the resort.
Sahaung island and it's big brother Bangka offer all kinds of diving, from shore to boat, from muck to reef, from easy to drift. And should that not be enough, the Bunaken National Marine Park and Lembeh strait are only about an hour away by boat.
Right in front of the resort, the small bay offers some pretty good muck diving: juvenile fish of all sorts, elusive mandarin fish, harlequin ghost pipe fish, translucent shrimps, small moray eels, plenty of lion fish of various kinds, reef & estuarine stone fish, crocodile fish, blue spotted stingrays, sea snakes, spiny sea urchins and many more.
Around Bangka there are some really nice spots teeming with soft-corals and huge sponges thanks to the nutrient rich currents, and critters are just waiting to be found: frog fish pretending not to be there, cuttle fish flashing their volatile moods, mantis shrimps scurrying around, orang utan crabs squeezed in bubble corals, squat lobsters hidden in crinoids, scale worms underneath cushion stars, etc. Not to mention the robust ghost pipe fish I found all by myself!
Just a short hop away, mainland Sulawesi's coast also has plenty of very good sites. Below the Paradise pier we found flounders, wasp fish, anemone porcelain crabs, juvenile cat fish all balling together in an ever moving swarm, nudibranchs, etc. And on a nearby reef we saw a winged pipe fish, a leaf scorpion fish and two stone fish, one of them completely dug into the sand with only its eyes and mouth barely visible.
In other words, enough to keep you diving again and again for more. Even though visibility wasn't too great while we were there, varying from 5 to 10m at most, we really enjoyed our dives in the 28°C water.
And in between, the place is just perfect to relax and enjoy the view. The bungalows, all facing the bay, are basic but spacious and clean, each with its own veranda and mandi style bathroom. The Indonesian food is finger-licking delicious. The people friendly and ever helpful. What more could you wish for?
West-Papua: Kri island
While by now there are a couple of seasonal live-aboards covering the region, Papua Diving, owned by Max Ammer, is so far still the only permanent dive operation in Raja Ampat, an archipelago of jungle covered islands just off western West-Papua.
Papua Diving actually consists of two different set-ups: Kri Eco Resort and Sorido Bay Resort, both located on Kri island, a 2-3 hour boat ride from Sorong, West-Papua's main entry point for visiting divers.
Kri Eco Resort caters to the more adventurous and budget conscious divers, who prefer basic close-to-nature non-AC accommodation and don't mind a cold mandi shower. Whereas Sorido Bay Resort is for rich people who can't stand the tropical climate and need to be cooled down and pampered to feel well. Guess in which resort we stayed for two weeks :o)
The diving of course is the same for everybody. Except that the rich people get shaded boats and the poor people get free extra time in the sun while sailing to the various dive spots in the vicinity.
Kri Eco Resort is well managed by Maya, Mayse & Nikson. Maya and her assistant Mayse take care of the general administration and organization. Nikson, in charge of the diving, plans and organizes the daily trips and also briefs the divers about each dive site, as unfortunately the junior guides barely speak any English and are rather shy about assuming control.
We stayed in a naturally aired hut on stilts above the water and were pretty happy about it - despite being rudely outboard-noise awakened and exhaust-gassed out of bed each morning as the dive boats moored nearby to refuel and load the scuba tanks :o(
The food was kind of alright, but not as tasty nor as varied as I've come to expect in spicy Indonesia. And considering the number of people who got sick, in both resorts, I'm afraid the hygienic conditions in the rather primitive kitchens are not as strict as they ought to be, especially in a hot climate.
Contrary to the Sorido Bay Resort, Kri Eco Resort enjoys an unencumbered view to the west, meaning we got fabulous fire-in-the-sky sunset shows almost every evening right from our little pier.
As for the diving... is it really worth all the trouble to get here? Well, read on and make up your own mind.
Papua Diving actually consists of two different set-ups: Kri Eco Resort and Sorido Bay Resort, both located on Kri island, a 2-3 hour boat ride from Sorong, West-Papua's main entry point for visiting divers.
