RAJA AMPAT: Unusual Creatures, The Polluted Beach (Day 1 - 3 10-23/25)

SARONG TO TAPOK ISLAND, PENEMU ISLANDS 

Ruskin ( mid 1800's) said that "...modern travel...is very little different from becoming a parcel", and so I bundled myself up for the long flights from Los Angeles to Taipei, Jakarta and finally Sarong, on the west coast of West Papua, Indonesia, formerly New Guinea and Irian Jaya.  It's the very richest destination in the famous Coral Triangle of tropical reef ecosystems, and I'd selected it carefully before signing up for a World Wildlife Fund tour.

I'd met the tour group for a welcome buffet at the hotel.  Ron, the group leader, is an endlessly energetic and deeply knowledgeable leader, living on Palau.  He has biceps no doubt developed from paddling straight up waterfalls, and can free dive to 70 feet and remain for 4 minutes. 

He made great use of an IPad and his camera, and we always had photos of what we'd seen to refresh our overloaded memories. He and his wife and two children live on Palau where he runs a large travel operation there that specializes in paddle tours. He's also been instrumental in conservation and sustainable tourism efforts in the Coral Triangle and on Palau. 

The group was impressively traveled. I quickly found it easier to assume they've already been there/done that - I was the "newbie" snorkeler.  Pete and Judy are marine biologists, Jo and John are scientist and doctor who study nudibranchs, Gus and Mary Ann their brother and sister-in-law proved to be indefatigable companions, Christina would have slept in the water if she could!, Mark and Gina are whale-lovers, photographers, and were the nexus for laughs.  Marilyn is the owner of the travel agency which made all the WWF tour arrangements and was a lively, warm, thoughtful Asia specialist and skier.

We boarded the Sea Safari 8 mid-morning, napped and got a late afternoon snorkel at Tapok Island.  Jet leg left me sleeping in the outdoor lounge and waking to a lovely sunset.  The boat went on to Penemu Island, on the map right northeast of Batana Island, where we were to spend two days in Melissa's Garden, Anita's Garden, and Kruo Channel at Kruo Island.  

The islands are karst (limestone) and rise like bluffs on the Mississippi, but dense with tropical growth. In the morning we did a zodiac tour about, seeing marvelous birds. (Pacific Reef heron, lesser frigate, black necked tern, White breasted fruit dove, pied imperial pigeon , eclectus parrots, moluccan red lorry, uniform swiflet , white bellied cookoo shrike)

tree duck

RL* (All Ron Leidich's photos are marked this way)

Pacific reef heronRL*

Then the snorkeling began, and despite my disappointment in the overcast conditions, the fish were the most fabulous sightings of my life. 

This "plant" is actually an animal called a crinoid, which is capable of moving from place to place, Pete Weis tells me..

RL* - this looks like it actually did.

RL* I think he was in a  cave looking out - pink fish inside pink growth.

 These photos made by Ron with a powerful flash show why I was disappointed by what I thought were "visibility" and water clarity issues.  All the undersea "money" shots, as Ron called them, that I saw, including those glossy professional guidebooks, are made with powerful flashes and ludicrously expensive lenses ($12,000) that illuminate the actual color of the fish and corals beyond what natural lighting and actual depth would permit one to see. So though one sees the details of the organism's structure, the color is heightened and hinders identification, especially for amateurs. Knowledge, expertise...why people get big bucks.

A lot of coral has muted soft tones, or is muddy golden green or army green.

(spadefish, foxface rabbitfish, redfin butterfly fish, Moorish idol, regal angelfish, blue-girdled angelfish, humphead bannerfish, spottail butterfly fish, raccoon butterfly fish, black tripped reef shark, banded sea snake, woebegone shark, blue and gold fusilier school, double saddle butterfly fish, lionfish, coral  or highfin grouper,  blue spotted grouper, blue-greem chromis, striped trumpetfish, puffers, false clown anemone fish, skunk anemone fish, tomato anenome fish, black spotted puffer, bearded filefish, among the known)

false anemone  fish 

This is a crocodile  fish - I have enhanced the photo so it is more visible, but really, it's so easy to swim right over it.

Giant clam

RL* Lionfish - not a problem in the South Pacific, there are enough natural predators to control them,  but in the Caribbean they are an invasive species, let loose from aquariums.  With no natural predators, they have increased so much that fish stocks are much diminished. 

RL*  wobbegong shark - pronounced like "woebegone" - and he looked it too.  A sorrier looking creature if ever I saw one.  He looks like he was run over by a truck.  But he lurks and then lunges, very effective strategy.

RL* false anemone fish

The morning began with a hike, the Indonesian guides and Ron hiking barefoot over sharp rocks and supporting those of us whose balance was less than perfect, toting water bottles for us as well.   

The beach walk sounded idyllic - but the lesson was immediate and ugly. It's all so undeniably true.  Pete, the marine biologist, took pictures for a book his wife is writing about ocean pollution.   

Judy, his wife, is a crab specialist.   She has written 5 books on marine topics in the past 4 years, including "Walking Sideways".

She and her husband Pete found this hermit crab doing so,struggling over the dreadful junk on his unknown but purposeful journey.

Tonight we left Penemu and began the longest leg of the traverse, to Wayag Island, a northwest direction.  The boat, which looks so romantic, is actually diesel-powered and the air conditioning runs constantly.  It also creaks dreadfully, and the light sleepers in the group had a tough time of it. It is marvelously comfortable, though, with my own little ensuite cabin.

Very different from the prau Wallace describes in his record, The Malay Archipelago: "…how…sweet [smelling] is everything on board-no paint, no tar, no new rope (vilest of smells to the qualmish!) no grease, oil, or varnish, but instead of these, bamboo and rattan, and coir rope and thatch; pure vegetable fibres, which smell pleasantly if they smell at all, and recall quiet scenes in the green and shady forest". (loc 1494).