National Geographic

It is easy to get depressed some days. I recently picked up the April issue of National Geographic because I was drawn by the cover story "Saving the Sea's Bounty". If you click on the title you can read the story, which is about the overfishing of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean. There are other articles in the issue, one dedicated to a New Zealand marine reserve but all of them deal with the issue of the saving the ocean.

One of the difficult things to understand is that few people understand how interlinked the world has become. Japan loves sushi. So, are their tuna stocks in peril? No, but because they are willing to pay high prices for quality tuna, the Mediterranean is overfished. The result? The poorer countries in the Mediterranean will suffer. I think that is what depresses me. It won't be the people who rape the ocean, or the people that demand it that suffer. It will be innocents whose greatest crime is being poor.

There is also an excellent multimedia presentation at National Geographic. Click here to view it. Yes, take the 10 minutes because it is worth it.

I really feel at a loss to know what we should do to help the people with the power who can make drastic changes wake up and act. Secondarily, I don't want to be an alarmist, because I feel it will take years before overfishing's effects are felt. Having said that, we cannot wait, as we say in Oklahoma, until the horse has gone to shut the barn door.

Websites of note: Ocean Legacy and Oceana.

Pictures from Lankayan--TopCat

I've put a picture of a lionfish up from my last two dives, so why break a streak?

This is a blue-spotted stingray covered in sand for camouflage.

A ruffled nudibranch. I don't like the whites in this picture.

A stonefish.

I would like this picture if the diver wasn't swimming away from the camera.

Dive Report: Lankayan in Sabah April 6-9, 2007

Overall:

We thoroughly enjoyed our dives in Lankayan. I would rate them as ‘good’. The dives on the last day rated slightly better because of the better visibility. I’m not a vis freak but I hate having to spend half my dive peering into the murk to make sure my buddy is still close by.

Lankayan is known for its macro life and seems to have close ties with the Ferrarris, of diving fame, not cars. We saw a variety of nudibranches, 2 jawfish, 2 ribbon eels, leopard shark, stonefish, nurse sharks, orang utan crab, a hairy purple lobster that hangs out on sponges and pipefish. I’m not the best for finding and knowing all the little critters, so experienced macro maniacs might have found many more interesting creatures. Lankayan does get whale sharks this time of year (April/May) but none were sighted during our stay there.

The diving at Lankayan gets a bit repetitive. The sites are all basically coral reef dives, no wall dives, no drift dives, and no boulder or sea mound sites. I recommend interspersing a wreck dive or two with the coral reef dives to break up the routine. The Lankayan Wreck was a good dive.

Sidebar: Can we really call these ‘wreck dives’? Actually they are scuttled or sunken boats. ‘Wreck’ to me indicates it went to the bottom because of some tragic accident.

When you combine the spectacular resort with the abundant macro life at Lankayan, you get a quality diving experience.

Individual Dive Reports

Dive #1 Jetty Wrecks

I suppose it is bad to start out this report with a gripe but we were told we couldn’t do a boat dive because we had to do an orientation dive to check out our buoyancy. That is fine but then we were put in a group with some divers from Hong Kong who did have horrid buoyancy so it kind of put a damper on the whole dive. They looked like a five-headed octopus with flailing appendages kicking up the sand and making visibility quite poor.

Anyway, just in front of the jetty that houses the dive shop we found some planks and under them was a cleaning station with a large grouper getting some work done by cleaner shrimp. Further out there were two wrecks, smallish, maybe 12 meters in length and then a railroad container.

On the wrecks we found a pair of lionfish, a pipefish and a nudibranch.

Bottom time: 61 minutes

Maximum depth: 18 meters

Visibility: 5-10 meters (less at depth)

Dive #2 House Reef-Sunset Dive

So we went from being forced to do an orientation dive to the four of us doing a sunset dive without a dive master. Hmmm. We entered via giant stride from the jetty and headed to the left (south) to the house reef. The dive was fairly uneventful except for one black-tip reef shark and a juvenile harlequin sweetlips.