Kri Eco Resort caters to the more adventurous and budget conscious divers, who prefer basic close-to-nature non-AC accommodation and don't mind a cold mandi shower. Whereas Sorido Bay Resort is for rich people who can't stand the tropical climate and need to be cooled down and pampered to feel well. Guess in which resort we stayed for two weeks :o)
The diving of course is the same for everybody. Except that the rich people get shaded boats and the poor people get free extra time in the sun while sailing to the various dive spots in the vicinity.
Kri Eco Resort is well managed by Maya, Mayse & Nikson. Maya and her assistant Mayse take care of the general administration and organization. Nikson, in charge of the diving, plans and organizes the daily trips and also briefs the divers about each dive site, as unfortunately the junior guides barely speak any English and are rather shy about assuming control.
We stayed in a naturally aired hut on stilts above the water and were pretty happy about it - despite being rudely outboard-noise awakened and exhaust-gassed out of bed each morning as the dive boats moored nearby to refuel and load the scuba tanks :o(
The food was kind of alright, but not as tasty nor as varied as I've come to expect in spicy Indonesia. And considering the number of people who got sick, in both resorts, I'm afraid the hygienic conditions in the rather primitive kitchens are not as strict as they ought to be, especially in a hot climate.
Contrary to the Sorido Bay Resort, Kri Eco Resort enjoys an unencumbered view to the west, meaning we got fabulous fire-in-the-sky sunset shows almost every evening right from our little pier.
As for the diving... is it really worth all the trouble to get here? Well, read on and make up your own mind.
Raja Ampat: Epicenter of marine biodiversity
Scientists have recorded over five hundred coral species and more than one thousand fish species while diving around Raja Ampat. Thereby justifying this small region's claim as the epicenter of marine biodiversity.
Dr. Gerald R. Allen actually counted a record number of 284 fish species in just one dive... So, if you ever wanted to find and name a new fish after yourself, this is probably a good place to start looking - once you've memorized and can keep apart all those already known to science.
Not being a great marine biologist myself - I'm already happy when I can tell which family a fish belongs to - I can't really say that I actually noticed any reef fish that were new to me. What I did notice though is how vast and vibrant many of the reefs still are here. Boasting fabulous pristine coral gardens swarming with fish of all kinds. Indeed, I've never seen so many beautiful reefs nor such an abundance of fish in my 14 years of diving.
One of the reasons for this incredible biodiversity, is the unique conglomerance of various habitats: small protected bays, shaded sheltering mangroves, sun-soaked shallow reefs and nutrient-rich current swept channels offer ideal conditions for a wide variety of aquatic life forms.
Most of the dive sites (e.g. Cape Kri, Mike's point, Mios Kon, Sardines, Sleeping barracuda, Surgeon fish slope, etc) are within a 10km radius from Kri, and require at most 15' to get there. To reach the more remote spots (e.g. Fam island, Jellyfish bay, Manta station, Mansuar island, Passage, Pulau Dua, the P47D Thunderbolt bomber, etc) may take 30-60' and costs 20-60 Euro extra per diver for fuel.
Dr. Gerald R. Allen actually counted a record number of 284 fish species in just one dive... So, if you ever wanted to find and name a new fish after yourself, this is probably a good place to start looking - once you've memorized and can keep apart all those already known to science.
Not being a great marine biologist myself - I'm already happy when I can tell which family a fish belongs to - I can't really say that I actually noticed any reef fish that were new to me. What I did notice though is how vast and vibrant many of the reefs still are here. Boasting fabulous pristine coral gardens swarming with fish of all kinds. Indeed, I've never seen so many beautiful reefs nor such an abundance of fish in my 14 years of diving.
One of the reasons for this incredible biodiversity, is the unique conglomerance of various habitats: small protected bays, shaded sheltering mangroves, sun-soaked shallow reefs and nutrient-rich current swept channels offer ideal conditions for a wide variety of aquatic life forms.
