6 - 18 August 2009 A panoramic shot of the upper deck of the Seven Seas We spent 12 wonderful days diving with the entire Pet family and their friends onboard The Seven Seas, a super luxurious dive live aboard operating all over the best sites of Indonesia. The Seven Seas - a [...]
6 - 24 August 2009 It is very interesting that mangroves and seagrass beds do not hold as much tourist attraction as flamboyant coral reefs. Fair enough as coral reefs are magical and full of variety of shapes and animals. But there is beauty in each ecosystem - so much so that we have this [...]
By Alya B. Honasan IT was serendipitous that an important meeting of Coral Triangle partners was going on in Bali at the same time we visited, as scientists, conservation experts, and government representatives from all over the world gathered to work out plans of action. That meant that a whole battery of experts was ready [...]
24 - 29 July 2009 Our Warmamedi tent beside the WWF turtle hatchery For the next four nights, we consistently saw two leatherback turtles laying eggs. We didn’t have as many companions now as the first night, and we developed some sort of nightly ritual. A long boat (dugout canoe with outriggers) would [...]
23 July 2009 We arrived in Batu Rumah sometime 3 pm of July 23. Immediately our WWF leaders Mr. Bas and Franki called for a meeting with all the site monitoring staff and some local Papuan patrol volunteers. WWF Sorong staff photo in Warmamedi. They loved our flag! Our presence and intentions were [...]
23 - 29 July 2009 Um Island Batu Rumah We have been planning this part of our expedition since before we left Australia for Asia four months ago. When we found out that WWF Indonesia had a project site for leatherback turtles, we zeroed in on what we needed to do and plan. Malaria was [...]
By Alya B. Honsasan Trawler catch being sorted into baskets in Kudat Bay In the Kudat-Banggi Priority Conservation Area (PCA) in Sabah, Malaysia, fish is a big deal. You see it everywhere, from the fish cages outside settlements like Tampakan and Sibogo, to the dozens of trawlers and purse seiners docked at the harbor, equipped with [...]
25 – 30 June Kudat Harbour Pulau Banggi The efficient WWF Malaysia machinery was immediately felt when I started getting a series of text messages regarding transport, hotel accommodations and our overall visit to Kudat from Betty of the WWF KK office. Then Sofia Johari, the CEPA or Community Education, Protection, and Awareness Officer of Kudat-Banggi PCA left me [...]
16 - 25 June 2009 Sipadan Mabul Resort- SMART Yogi nagged and nagged me about Sipadan. “I need time underwater!” he says. “Don't cut short my diving time!” He needed to nag because I have a habit of prioritizing land shoots. Listening to the demanding husband, I booked us 10 days and 9 [...]
By Alya B. Honsasan 23 - 25 June 2009 N4 07.051 E118 37.655 I SHOULD have gotten the hint when I did my check-out dive the afternoon I arrived at the Sipadan Mabul Resort (SMART) on Mabul Island, one of the two islands within view of Sipadan. On that relaxed 40-minute dive in Paradise 2 and 3, two [...]