Bottom time: 59 minutes

Maximum depth: 13.1 meters

Visibility: 10 meters

Dive #3 Lost Reef

This was our first boat dive in Lankayan. We boarded the boat with 6 other divers, making the group 11 including the dive master.

Let me describe the dives at Lankayan, since most are the same. The boat goes to a buoy and ties on there. You descend along the line till you reach the coral reef. The reef at most sites is a raised reef going down to a sandy bottom. The sandy bottom is at 20-24 meters depending on the dive site. Most of the time we kept the reef on the left and swam along observing. The reefs are circular mounds and the bottom time lengthened, we would work our way toward the top of the reef. The top of the reef is around 14-10 meters depending on the dive site. Bottom times were about 45 minutes with 3 minute safety stop.

This reef was just as described above. The current was quite strong at times as we swam with the reef to our left. We saw several blue-spotted stingrays, various nudibranches and a stone fish.

Bottom time: 49 minutes

Maximum depth: 23.4 meters

Visibility: 10 meters

Dive #4 Jawfish Lair

This reef was the same as Lost Reef. We descended along the buoy line but at the bottom of the line was a jawfish. This is the first time I have gotten to see a jawfish and supposedly this one is quite large compared to others. Nearby it, resting on the sandy bottom was a cuttlefish. We swam into a mild current as we observed the reef but nothing too stiff.

Bottom time: 47 minutes

Maximum depth: 21.9 meters

Visibility: 10 meters

Dive #5 Mel’s Rock

Mel’s Rock is part of the Katcing group of reefs. I think there are six in total and we dove 3 of them during this dive trip. We descended to find a juvenile batfish beneath us. As we swam along the reef we also found three pairs of mating nudibranches, or maybe they were just on dates. On the top of the reef were two large rocks and then nearby a slight mound. On top of the mound was a large batfish with a sharksucker or remora assisting in cleaning.

Bottom time: 51 minutes

Maximum depth: 21.6 meters

Visibility: 8-12 meters (poorer at depth)

Dive #6 House Reef-Sunset Dive

One of the highlights of trip for me was the sunset dives we were able to do without a dive master. The four of us have logged many dives together, so it was fun to dive in a group of friends where we made all our decisions.

This time we went to the right (north) of the jetty. Actually, we tried to find the cleaning station from the first dive but found it abandoned. As we looked for it we saw flashes of a large fish which we suspected was a humpheaded wrasse.

The house reef yielded nothing of note but there were large numbers of trevally hanging out near it. When we returned to the jetty we spend a long time under the jetty near the pilings. Here we found a pipefish and several lionfish. It was amazing to see how alive even empty sand was with what looked like insects.

Bottom time: 70 minutes

Maximum depth: 11 meters

Visibility: 8 meters

Dive #7 Bimbo Rock

This dive had a bit of a wall as the reef became steep at one point. There we found a large stone fish. On the top of the reef there was a rock with five nudibranches on it. As we went up for the safety stop, suddenly one of the dive masters started pointing to the reef below. There sitting on the reef was a leopard shark. Our safety stop was spent admiring this gorgeous shark from above.

Bottom time: 46 minutes

Maximum depth: 24 meters

Visibility: 8-12 meters

Dive #8 Froggy Fort

This dive was the same dive plan as the other. We saw a juvenile ribbon eel in the sand near the bottom of the reef.

Bottom time: 51 minutes

Maximum depth: 22 meters

Visibility: 7-10 meters

Dive #9 Goby Rock

Same dive pattern. Saw a huge lobster in a cave and a blenny hiding in a hole.

Bottom time: 46 minutes

Maximum depth: 21 meters

Visibility: 7-12 meters

Dive #10 House Reef-Sunset Dive

This time we went to the left again and spent a long time observing the clingfish that are on the spines of the sea urchins.

Bottom time: 56 minutes

Maximum depth: 6.7 meters

Visibility: 10 meters

Dive #11 Lankayan Wreck

I am going to have to rethink my opinion of wreck dives because this one was the second straight excellent wreck dive I have had, with the other being Sugar Wreck in Perhentian.