Most of the dive sites (e.g. Cape Kri, Mike's point, Mios Kon, Sardines, Sleeping barracuda, Surgeon fish slope, etc) are within a 10km radius from Kri, and require at most 15' to get there. To reach the more remote spots (e.g. Fam island, Jellyfish bay, Manta station, Mansuar island, Passage, Pulau Dua, the P47D Thunderbolt bomber, etc) may take 30-60' and costs 20-60 Euro extra per diver for fuel.
Cape Kri & surrounding reefs
Cape Kri is definitely a top spot with plenty of fish action - especially when there's a bit of current!
Expect schooling jacks, giant trevally, shy groupers, yellow-tail barracudas, swarming unicorn surgeon fish, groups of sweetlips, a couple of human-wary black & white-tip sharks, hawksbill turtles and of course also the area's most spotted shark: wobbegongs.
On one dive we were even so lucky as to see one of these bearded carpet sharks lazily swimming off from underneath its shelter to settle itself again just a few meters further away in the open.
Not to mention another very famous favorite of the region: pygmy seahorses! Alas not always that carefully pointed out by the guides.
While currents were mostly rather mild during our stay here, we did experience some of nature's water moving power at nearby Sorido wall. Luckily we had our reef-hooks ready to hold on to - for unlike the fish which just hung around there without apparent effort, we wouldn't have had a chance against the surging current flowing over the reef that day.
At high tide it's possible to snorkel along Kri Eco's pier, built atop a very nice reef, and if you're very lucky you might even get to see a small cat or epaulette shark!
Expect schooling jacks, giant trevally, shy groupers, yellow-tail barracudas, swarming unicorn surgeon fish, groups of sweetlips, a couple of human-wary black & white-tip sharks, hawksbill turtles and of course also the area's most spotted shark: wobbegongs.
On one dive we were even so lucky as to see one of these bearded carpet sharks lazily swimming off from underneath its shelter to settle itself again just a few meters further away in the open.
Not to mention another very famous favorite of the region: pygmy seahorses! Alas not always that carefully pointed out by the guides.
While currents were mostly rather mild during our stay here, we did experience some of nature's water moving power at nearby Sorido wall. Luckily we had our reef-hooks ready to hold on to - for unlike the fish which just hung around there without apparent effort, we wouldn't have had a chance against the surging current flowing over the reef that day.
At high tide it's possible to snorkel along Kri Eco's pier, built atop a very nice reef, and if you're very lucky you might even get to see a small cat or epaulette shark!
Chicken bay & surrounding reefs
While we didn't get to see any evolution defying poultry here, Chicken bay nevertheless is a great spot to get up close and personal with yellow-tail barracudas hovering above sandy patches, bat fish playing domino together, humphead parrot fish crunching away on hard corals, or just hang around and mingle with some grazing surgeon fish.
I even found a sleepy wobbegong, for once facing outward from its lair, hidden behind a curtain of swirling glass fish.
On a smaller scale, we were shown a tiny barely 2cm large octopus trying hard to look like a piece of coral rubble and a small winged pipe fish.
I even found a sleepy wobbegong, for once facing outward from its lair, hidden behind a curtain of swirling glass fish.
On a smaller scale, we were shown a tiny barely 2cm large octopus trying hard to look like a piece of coral rubble and a small winged pipe fish.
Manta station
Manta station is one of two possible manta sighting points barely 25' away from Kri island. Whether mantas are there when you are of course requires a bit of luck. But lucky we were.
On our first dive here, we briefly saw a white bellied manta passing by shortly after we submerged and then witnessed a black bellied one getting thoroughly serviced for 40' right in front of us bubbling divers.
Every now and then flying above each one of us as it turned around and around its cleaning station. What a wonderful sight!
Five days later we tried our luck again for some more. And this time got two mantas circling together around a cleaning station, a smaller black bellied one and a bigger white bellied one.
Nearby, a yellow leaf scorpion fish acted as colorful back-up entertainer should any diver get bored with the main black & white dance show. A big stingray whirling up clouds of sand in its frantic search for food never got much of a chance besides its acrobatic cousins.
