Welcome to Fab Photos Friday! I doubt these photos do my trip justice. My last few days in Komodo were absolutely blissful! The beauty of Komodo National Park continues to amaze me. I confess that I love looking at the photos from every dive site and every moment of my Ray of Hope Expedition on The Arenui. The islands were also beautiful, and I took far too many photographs of them! I mean, how many times can you look at lush green islands and blue water?
Day 5 of our Ray of Hope Expedition on The Arenui in Komodo National Park, Indonesia and it brought colorful Pink Beach beauties, and the best night dive ever!
The day started out sunny and beautiful, and the first two dives were spent searching for mantas, as I published last Friday at http://tamtravels.wpengine.com/fab-photo-friday-reef-mantas/. In the afternoon we did a dive at Pink Beach. Pink Beach got its name from its mixture of white and red sand. The red sand came about because of red fossilized Foraminifera…just think to yourself, oh, pretty red shells/shellfish created the color of the sand. It’s easier than learning about Foraminifera!
Sunset at Loh Liang Bay
The evening rolled around at Loh Liang Bay, and no one in my dive group had the energy to do it. I had missed a night dive and had no intention of missing another, so off I went with my own dive guide! I am so glad I did not miss it…it was the best night dive I’d ever had! What made it so fabulous? The animals, of course!
It is Fab Photo Friday! On Day 4, the Ray of Hope Expedition caught up with Mantas! ROHE’s main goal is always to identify as many manta rays as possible, and records were broken on this trip! Takat Makkasar is a known Manta hangout, so day 4 was mostly spent on this reef. When we were not diving it, we snorkeled it. There were Reef Mantas everywhere. As a matter of interest, only Reef Mantas, or Manta Alfredi, live in Komodo. These mantas are a little smaller than the Giant Manta, or Manta Biostris, and instead of traveling the oceans, Reef Mantas tend to stay within a certain “home” area. Reef Mantas can grow to be 12 feet in wing span, while the Giants can be over 20 feet in wing span. This was my very first time to see Reef Mantas, and I love them every bit as much as the Giants I have seen all over the world.
It is so interesting to watch mantas being cleaned. Many pelagics require cleaning (as do many fish) in order to clean wounds, and remove parasites. Butterfly fish are avid cleaners, and in some areas, Angel Fish join in. The butterflies nibble parasites, wounds, and other detritus from the ray.
The number of Manta IDs was incredible! Komodo National Park yielded 80 individual identifications on one day, a record breaker! Andrea was thrilled with the productivity of the trip…and we had a wonderful time along the way. What could be better than citizen science and fun?
My latest dive adventure on the Arenui in Komodo, Indonesia was also a Ray of Hope Expedition. What is a ROHE, you ask? It is a trip where research and the sheer joy of diving conjoin. Dr Andrea Marshall, co-founder of the Marine Megafauna Foundation, explains: “Explore new aggregation sites with us, encounter mantas in remote destinations, photo-document manta rays for upload to Manta Matcher, participate in research activities, investigate manta ray fisheries and receive lectures from world-class biologists as a part of your package. The goals of each of the expeditions are unique but every trip is tailored to engage participants while producing high quality science.” I have been on several of these expeditions, and I have thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. It is exciting and rewarding to be able to participate in the field with scientists who not only share, but live, your passion for the ocean and its inhabitants. No matter where I go, I take Manta ID or Whale Shark ID photos where so I can upload them to the Manta Matcher or the Wildbook of Whale Sharks database. You can do it too! Find out how by clicking on Ray of Hope Expeditons! Check out my other Citizen Science trips. Africa, Ecuador, Yucatan, St Lucia, Komodo (now publishing).
Our second day of diving in Indonesia’s islands on the Arenui Boutique Liveaboard was non-stop excitement. Our first reef was Bontoh where I saw my very first Ghost Pipefish! Each dive showed me more and more animals I had never seen before. To see these “exotic” creatures was intoxicating! The sand on these reefs is black, or at the least, very dark, and this is due to the volcanic activity the area has had. One had to be very careful, make one wrong move and sand flies up like a cloud!
Our next two dives were spent at Black Diamond Reef. Each reef seemed more fabulous than the one before!