It is two large boats, one wooden and one metal side by side. We circled the deeper one, the wooden one first, and did a swim through in one of the upper decks. We then swam back to the metal wreck. As we swam along the deck, June spotted a turtle. It actually swam through the middle of our dive group, giving us a great chance to observe it.

Bottom time: 39 minutes

Maximum depth: 23.4 meters

Visibility: 7 meters

Dive #12 Pegaso Reef

We went to Pegaso Reef, which doesn’t have a permanent buoy and must be found via GPS. Upon descent we could tell this was going to be a great dive because visibility was much better than the other dive sites, around 20 meters. As we headed down to the lower parts of the reef, we saw a cuttlefish resting on the sandy bottom. We also found a few nudibranches and blenny.

Bottom time: 50 minutes

Maximum depth: 24.4 meters

Visibility: 20 meters

Dive #13 Twin Rock

This dive was our last in Lankayan. We were delighted to find the visibility around 20 meters again. We saw several nudis and a nurse shark hiding in a cave. Most of our dive was spent observing a yellow ribbon eel. One top of the reef we found a stone fish and a stingray.

Bottom time: 51 minutes

Maximum depth: 20.7 meters

Visibility: 20 meters

Lankayan Island Dive Resort

Paradise beckons

The day started simply enough, with our pickup at Hotel Sandakan and then the transfer to the Sandakan Yacht Club. We then stepped on the speedboat and strapped on the bright orange life vests. Our boat then left the dock and sped past sleepy little stilt house villages built over the water. Soon the hills surrounding Sandakan began to grow smaller and smaller behind us and eventually disappeared into a thin line on the horizon. We slid past other islands, with the bow of the boat seemingly headed to nowhere. After one hour even the group of islands began to shrink behind us and nothing new appeared on the horizon. We began to joke about being kidnapped and taken to the southern Philippines when a small dot appeared on the horizon. Slowly it began to grow, much like the anticipation inside us. When we were almost to the island the waters began to turn a azure hue and we could see the lush greenness of the trees on the island. Our boat docked at the jetty and we drank in the mix of colours. The glistening blue sea, the deep green hills and the white sands all seemed to make the worries of the worklives we had come from slip from our minds.

Sand and sun

We were ushered to the restaurant area and given a short briefing of how our time at the island would be, meal times, expectations for divers and other necessities. Then we were given the keys to our rooms. The room was perfect for this idyllic isle. Wooden floors with big windows and a double door that opened to balcony and an ocean view.

The view from the balcony of the dive shop

There were two beds in our room, a king-sized bed and a single bed. Above both a mosquito net was suspended giving the whole room a bit of a colonial feel. For those who feared roughing it, there was an air conditioner and hot water and even a bathtub!

Our room for the 5 days

The meals were served buffet-style in the restaurant, which offered fabulous seating. For breakfast and lunch we generally sat inside or under the shade of a tree on the deck, while the sun-worshipers would sit on the unshaded deck and combine the activities of sunbathing and eating. At high tide the water came up under the deck and several juvenile black-tip reef sharks would come very close on their patrols. The food was superb. Both western and Asian dishes were offered at each meal and as a group we were enthusiastic fans of the chef’s soups. Each day he never failed to disappoint with a great soup, from clear cabbage to cream of mushroom to winter melon.

Simply put, the whole setup at Lankayan Island Dive Resort is from a page in a travel magazine. I thought I would have to visit the Maldives or Tahiti to see a resort like this. This tiny island hosts one of the best resorts in Malaysia. The chalets are tastefully done and suit the tropical island setting, they don’t feel unnatural or foreign. Almost all of the chalets open to the beach which is a stretch of amazing white sand. There are all the amenities that anyone could desire, air conditioning, hot water, 24-hour electricity and superb food. Simply put, it is the best place on earth!

Another day draws to a close

International Declaration of Reef Rights

Please consider signing the International Declaration of Reef Rights. Let's band together to make sure our coral reefs are thriving long into the future!