To top it off, as we went for higher grounds towards the end of the dive, four mantas suddenly appeared out of the misty blue right in front of us, gracefully veering off just a few meters away. Whow!
On our first dive here, we briefly saw a white bellied manta passing by shortly after we submerged and then witnessed a black bellied one getting thoroughly serviced for 40' right in front of us bubbling divers.
Every now and then flying above each one of us as it turned around and around its cleaning station. What a wonderful sight!
Five days later we tried our luck again for some more. And this time got two mantas circling together around a cleaning station, a smaller black bellied one and a bigger white bellied one.
Nearby, a yellow leaf scorpion fish acted as colorful back-up entertainer should any diver get bored with the main black & white dance show. A big stingray whirling up clouds of sand in its frantic search for food never got much of a chance besides its acrobatic cousins.
To top it off, as we went for higher grounds towards the end of the dive, four mantas suddenly appeared out of the misty blue right in front of us, gracefully veering off just a few meters away. Whow!
Mansuar island
Mansuar is a large island west of Kri with various good dive spots, like Sauwandarek slope on its south coast and Cape Mansuar on its western point.
Even though it lies right in front of a small village, Sauwandarek slope has a very beautiful reef top. And while visibility elsewhere was rather poor - especially after full moon, we enjoyed relatively clear water here.
Unfortunately I'll always associate this spot with a very sad sight: that of a recently finned shark lying dead in the shallows :o(
Cape Mansuar is home to a special variety of whitish pygmy seahorses known as Hippocampus Denise. A pretty rare find compared to the much more common Hippocampus Bargibanti, to be found both in pink and yellow in this area.
Just off the cape is the channel, a site packed with schooling fish, sweetlips hanging around under table corals, bands of yellow-tail barracudas waiting for launch time and even a couple of patrolling black-tips keeping a safe distance.
Even though it lies right in front of a small village, Sauwandarek slope has a very beautiful reef top. And while visibility elsewhere was rather poor - especially after full moon, we enjoyed relatively clear water here.
Unfortunately I'll always associate this spot with a very sad sight: that of a recently finned shark lying dead in the shallows :o(
Cape Mansuar is home to a special variety of whitish pygmy seahorses known as Hippocampus Denise. A pretty rare find compared to the much more common Hippocampus Bargibanti, to be found both in pink and yellow in this area.
Just off the cape is the channel, a site packed with schooling fish, sweetlips hanging around under table corals, bands of yellow-tail barracudas waiting for launch time and even a couple of patrolling black-tips keeping a safe distance.
Mike's point
Topographically probably the most interesting site in the neighborhood. Offering walls & overhangs covered in soft corals, slopes overgrown with leather corals, swim through rock formations and shallow hard coral gardens.
Several of the gorgonians here host pygmy seahorse families. Sweetlips hang around in small groups. Scorpion fish lie in wait for food to come their way. Sea snakes wave by. Nudibranchs patiently pose for any wannabe National Geographic photographers.
Several of the gorgonians here host pygmy seahorse families. Sweetlips hang around in small groups. Scorpion fish lie in wait for food to come their way. Sea snakes wave by. Nudibranchs patiently pose for any wannabe National Geographic photographers.
Pulau dua
We were so lucky as to have Nikson with us when we dived here. With over 10000 dives, he definitely knows the area inside out, and especially the sites around here, as they used to be the main spots when Papua Diving was still located on nearby Wai island.
Not so good though is that as we approached Pulau Dua, Nikson asked us to disembark asap, in order for him to chase some fleeing fishermen, to check whether they'd been dynamite fishing - an utterly devastating practice unfortunately still too common even here :o(
During the dive we had a big marble stingray flying by and coming around again for a closer look, and we spotted two wobbegongs, one of which was perfectly posed on top of a coral, begging for a cover photo.
We did not get to snorkel with mantas, nor do some whale watching near Wai island, as supposedly is possible every now and then. But Nikson spotted some floating sargassum sea weed and plastic trash on the way back, among which we got to swim with several small sargassum frog fish (5-8cm) - a first for me!
