Wildlife
UPDATE – El Nido Coral
By Tony on February 5, 2012 | 5 Comments »
We just received this very detailed letter from one of our readers named Johnny, who took the time to update us on the condition of the coral in El Nido on the island of Palawan in the Philippines.
If you were following our blog while we were traveling through Palawan, you might remember that our post 100 Ways to Kill Coral generated some controversy among the locals and we received several informative comments from Lee Goldman at S.E.Asia Kayak Tours.
According to Johnny, not much has improved since then and he even seems to suggest that the situation has worsened. If anyone has any additional opinions (including El Nido locals), we would love to hear them in this post’s comment section.
Here is a copy of Johnny’s letter:
Hello Tony,
Thank you for the report.
I have been to El Nido twice… in November 2010 and more recently, last week. On my first visit, I did island hopping tour A (Miniloc Island and surroundings) and found that most of the coral was dead, and consisted mainly of rubble. The snorkelling sites were shallow and I assumed the rubble was due to the daily stamping of careless tourists.
Last week, I did tour C (Matinloc and Tapuitan Islands). The tour operator collected both the tour fee and Eco Tourism Development Fee (P200) from each person the day before. The operator did not » Continue reading this post »
Muck Diving in Maumere
By Tony and Thomas on January 29, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Warning: This post contains cool footage
of the spectacular mimic octopus
If you see something swimming by in the video above which looks like an underwater Far Side cartoon creature wearing horn-rimmed glasses, that would be the mimic octopus. Mimic octopus? If you are wondering where you heard that name before, it might be that you read a recent National Geographic article about the discovery of a species of jaw fish which, ironically enough, mimics the mimic octopus. (That’s a lot of mimicry!)
We spent a couple of days at Ankermi Happy Dive Resort in northern Flores diving their world-famous muck sites. Lucky finds included: mimic octopus, long-arm octopus, a dazzling variety of nudibranchs, cuttlefish, yellow and black seahorses, an adult painted frogfish, 4 large harlequin ghost pipefish… it’s like a muck diving miracle.
There were also several extremely small animals we had never seen before such as bizarrely tiny pipefish and micro-nudibranchs. These animals were so small that we actually dove with a magnifying glass. Filming during muck dives is always a challenge as, unlike the jaw fish and the mimic octopus, we don’t have the ability to mimic our surroundings. Despite the challenges, of all our dive videos, this just might be one of our favorites.
Here Be Dragons, Too
By Tony on January 21, 2012 | No Comments »
Most guidebooks and online resources suggest that the range of the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is limited to Komodo, Rinca, Gili Motang, Gili Dasami, and the mainland of Flores just opposite Rinca. So imagine our surprise when we discovered a population of “dragons” here in the Riung archipelago as well.
What?
Apparently, locals have known for some time that large monitors inhabit the shores of northern Flores to the west of Riung as well as some of the offshore islands. Locals suggest the government is only now taking notice of the Riung dragons’ existence. For centuries, colonists and travelers have been passing through Flores and, somehow, they seem to have missed the dragons of Riung. Could that be possible? After » Continue reading this post »
Seventeen Islands Marine Park
By Thomas on January 19, 2012 | 4 Comments »
After sitting in a car for several days, we’ve decided to mix it up a little and change our mode of transportation. From Riung town, located on the northern coast of Flores, we chartered a boat to take us around the Seventeen Islands Marine Park known for its beaches, coral gardens and interesting wildlife. For $45, our motley group of four was promised » Continue reading this post »
Manta Mania
By Thomas on December 27, 2011 | No Comments »
Mantas seen from the surface while diving off of Makassar Reef. There are only three in the picture, but our boat was surrounded by dozens of them!!!
