Our guests just returned from two weeks exploring one of the more remote corners of the Coral Triangle. We departed from Sorong on 24 February and cruised south through Misool (Raja Ampat) then headed east down the coast of West Papua through Fak-Fak. Our final destination was the famed Triton Bay near Kaimana. Hardly anyone lives along much of this coast. We saw rainforest mountains rising from the ocean, with wild rivers and waterfalls meeting the sea. Papuan Hornbills fed on fruiting trees on one side, and on the other, manta rays leapt from the ocean deep. Here is the latest trip report for Raja Ampat, Fak-Fak and Triton Bay to read.
The soft corals of Triton Bay were mind-boggling. The colours were sensational. Hard coral reef is coloured in mute tones of yellow and green. So, to see whole island sides blanketed in a forest of feathery black coral (which is actually white) above the pinks, yellows, oranges, purples, blues and reds of the soft corals, was sensational. And the fish life! Everything was bigger and more abundant than anywhere any of us has ever seen. This is the only location in the whole Coral Triangle I have visited, where fish are properly mature. Everywhere else, the largest and oldest animals are either gone, still young, or only just recovering.
To top it all off, we swam with whale sharks. What we weren’t expecting was the abundance of dolphins. It was a feast for all the senses.
Vibrant Misool
Misool makes up 1,087 of the almost 1,800 islands in Raja Ampat. It’s a stunningly diverse location. Every rock wall, plateau and reef hosts a different assemblage of species. The region’s hard corals alone make up almost three quarters of all the world’s diversity.
From a boat tour around the 13-island complex of Wayil we found cliffs covered in carnivorous pitcher plants and orchids. An evening of drinks at the beach in Kalig West had us swimming with tiny Black-tipped Reef Sharks. During the day, we snorkelled and dived at famous places such as Boo West, Whale Rock and Wedding Cake. The fish life here is unprecedented and the reefs are stunning.
Remote Fak-Fak
The next phase of our voyage took us east. The coastline of Fak-Fak is extremely remote and much of it remains unexplored. Our only challenge was the weather. These days, conditions are increasingly volatile. In the past, after Chinese New Year, we could pretty much expect perfect conditions as the northerly monsoon abates and the doldrums set in. In recent years the wind has been stronger – this is to do with global heating and the increase in atmospheric moisture. So we had to skip through the island of Pisang (which means banana) and head quickly to the shelter of the mainland.
The island of Pulau Sabuda was unexpectedly rich and we had some wonderful snorkels and dives there. Unlike to dense reefs of Misool, these regions are more Pacific like. They are dominated by monolithic boulders and bommies. After our morning swim we left with the wind and rain behind us but we did have a lovely encounter with Spinner Dolphins at the bow in the rain. It also gave us the chance to reach the coast by late afternoon and swim again at Pulau Dua.
From here, we hopped down the coast between different bays. A calm weather morning meant we could sail into deep water where we found a large mixed pod of Melon-headed Whales, Pantropical and Spinner Dolphins. We also enjoyed an early morning speedboat ride in Serakor where we were serenaded by birdsong; saw magnificent Papuan Hornbills feeding and explored some of the nearby caves. Then our final day before rounding the coast to Triton Bay was spent at Mommon where we had hoped to swim at the waterfall but the weather once again thwarted our plans, so we put the wind behind us and headed to our final destination, Triton Bay.
Mind-boggling Triton Bay
This is one of the most remote reefs on Earth. To get back to Denpasar took three flights … but it was worth the journey. Triton Bay is a site renowned for having relatively poor visibility. During our visit, it was quite good. The reef is on the boundary of deep ocean and huge inlets and bays. Sediment from inshore dominates the nutrientEnergy and nutrients are the same thing. Plants capture energy from the Sun and store it in chemicals, via the process of photosynthesis. The excess greenery and waste that plants create, contain chemicals that animals can eat, in order to build their own bodies and reproduce. When a chemical is used this way, we call it a nutrient. As we More processes while exceedingly strong currents sweep over the fringing islands. This sets up conditions for a terrific amount of life.
What immediately strikes you are the size of the fish. The Midnight Snapper here will be exceeding 80 years old. To reach full maturity, most large fish need 40-50 years. A season of bombing and all the large fish are gone and it takes decades for them to return. Imagine the consequence for the coral reef, of losing all the large animals that create that structure? It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that the reef here is a visual feast. Neither words or pictures can really do justice to what we see. It’s mind-boggling.
Whale Sharks and Dolphins
Finally, we travelled overnight for a few hours into the area known as Bitsjara Bay. This is an area where baitfish fishing began in the year 2000. The fish are sold to a local market to use as bait for a pole and line fishery in the local area. In the early years, it attracted whale sharks. Very soon this began to provide local people an additional and alternative source of income. Soon after, dolphins began to appear. Over the years, they’ve become more accustomed to people being in the water and now the sharks and dolphins can be seen side by side
The surprise was the sheer number of dolphins. For some time, it was chaos(Of energy and ecosystems). Ecosystems are thermodynamically driven. Disorder occurs when energy dissipates and becomes more chaotic. For example, the release of hot air into the atmosphere results in that energy is freer to disperse (maximum entropy). The opposite is true when energy is locked into biological processes, when it is stored inside molecules (minimum entropy). Stability in ecosystems occurs More and a cacophony of clicks and whistles as a raudy group of dolphins appeared all around us.
Ask me about trips
Drop me a line with any questions you have about forthcoming trips. Everything is listed here: https://wildiaries-travel.com/ but we fill up quite far in advance. Our next fully available departures are in June 2027 for Komodo.
Simon Mustoe [email protected] T +61(0)405 220 830
