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The islands of the "Four Kings" call us

30/11/2014

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Arborek Island in Dampier Strait
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A group of Sweetlips in Dampier Strait
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A Pontohi Pygmy Seahorse (1 cm tall)
The Raja Ampat Islands beckoned us to return again this year, so during September we accompanied a group of underwater photographers to dive and photograph the world's richest reefs. Our group was made up of people from various backgrounds, we had a marine scientist, an insurance assesor, a finance advisor, a nurse, a water project consultant, a medical case manager, a marine artist, a dive instructor, a retired builder and a marine sculptor.
Together we explored the reefs and islands straddling the equator off the coast of West Papua. We photographed walking sharks, solar powered nudibranchs, dense shools of sweetlips, tiny 1cm tall pygmy seahorses, watched a moray eel fight a giant napolaen wrasse,
descended on sheer walls coated with sea fans, watched in awe as a pack of sharks hunted for food and drifted through a river-like channel loaded with marine life.
Talk to us now if you'd like to join a trip in 2016, as our next trip in October 2015 is already full.
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The World's Richest Reefs
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This school of fusiliers were hiding near the jetty at Arborek Island
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Under Arborek Island Jetty
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 A Secret Dive Location

17/11/2014

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Gilimanuk Bay on the western tip of Bali is a great muck diving site that was given the name Secret Bay by our late friend Takamasa Tonozuka, a long time Bali resident & underwater photographer who shared his secret with us back in the early 90's. "Tono" even opened a dive centre there which is now shut down. But there are dive wash down facilities and toilets.
We recently visited for the first time in a few years and enjoyed the dive site with only 4 other divers, they had come to see sea horses, which we found three of in the first five minutes.
We also came to see if the Pom-Pom Frogfish that we had seen on our visits over the last 20 years were still around (we'd heard rumours that there was an oil spill earlier this year and the bay was polluted badly by the oil).
Well the good news is the bay is not polluted by oil, and the marine life was more abundant than our last visits. Plus we found two Pom-Pom Frogfish quite close to the entry point. These Frogfish are almost unique to the waters of Gilimanuk Bay, and are normally well camouflaged among algae.
Sea Slug - Photo Copyright Jeff Mullins 2014
Beautiful colored slugs are found throughout Secret Bay.
Pom-Pom Frogfish - Photo Copyright Jeff Mullins 2014
Pom Pom Frogfish are named after the large pom pom shaped fishing lure attached to their upper lip.
Striped Catfish - Copyright Jeff Mullins 2014
Schools of large Striped Catfish are abundant within the bay, living around man-made reef structures
Pom Pom Frogfish - Scret Bay Bali Copyright Jeff Mullins 2014
A pair of Pom-Pom Frogfish lying together at Secret Bay
Seahorse - Secret Bay Bali - Photo Copyright Jeff Mullins 2014
There are large brightly colored sea horses throughout Gilimanuk Bay.
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Genetically Modified Nudibranch !

8/11/2014

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We knew it wouldn't be long before GM animals would make there way from aquaculture farms to the natural reefs. So now we have them right here in Tulamben, Genetically Modified Nudibranchs (GMN's), this one has been resident on the sponge covered slope at Seraya Secrets for a month now. Easily identified by it's split left-hand rhinophore, this nudibranch is a real loner, none of the 'normal' nudibranchs want to be seen crawling around with him/her (they are all
hermaphrodites).
How long before it mates and we start getting nudi's with four rhinofours ?
Split Rhinophore Nudibranch

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    Reef Wreck & Critter Blog:

    Jeff & Dawn Mullins run this Blog to give an insight into our underwater discoveries in Indonesia and any news about what we are currently doing .

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