Pet Suggestion-Get a Whale Shark

Is your dog yapping all night long and the neighbours starting to talk about taking it for a long walk off a short pier? Or has all that cat hair in your apartment caused your friends to stop dropping by for visits and giving you lint brushes for gifts? Here is a simple solution. Get a whale shark!

These gentle giants of the ocean are available for adoption at Ecocean. For a fee of $50 AUS you can adopt the whale shark of your choice from a photo library of over 500 whale sharks. Here are the benefits you receive upon adoption:

• A photo of your shark
• A colour adoption certificate
• A public awareness brochure introducing our work on whale shark and marine conservation
• The new ‘JOIN THE DOTS, HELP SOLVE THE MYSTERY’ bumper sticker (hard copy)
• During the course of the year’s adoption, you will then also receive:
• Two bi-annual issues of the ECOCEAN newsletter (e-version) featuring up-to-date whale shark news, and information about other activities undertaken by ECOCEAN
• Automatic email updates on ‘your’ shark, every time it is resighted

Seems like a fun way to learn more about these fascinating animals and to help preserve them at the same time. Click here for the adoption page.

Nudibranches

Here is a short video from Youtube showing some nudibranches from the Andaman Sea and the Burma Banks. Cute little things huh?

Pictures from Perhentian-March 2007

I'm still working learning how to do underwater photography, this time using Magic Filters. They claim that you can use auto-white balance and just shoot away. LIES! I had to add a red filter in Photoshop to get the colour looking right. Next time I'll custom white balance off my slate.

Barrel sponge and school of small fish at Tokong Laut.

Nudibranch (I can confirm proper pronunciation as /nudi-brank/) at Tokong Laut

Nudibrach convention at Teluk K. K.

White-eyed moray eel

Diver and tabletop coral at Tokong Laut

Fleeing lionfish-This one trips me out because you can feel the motion from the picture

Year of the Dolphin

Chinese New Year has just passed and many people welcomed this year as Year of the Pig. You have been fooled. This year has actually been declared Year of the Dolphins. Dolphins are being threatened worldwide by fisheries and bycatch, chemical pollution, ship strikes, noise, disturbance and harassment and many other practices. Several agencies have banded together to declare 2007 as the "Year of the Dolphin" in order highlight their plight, raise awareness and implement practices that will ensure dolphins inhabit our planet until the Vogans destroy Earth to create an Intergalactic Superhighway.

One thing that I learned while doing research was that killer whales or orcas are actually classified as dolphins but misnamed. Also, one species of dolphin is now functionally extinct, the Baiji or Chinese river dolphin, formerly found in the Yangtze River.

One of the sights I hope to experience in my lifetime is seeing dolphins while underwater on a dive. Hopeful because of conscientious divers and this program, this dream can come true.

Not all dolphin species are endangered but let us act now. The eleventh hour is the poorest time to wake up to the reality of the fragility of all species on this planet, Homo sapiens included.

Click here for the Year of the Dolphin official website.

Note: I used the logo without permission. I don't want to tread on copyright laws so if it needs to be taken down I will be more than happy to do so.

Dive Report: Pulau Perhentian March 24-26, 2007

Dive #1 Batu Kapal 24/03/2007

There is nothing like getting back in the water after an extended absence from the underwater world. Our first dive was Batu Kapal (Boat Rock), a dive site just a bit off from Shark Point near Teluk Dalam on Pulau Perhentian Besar. Since it was just a check out dive I wasn’t expecting much plus the reports of the visibility were only 4-5 meters.

Batu Kapal is basically two large boulders with a large crevice that you can swim though splitting them. We descended into the crevice and swam through it then circling the massive boulders. Fish life was not abundant but it was a euphoric feeling just to in Neptune’s Kingdom again. A clump of small rocks yielded our first interesting finds of the day, a white-eyed moray eel and a blue-spotted ray. We then swam back through the fissure in the boulders before heading across the open sand to the coral reef and the dive site known as Shark Point. On the way we found a large school of chevron barracuda numbering in the hundreds. They split us leaving us hovering as the curtains of barracudas slide past on our left and right. At Shark Point marine life and snorkelers were more abundant, especially fish but the visibility the entire dive never got more than 6 meters.

