Anyway, I just wanted to share a little bit about the area we visited, apart from the Kalabia program itself (which I have written about in my reports, and the Kalabia blog – hope to be published soon!).
Our Route:
The single dive we got the chance to do was at a site called Melissa’s Garden… one of the most famous sites in Raja Ampat… quite lovely, and within 2 kms of a village we did a program in. So we got up extra early and did one dive before the program even got started. Even thought it was first-light, and it felt like the reef was ‘still sleeping’…. we encountered a few interesting things… flatworms, a wobbie (wobbegong shark)...
... and lots of crinoid shrimp commensals (you can see some pics in my previous blog - my camera fogged up, unfortunately, so I didn’t any great shots). I was disappointed that the only thing left of the giant clams I’d heard about were their empty shells...
When we were in the village of Fam/Saukabu on the Kalabia, the biggest news was a story of a diver who had been lost last month (mid-May?), thought to have been eaten by a giant octopus... Just one dive-site away from Melissa's Garden. The villagers said there were four liveaboards all gathered attempting to 'free her'.... Their story was somewhat fantasical (included rescue efforts botched by giant octopus ink sprays, diver-to-surface tele-communications (where the victim was able to communicate that she was trapped inside the cave by the giant octopus, and running low on air), body nor any gear ever seen again...). They are also now terrified of this giant octopus and the diver's ghost, that they think must now be haunting this particular area... I am attempting to corroborate the story, and hopefully get them a more accurate version!? We saw an octopus while snorkeling in Waisilip, but he was not of a proportion to be in any position to devour a human... and he was much more intimidated by us, than we needed be of him, changing colour and texture several times as I tried to snap an in-focus shot of him... check out this sequence:
... and lots of crinoid shrimp commensals (you can see some pics in my previous blog - my camera fogged up, unfortunately, so I didn’t any great shots). I was disappointed that the only thing left of the giant clams I’d heard about were their empty shells...
When we were in the village of Fam/Saukabu on the Kalabia, the biggest news was a story of a diver who had been lost last month (mid-May?), thought to have been eaten by a giant octopus... Just one dive-site away from Melissa's Garden. The villagers said there were four liveaboards all gathered attempting to 'free her'.... Their story was somewhat fantasical (included rescue efforts botched by giant octopus ink sprays, diver-to-surface tele-communications (where the victim was able to communicate that she was trapped inside the cave by the giant octopus, and running low on air), body nor any gear ever seen again...). They are also now terrified of this giant octopus and the diver's ghost, that they think must now be haunting this particular area... I am attempting to corroborate the story, and hopefully get them a more accurate version!? We saw an octopus while snorkeling in Waisilip, but he was not of a proportion to be in any position to devour a human... and he was much more intimidated by us, than we needed be of him, changing colour and texture several times as I tried to snap an in-focus shot of him... check out this sequence:
Snorkeling with the students was a lot of fun, as usual, and we usually saw both relatively healthy reefs, alongside evidence of destruction. Martin found an unexploded bomb in one spot, and a potassium poison spray bottle on another!
Anyway, although the program was as full as always, we tried to find a little time for a little exercise (volleyball, whatever you call what Martin is doing here, and even yoga – which the entire village came out to watch!?!)
The head of Gag village was the most incredible man - obviously open-minded, and much more ‘worldly’ than many of his counterparts I have met on previous occasions. Even though Gag is targeted for serious nickel mining exploitation, he is set upon doing everything possible to minimize the impact of those activities on the local environment. Whether that's possible or not is another question? When it rained, the bays flooded murky with red mud, and the mouth of the river has quite a build-up of silt... and they haven't even opened up the uplands yet. You can see the red hues of the nickel in the hills even in the Google Earth map above!
As we were docking at the village, he saw me, and said, in flawless English… Welcome to Gag Island… Small, but nice! Then after his closing remarks at the program closure, he proceded to serenade us with a song of remembrance - in English!
As we were docking at the village, he saw me, and said, in flawless English… Welcome to Gag Island… Small, but nice! Then after his closing remarks at the program closure, he proceded to serenade us with a song of remembrance - in English!
The head of the village from Saukabu village was just as charismatic, but in a much more local Papuan way… he’s the first village leader that has come snorkeling with us and the kids, and in fact participated in almost the entire program... he even dressed up in our Kalabia mascot costume! There were lots of other interesting characters in this village as well, including this old fisherman who regaled me with stories of 'the old days'!
Mostly in these villages, the favourite (if only) pass-time is fishing (young and old)... In most of these communities they are still able to catch decent-sized fish right from their jetties...
There are a few more individual posts from this trip yet to come...
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