Not so good though is that as we approached Pulau Dua, Nikson asked us to disembark asap, in order for him to chase some fleeing fishermen, to check whether they'd been dynamite fishing - an utterly devastating practice unfortunately still too common even here :o(
During the dive we had a big marble stingray flying by and coming around again for a closer look, and we spotted two wobbegongs, one of which was perfectly posed on top of a coral, begging for a cover photo.
We did not get to snorkel with mantas, nor do some whale watching near Wai island, as supposedly is possible every now and then. But Nikson spotted some floating sargassum sea weed and plastic trash on the way back, among which we got to swim with several small sargassum frog fish (5-8cm) - a first for me!
Surgeon fish slope
Loads of schooling surgeon fish, gangs of yellow-tail barracudas, a family of humphead parrot fish, hawksbill turtles, big moray eels, bat fish getting cleaned, giant trevally, black-tips passing by, ...
Education?
Despite his many years here and his apparent concern for the environment, Max Ammer seems to neglect an obvious starting point: basic education of his people.
Some areas in particular are in serious, not to say desperate, need of improvement: hygiene standards for kitchen personnel, rules of conduct and basic communication skills for dive guides.
Having your dive guides (1) bending gorgonians out of shape to show pygmy seahorses, when not shaking the tiny little creatures into cardiac-arrest, just so as to please some eager photographer flashing away like crazy, (2) pulling wobbegongs by their tail out of their lairs for better viewing, when not outright harassing them into swimming away, or just (3) carving words into corals out of boredom, can hardly be justified in any way by anybody.
Guides should at all times behave in an exemplary fashion - even more so in an environmentally so unique area.
Not only that, they should also enforce safe and responsible practices to avoid accidents.
Some areas in particular are in serious, not to say desperate, need of improvement: hygiene standards for kitchen personnel, rules of conduct and basic communication skills for dive guides.
Having your dive guides (1) bending gorgonians out of shape to show pygmy seahorses, when not shaking the tiny little creatures into cardiac-arrest, just so as to please some eager photographer flashing away like crazy, (2) pulling wobbegongs by their tail out of their lairs for better viewing, when not outright harassing them into swimming away, or just (3) carving words into corals out of boredom, can hardly be justified in any way by anybody.
Guides should at all times behave in an exemplary fashion - even more so in an environmentally so unique area.
Not only that, they should also enforce safe and responsible practices to avoid accidents.
Indonesia: The dark side
⊗ It doesn't take much scrutiny to see through the tropical paradise illusion of tourist information brochures and travel advertisements. While at first sight a relatively peaceful country - only shaken up by devastating earthquakes and tsunamis every now and then - Indonesia does have some serious human rights issues and nature conservation problems.
⊗ The main island Java in effect is nothing but a greedy colonial power ruling and exploiting the surrounding islands with total contempt. Draining them from their riches (e.g. wood, gold, oil) without putting anything back into the local economies. All that of course with the hypocritical taciturn approval and even active help from industrial nations.
⊗ Entire marine ecosystems are continuously threatened by international mining companies dumping toxic wastes directly into the sea.
⊗ Destructive fishing practices are still all too common all over the archipelago: (1) dynamite fishing is causing a lot of long-term reef damage, (2) live fish trade is threatening the survival of endangered species like the Napoleon wrasse, (3) cyanide fishing is ruining already hard hit habitats, (4) finning is decimating the few remaining sharks.
⊗ Corruption in Indonesia unfortunately is standard modus operandi on any official level. Meaning you can get away with anything as long as the bribe is adequate.
⊗ The main island Java in effect is nothing but a greedy colonial power ruling and exploiting the surrounding islands with total contempt. Draining them from their riches (e.g. wood, gold, oil) without putting anything back into the local economies. All that of course with the hypocritical taciturn approval and even active help from industrial nations.
⊗ Entire marine ecosystems are continuously threatened by international mining companies dumping toxic wastes directly into the sea.