Bottom time: 52 minutes

Maximum depth: 19 meters

Dive #2 Batu Layar 24/3/2007

Our next dive was near the north end of Pulau Perhentian Besar at a site called Batu Layar (Sail Rock). Our descent was along a buoy line to a large rock about the size of a small car. My buddy quickly spotted a nudibranch around a nearby rock and at a neighbouring rock we also found a demon stinger. I didn’t have my camera so no pics of this guy but they are very cool. Demon stingers are camouflaged and don’t swim but actually crawl along sandy bottoms using their pectoral fins.

The visibility was marginally better but we saw a couple nudibranches. (What is the correct pronunciation, nudi-brank or nudi-branch?) and one turtle.

The site is hard coral with small and medium sized boulders around the edges. The coral looked fairly unhealthy, with much of the staghorn coral dead underneath but alive on the upper levels. Some table coral was half dead as well. Fish life was fairly abundant and beautiful as always. We ascended after a full circle of the site, following the buoy line to the surface.

Bottom time: 52 minutes

Maximum depth: 20 meters

Dive #3 Batu Butuk 25/03/2007

The following morning we continued our survey of sites named “batu” by heading to Batu Butuk, on the east side of Pulau Perhentian Besar. (I asked what Butuk meant, and the DM just said ‘man’ but it is a word I’ve never heard for man which makes me wonder if it isn’t a bit off-colour.)

Visibility had greatly improved, especially in the shallower waters to sometimes 11 meters but dropping to 8 or so in the depths.

I had a personal first sighting, a cobia, which at first I thought was a shark, but as he swam closer I realized it wasn’t a shark. Turns out it was a cobia, which I was then informed stays close to larger fish, such as Napolean or hump-headed wrasse or whale sharks. Next time I see a cobia I will definitely chase it!

The site is massive boulders sitting on a sandy bottom, the sandy bottom being around 20 meters. We found several nudibranches clinging to the walls the boulders formed with their jumbled masses. The smaller rocks near the bottom were home to Gorgonian fans and a few sprigs of black coral.

Bottom time: 55 minutes

Maximum depth: 20 meters

Dive #4 Terumbu Tiga 25/03/2007

This was one of my favourite dives in Perhentian last year, so I was quite excited to dive it again. At the surface, it is 3 or 4 rocks exposed only a meter or so above the surface of the water but below the surface these huge rocks for a pinnacle that are inhabited by myriad forms of marine life.

We descended down a buoyline to the sandy bottom the gigantic rocks rest on. There we found a pipefish and a couple of nudibranches. As we circled the rocks we found a boxfish but it was on our ascent to do the safety stop that we got to take in the best sight of the dive. There, munching on coral at the top of one of the boulders that doesn’t break the waters surface, was a bumphead parrotfish. These are massive creatures measuring a meter and a half and look like some Jurassic era beast with their bulbous foreheads. You could hear the crunch of coral underwater as it grazed on some hard coral formations. (Parrotfish are named so because of their beak-like mouths they use to bite off and eat coral.) Definitely an amazing sight!

Bottom time: 53 minutes

Maximum depth: 20 meters

Dive #5 Teluk K.K. 25/03/2007

This dive starts on the west side of the point where Shark Point is. We started around in the bay and then swam around the point, towards Shark Point but stopped about halfway and turned back.

This or the first dive would be the worst dive of the trip, as the visibility was only 6 meters most of the dive and there wasn’t much to see. We did have fun swimming through the large crevices in the rocks but only a few nudis and a lionfish were worth stopping and checking out.

Bottom time: 59 minutes

Maximum depth: 14 meters

Dive #6 Tokong Laut (Temple of the Sea) 26/03/2007

This is considered the premier dive site in the Perhentians and despite a RM20 fee per person for petrol (because it is so far away) it is well worth dive. Case in point, the best visibility before this dive was around 11 meters but at Tokong Laut we had 15 + meters. Plus, the richness of the marine life is just amazing. Again, it is a mass of boulders with the top ones breaking the surface of the water. Most dives you swim to the bottom and work your way to the top, meaning that your safety stop is spent exploring the cracks and fissures looking for cowrie shells or other macro life forms.

