I woke up, gathered my dive gear, and stepped outside to
meet the rest of our group for a day of fun diving. Stepping out of my room and standing on the
porch, I was immediately engulfed by the chirping of birds, the leaves of the
nutmeg tree rustling in the wind, and the boats passing by through the bay as I
looked out to the water, just 20 meters from my door.
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Locals in a traditional Bandanese boat
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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Traditional Bandanese boat passing by Gunung Api
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
On my 4th day in Banda we went on two fun
dives as a large group from CTC, MMAF, and the local conservation
organization. We loaded all of our gear
onto the boats and set off towards our first dive site at Batu Kapal, which
directly translates to “boat rock” since it looks exactly like a boat off in
the distance. Batu Kapal is a small
rocky island with no inhabitants on it.
Since our group was so large, we used two boats. After an hour trudging slowly across the sea
to the island, we finally met up with the other boat that was a lot faster than
ours. While our boat was slow, it had a
glass bottom section, so I could see the beautiful reefs and swarms of fish
below that I was about to explore. Since
the boat is small, we had to jump into the water and put on our gear while
floating. Once everyone was ready we
descended. One of my favorite parts of
scuba diving is the moment I descend just below the surface. All of the noises, crashing of waves, and
commotion on the surface suddenly disappear instantly. As if walking through a portal to Narnia, a
new, underwater world exposes itself.
While the only noises I hear are the sounds of my breath and the
rumbling of the boat motor above, my eyes are over-stimulated by the countless
colors, shapes, and sizes of the coral and fish.
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Preparing the gear for the day of fun diving
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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| Off to Batu Kapal for some diving! |
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| Doesn't Batu Kapal look like a freighter? |
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| Passing by some fishermen on our way to Batu Kapal |
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| The other dive boat preparing to enter the water |
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View from the glass bottom floor
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
We swam along the reef that like most of the reefs in Banda,
suddenly drops off deeper. Along the
wall were monstrous coral and sponges.
Small black trigger fish swam in schools of hundreds, as other reef fish
swam in and out of the gaps in the coral, dancing the delicate ballet of
collecting food and avoiding becoming someone else’s food. Small fish with florescent blue streaks swam
by creating the appearance like I was traveling light-speed through space.
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| Swarms of black triggerfish |
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| More black triggerfish |
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| My co-worker Marthen |
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| Lilhy and Ali from MMAF |
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| Tons of fish! |
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| Giant sponges! |
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| Scale reference |
Some photos from Marthen's camera:
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| photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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| photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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| photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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| photo credit: Marthen Welly |
As we neared the end of our dive, Marthen and I started
ascending to a more shallow area of the reef.
Suddenly, a large 1.5 meter long bulky fish swam by. At first I thought it was a bumphead
parrotfish, but then I ecstatically realized it was my first Napoleon Wrasse I
have ever seen! The Napoleon Wrasse is
one of the largest species of coral reef fish, growing up to two meters in
length. Due to their high value in the
live reef fish trade, the species has historically been overfished and is now
endangered. Banda is unique in that it
serves as one of the last places in the world where this fish is still
abundant, which is one of the many reasons why marine conservation in Banda is
so important.
My excitement overtook me and I followed the Wrasse, trying to get some better pictures. I spotted Marthen who motioned to get low on the coral. Regaining my senses, I held on to a piece of rock and got as low to the reef as possible without damaging anything, since this is the best way to view any large species as they will soon forget you are even there. Marthen’s strategy was right, after a minute, four other Napoleon Wrasse swam around us, all at least one meter long. For the next 10 minutes we were blessed with a show of what Marthen thinks is a single family, swimming around us, their big puffy lips chomping at the coral and then releasing the indigestible parts back into the ocean. It was amazing to witness this natural beauty and watch a fish that most people in the world never get to see and that may not be around in another 10 years unless stronger conservation efforts are implemented.
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| Napoleon Wrasse! |
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| Eating some coral |
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| Small fish below, cleaning the wrasse |
Some photos from Marthen's camera:
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| photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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Photo shoot before surfacing
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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Beautiful photo of a clown fish. Nemo?
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
Our air eventually got low, and we had to ascend back to the
surface. Breaking through the surface of
the water, the noises of the waves, wind, birds, and boats, hit my eardrums as
I left the peaceful underwater rainforest behind.
Once back on board the boat, we all went to our next site
and anchored just offshore of the island for some lunch. The water was crystal blue and like a
swimming pool, I was able to see everything clearly below. There was a beach just off to the distance,
and the view of the crystal clear, coral-filled waters in front of the
palm-lined, white sand beach was what anyone first thinks of for a postcard
island paradise.
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| Ali moving a giant branch so it doesn't harm the coral |
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| Success! |
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| Beautiful water, beaches, and scenery. A true paradise. |
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| Crystal clear water |
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| Some locals fishing nearby |
After lunch and an hour back on the surface we donned our
gear and plunged back into the depths of the ocean. We were diving the same site I was at two
days prior, so I enjoyed focusing on looking at the more intricate details of
the reef and fish. While descending to
100 feet along the wall, a group of Napoleon Wrasse swam by. Throughout the dive, I ended up seeing 8 more
of these beautiful, green, fleshy fish.
We swam through the large swim-through dotted with sponges and sea fans,
and then made our way back to the shallow reefs. While exploring the reef with Marthen, I
looked under a crevice and saw a gigantic marble grouper. The grouper must have been 1.5-2 meters. Since sound travels much differently through
water than it does on land, it is very difficult to get another diver’s
attention. I swam as fast as I could
towards Marthen and tugged on his fin.
Startled at first, he followed me back to where I saw the fish. Finding groupers of this size is a pretty
rare occurrence since they often hide in caves and non-accessible parts of the
reef. Just as Marthen was going to take
a photo, the fish swam under the rock and out of view. While I waited on one side, Marthen swam to
the other side to try to corral it back to me, but it had already disappeared
into what seemed like an underwater cave.
After a bit more exploring, we eventually surfaced again, and for the
last time on the expedition, I left behind the most beautiful reefs I have ever
seen.
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| Butterflyfish |
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| Large sponges and coral along the wall |
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| 10-meter long swim-through |
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| Moray eel! |
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| Mustache triggerfish |
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| Lilhy holding on as the current picked up |
Some photos from Marthen's camera:
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A sense of scale of the drop off
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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Juvenile napoleon wrasse
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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Check out the unique patterns on its head
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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Holding on as the current tried to pull us away
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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The tail of the giant grouper
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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I make this hand gesture way too much
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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Photo of taking a photo
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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Gorgonians (sea fans) larger than me!
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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A forest of fish along the coral wall
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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Swimming through the cave
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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| photo credit: Marthen Welly |
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Marble grouper
photo credit: Marthen Welly |
After we all washed up back at the hotel, he headed to Fort
Belgica for a small socializing event with everyone on the team. Standing at the top of the fort, we shared
some drinks and snacks as the sun set behind Gunung Api. The keeper of the fort lit torches around the fort to provide some light, just as it was probably done
hundreds of years ago when the Dutch roamed the same grounds.
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| No big. Just some refreshments on top of a 17th century Dutch fort |
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| Ali standing on top of the garrison |
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| Group photo |
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| From left: Lilhy, Andre, and Ayu |
As it got late and the light began to fade away, we made our
way back to the hotel for dinner. After
some editing work for a report that needed to be sent off the next day, I went
to sleep, nervously awaiting my morning challenge to summit Gunung Api.
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