⊗ Destructive fishing practices are still all too common all over the archipelago: (1) dynamite fishing is causing a lot of long-term reef damage, (2) live fish trade is threatening the survival of endangered species like the Napoleon wrasse, (3) cyanide fishing is ruining already hard hit habitats, (4) finning is decimating the few remaining sharks.
⊗ Corruption in Indonesia unfortunately is standard modus operandi on any official level. Meaning you can get away with anything as long as the bribe is adequate.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Foreword about fish bombing
Fish bombing, aka dynamite fishing or blast fishing, is an extremely destructive fishing method used by fishermen in Indonesia and the Philippines among others.
When a school of fish is found, a primitive home-made bomb is dropped into the water. The longer the fuse, the deeper the bomb sinks before exploding. The shock wave literally knocks out any fish in the vicinity, some of which may float up to the surface, but most just sink to the bottom, their swim-bladders ruptured, their spines broken, to be collected at leisure by diving fishermen.
Besides being totally indiscriminate, bombing over shallow reefs also completely destroys the fish's natural habitat.
October 1994: Somewhere north of Boano island in the Moluccas, Indonesia, I personally witnessed the devastation caused underwater by this illegal practice. An otherwise pristine reef suddenly turned into an utterly deserted waste of dead coral rubble, without a single living creature in sight. As if an atomic bomb had been dropped there. A death zone for many years to come.
March 2005: While diving around Sipadan, Sabah, Malaysia, we felt several shock waves of distant underwater detonations. As if a very heavy object had been dropped into the water just above us. According to our dive guide, the explosions occurred somewhere in the Philippines.
March 2007: A good friend of mine was diving around the Banggai islands, Sulawesi, Indonesia, when he stumbled upon a recently bombed reef, still littered with dead fish. Below are his well argumented letter of protest and some of his photos as sent to the department of fisheries in Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia.
April 2007: As we reached a dive site near Pulau Dua, Raja Ampat, West-Papua, Indonesia, our dive guide asked us to quickly disembark on a nearby island so he could chase some fleeing fishermen. To check whether they were bomb fishing... According to him it's fairly easy to tell whether a fish was bombed or not. However there's no effective control of any kind either at sea or in the fish markets. Fishermen who somehow do get caught red-handed, at most spend a symbolic night in jail, after which they can go on with their fishy business as usual. It's just a matter of paying the right amount to who-ever happens to be in charge that day.
When a school of fish is found, a primitive home-made bomb is dropped into the water. The longer the fuse, the deeper the bomb sinks before exploding. The shock wave literally knocks out any fish in the vicinity, some of which may float up to the surface, but most just sink to the bottom, their swim-bladders ruptured, their spines broken, to be collected at leisure by diving fishermen.
Besides being totally indiscriminate, bombing over shallow reefs also completely destroys the fish's natural habitat.
October 1994: Somewhere north of Boano island in the Moluccas, Indonesia, I personally witnessed the devastation caused underwater by this illegal practice. An otherwise pristine reef suddenly turned into an utterly deserted waste of dead coral rubble, without a single living creature in sight. As if an atomic bomb had been dropped there. A death zone for many years to come.
March 2005: While diving around Sipadan, Sabah, Malaysia, we felt several shock waves of distant underwater detonations. As if a very heavy object had been dropped into the water just above us. According to our dive guide, the explosions occurred somewhere in the Philippines.
March 2007: A good friend of mine was diving around the Banggai islands, Sulawesi, Indonesia, when he stumbled upon a recently bombed reef, still littered with dead fish. Below are his well argumented letter of protest and some of his photos as sent to the department of fisheries in Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia.
April 2007: As we reached a dive site near Pulau Dua, Raja Ampat, West-Papua, Indonesia, our dive guide asked us to quickly disembark on a nearby island so he could chase some fleeing fishermen. To check whether they were bomb fishing... According to him it's fairly easy to tell whether a fish was bombed or not. However there's no effective control of any kind either at sea or in the fish markets. Fishermen who somehow do get caught red-handed, at most spend a symbolic night in jail, after which they can go on with their fishy business as usual. It's just a matter of paying the right amount to who-ever happens to be in charge that day.
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