The bad part about diving Tokong Laut is that every one dives it. I’ve dove it three times so far and every time I was one of 20 divers circling the site. Easy to lose your buddy in the sameness of fins, wetsuits and masks!

The dive yielded nurse sharks, blue spotted rays, toadfish, cowrie shells, white-eyed morays, a few jacks or trevally, some puffer fish and the usual nudibranches. We couldn’t circle the site because of strong current from the north, so we just swam back and forth working our way up. As always, a great dive!

Bottom time: 51 minutes

Maximum depth: 20 meters

Dive #7 Sugar Wreck 26/03/2007

Somewhere between the mainland town of Kuala Besut and Pulau Perhentian is a wreck dive called the Sugar Wreck. My understanding is that it was a boat loaded with sugar that sunk, hence the name.

The boat settled on its side, with the bottom of the hull facing roughly north. There was a very strong current at the surface, so we deflated our BCD’s and descended immediately, regrouping at the buoy line to make sure we were together.

We descended to the sandy bottom and I found a couple of razorfish near the stern of the boat. We continued around the stern and encountered a bit of a current but that was a good thing because lots of fish were sitting in the current. Maybe it is easy for them to breathe or something but fish will often sit still in a current. I guess they are working a bit, because they don’t get swept away, so I mean sitting still to the observer. Here we found several great barracudas, some a meter in length. Also, as we peered into the distance we saw our second cobia of the weekend. I did chase him a bit but it yielded nothing.

We then swam around to the deck part of the ship which sheltered us from the current. You can enter the wreck easily. Basically the whole hold is empty and you can swim through from one door to the next. It is a huge wreck, our DM said around 30 meters in length. (Seemed bigger to me but I don’t want to be like a kid who thinks he can do a hundred million push-ups!) We saw one nurse shark hiding in the frame of the hold door as we headed toward the bow of the ship. As we swam around the bow we encountered the current again and just push forward a bit to see a toadfish (which before looking in the ID book I thought was a puffer). We then returned to swim along the masts, through the holds again and up the buoy line which is in the middle of the ship.

Honestly, previously I have detested wreck dives. You just swim around the rotting carcass of a boat and some big grouper is there inside but this dive was amazing. The boat is huge, the visibility was good, around 15 meters and the current brought in some big fish. I think I would get tired of diving it frequently but this was my first time and it was definitely worth it.

Bottom time: 54 minutes

Maximum depth: 18.5 meters

Overall impressions:

Good to be in the water again with 4 dives I would rate as 6 or better on a scale of 10. Visibility was not great. We were told it was due to rain the two days before we arrived and it didn’t rain much while we were then and seemed to be getting marginally better. Still my favourite dive sites were Terumbu Tiga and Tokong Laut, which I loved last year but Sugar Wreck and Batu Butuk were great dives as well. They will get added to my list of must-dives in the Perhentians.

Magic Filters

Since I finally got an underwater camera, I was hit head-on with the variety of problems that occur when shooting underwater. One problem is white balance. Because of the filtration power of the water, certain wavelengths of light are lost as they pass through the water. So, all my first pictures were a nice greenish hue. Unless you use flash, which replaces the missing wavelengths. The pictures can be salvaged, thanks to Photoshop, but who wants to edit every picture just to get the green colour removed.

Beng recommended I try Magic Filters, so I have purchased a couple of them (for blue and green water) and will be trying them out next weekend when I am diving Pulau Perhentian.

From what I've seen of Beng's photos, I know Magic Filters work like, well, magic! I'm eager to try them out. The problem is that you can't use flash with them so you have to decide before you get in the water if you want to shoot flash photography or available light. This may not be the conundrum I imagine.

More information on Magic Filters can be found by clicking here.

I am also going to take my laptop and try to write up a short description of each dive and post it on the blog to give you an idea of conditions and which dives are good and which are less than spectacular.

This will also be my warm-up for Lankayan, where I will be diving in early April. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a whale shark.