The night dive on Day 2 was at Bontoh. Diving at night is an ethereal experience with different animals entirely. Looking up, you could see the moon and the stars at the top of the water column. When looking around the reef, I found only miracles of nature.
Our dive group consisted of Andrea Marshall, Queen of Mantas, myself, Alan, Tom, and our dive guide, Debbie! Each dive was better than the last!
I have to confess that the first dive in Komodo was unbelievable! It was like turning a sugar lover loose in a candy store. There was so much to see!
The Arenui is LUX. At 6:30 a.m. we were awakened, and everyone met in the dining room for “first breakfast”. First breakfast is continental…coffee, fruit, yogurt. Then, first dive of the day, followed by Second Breakfast which was anything you wanted: pancakes, french toast, eggs, baked beans on toast (for the Brits and Aussies), noodles…as I said, anything you want! And of course, by the time we came up from the first dive, our cabin was clean and sparkling.
Our first stop was Moyo Island and Angel Reef. I have to say that Angel Reef was heavenly, indeed! My first Komodo dive…and how gorgeous it was!
After Angel Reef and Second Breakfast (I felt like a Hobbit!) our second dive site was Satonda. I saw Pygmy Sea Horses for the first time! I was too excited to focus on them with my camera, but still! Pygmy sea horses!
Of course, there was much more to see!
After finishing dive two, lunch is served! After lunch, dive 3. After dive 3, snacks! If a night dive is on the schedule, you do the night dive and then have dinner. The crew of the Arenui anticipate every thing you want. They really are amazing. If you want to dive Indonesia, do go on the Arenui! It is an incredible experience.
I will be back with scenes from Day 2!
At the end of my stay on Bali, I embarked upon a journey through Indonesia to Komodo Island, diving, and much more, along the way. I chose the Arenui because it was sponsoring a Ray of Hope Expedition (Marine Megafauna Foundation) and Dr Andrea Marshall, aka Queen of Mantas, was on board as the resident expert. As many of my readers know, I have been on several trips with Ray of Hope, doing Citizen Science Volunteer work, and I love the Foundation’s mission to save marine megafauna from extinction. Andrea and I shared a room, and what a room! The Arenui is absolutely luxurious! The stateroom was large and roomy and so Indonesian! We stayed in Garuda, the stateroom named for the Hindu deity Garuda, a large humanlike bird who carried Vishnu on its back. The carvings in the room were beautiful, as you can see! The Arenui is definitely the most luxurious boat I have been on, and I am now absolutely spoiled.
The mission of the trip was to identify as many Reef Mantas as possible. Of course, along the way we would dive several other dive sites as well. The diving was incredible. The trip map below shows our journey from Bali, past Lombok and Sumbawa to Moyo Island and the Sangeang Volcano, to Komodo and Rinca Islands in the Flores Sea. It was an incredibly beautiful journey, both above and below the surface.
Andrea Marshall was the first person to do a PhD on Manta Rays. Until her research, very little was known about them. She discovered two species, and a large population off the coast of Mozambique, where she makes her home. She has advocated for protection everywhere in the world. Indonesia, once the main fishery for Manta Rays for Chinese medicine, is now protecting Manta Rays as they have realized they are worth more for their economy alive than dead. Sadly, the once flourishing colony of Reef Mantas off Mozambique has declined by 95% due to Mozambique’s refusal to protect the animals. Manta encounters drew many to Mozambique’s dive centers, and the disappearance of the mantas will have a negative effect on Mozambique’s economy. Andrea has witnessed the decline of mantas in Mozambique over the last 12 years, and it has been heartbreaking. The species is very vulnerable to extinction because of the slow reproduction of the animals. Females give birth every 2 or 3 years to only one pup, rarely there are twins. Fishing Mantas can destroy entire populations because they are taken faster than they can reproduce. These gentle, intelligent ocean giants must be protected in order to save the species from extinction. Andrea devotes her life to advocating for Manta Rays and other pelagics such as Whale Sharks, Mola Mola, and turtles.
Diving Indonesia was an unbelievable experience for me. The sheer amount of life in the seas is almost mind blowing. Stay tuned to Travels with Tam for photos and reports on this fabulous journey. I will be posting frequently to show you the wonders of Komodo (yes, there will be dragons!).
