Mataking wreckdive, Jetty dive and Pompong Night dives

When we were diving near Mataking and Mandarin Valley , it was quite terrifying to experience first hand the loud blasts of dynamites underwater.......

For a few split seconds I thought my or someone else's oxygen tank had exploded .....and I would have panicked if not for the reassuring hand signals from Ah Peng, our experienced DM.

Yet despite myself, I couldnt keep calm at all for the remainder of the dive and the mood for photography was also all &*(*&^ up!!

No wonder the wreck was devoid of edible fishes...no wonder the corals were all bleached and we found mostly nudibranches , lots of poisonous species like the stonefish, rockfish, devil & tassled scorpionfishes.....
And the only silver lining amongst these bleak environment, dwelled the splendid but elusive Mandarin fishes, hopping amongst the fragments of the dead coral and in the refuge amongst the spines of the sea urchins .

When we surfaced , the dynamite fishing was all we could talked about. And we were told that the blasts we heard that sounded so near was probably about 20-30km away....and its a daily affair, around noon time!!! Idoits , thats what those fishermen are!!! Killing so many for pittance when they could have earned more from ecological tourism....not to mention putting their own ricebowl in jeopardy by destroying the very source of food and habitats from which they make a livelihood!!!Imagine a group of 10 divers like us would pay $3000 each to just go dive at a barren site that guarantees a glimpse of mandarin fishes ....now what if this site promises more than mandarin fishes....and that's why the dynamite fishermen are dumb morons!

At the Mataking Jetty, the corals were slightly more healthy better, we were there to film the schools of fusiliers and trevallys...and it was not a disapointment.

The best was night diving at Pompong's house reef to see the groupers, the oscellated spotfin lionfish, the hermit crabs and its fancy shells, the juvenile batfishes. For someone like me, who never was a fan of night diving..and that I went 2 nights in a row, just do the maths. ;-)

Pompong's Reef Life Specials

I remember someone once aptly told me.....the ocean is like a giant pot of soup !

A healthy reef is a crowded place... where the inhabitants compete for space and much of life is revolved literally around eating or avoiding being eaten.

I think it was Adrian or Patrick who related how a symbiotic shrimp was gobbled up by predators split second moments after it strayed from the cover of its featherstar refuge.....it happened so bullet fast right in front of their camera lens that they didnt even have time to snap a single photo!!!

Here at Pompong, where the marine life are found abundant and so beautiful .... likewise in the game of defense or offense... many of its reef inhabitants were masters of deceit and so perfectly camouflaged by its host...

However if one takes the time to look closely at every nook & corner, this place is a photographer's dream come true....

There are so many species of all colors and sizes....the photo opportunities are just limitless .

Diving , photography, videography here is quite simply heavenly.

POMPONG's gardens of eden

I just find the movements of the polyps and flower-like tentacles of the soft corals in POMPONG amazingly mesmerizing...so colorful, so richly inhabited by countless species....Thank goodness, here the corals are still healthy , not yet degraded or over exploited .

Be it algae, anemones, sponges, cnidarians, ascidians, worms, echinoderms....whatever they are called scientifically....they all look like flowers .

To me, it symbolizes the gardens of Eden underwater....

Si Amil- Sea Snakes

Charming island, about 45 mins boat ride from Mabul....great place to dive....

Lots of macro life (adults and juveniles)...calm waters, great visibility, shallow dive spot, real isolated and peaceful.

The beach is clean, blessed with really beautiful fine golden sands..something which Malaysians take for granted.

Being so near to our neighbouring country where the fishermen folks still practise method of fishing using dynamites.... if not for the army camp located physically nearby, would Si Amil remain how & what it is.....I wonder?

But for now it was pure heaven to dive at Si Amil.

And to enable us to spent the whole entire day just diving here at Si Amil....the boatmen brought us lunch...and then they promptly disappeared ...supposedly to go buy some cigarettes & groceries..

Anyone interested to take guesses what / where they went to/ why they only came back after more than 2 hours ?

No, we just too glad to see them come back for us and know that we would have a ride back to our resort at MABUL!!!

SIPADAN -dawn dive with BUMPHEADS and TURTLES

To experience this, you have to wake up at 5am.....brrrr.

I really really love to sleep....and waking up at 5am is never on my agenda!!! But once one gets to Sipadan, this is like a "MUST Do " dive....so, probably I'll do it again. Heh heh.

Is it worth it? You be the judge.... after you watch the video...let me know ok. ;-)

SIPADAN -reef sharks...it wont get any better than this.

We have been diving at Sipadan every year for the last 5 years.....

This video was taken early 2008, 2 years after the gorgeous coral reef at Sipadan's "Drop off Point" were destroyed by barges ....hence we didnt even include footage of Sipadan Island itself....in my opinion, that incident was a terrible disaster of international proportions !!

Sipadan should have been protected as a natural heritage as one of the world's wonders.

The underwater visability is still ok, as divers we still get great footage of the beautiful blue beneath but compared to 5 years ago....the sharks were fewer, the schools of barracudas and jacks we see are smaller and the turtles were not many.

From our recent trip to Sempoerna , Dec 2008 and listening to the locals gripe about conditions of governance at Sipadan...it leaves me sad...

Everyone seems fearful that once the mammoth oceanarium project gets implemented at Mabul....we can all kiss the wonderful memories of good diving in Sipadan/Mabul goodbye....

So this video like the title above implies....who knows....not too far in the future...will the splendour of Sipadan exist only in our minds?

sigh.....sure hope not...sigh.

Location aside , what makes up the other half of the fun of diving for Eddie & I are the company of great dive buddies.

Therefore , notwithstanding the sad state of political affairs at Sipadan/Mabul... this video of the fantastic moments spent with good friends is priceless and much treasured.

This is a rehashed video using Mac Leopard OS powered by sound effects from i-movie's music library....

Apple technology is really great for editing movies.....a breeze.

Viewing our footage of Sipadan Highlights 2008 brings back great joy.

To our dive buddies, may it bring forth chuckles from you and wide smiles to your faces too.

Major Mike, special thanks for making all the nice arrangements for great times at SMART resort...hope you will be able to continue to do so come 2009 and beyond.

Bali Diving - Ballads of the catfish and the lionfish

I love the mesmerizing moves of the lionfish, I never tire of photographing
them ....
To me, they are the most elegant & graceful predators....
They always seem to be dancing a ballet and their fluid dances are like a poem....a love song....a ballad. Sighs blissfully.

And at Tulamben...the lionfish that are found in different colors...all of them are equally skilled ballerinas underwater....smile.

Being the predators they are...well the lionfish is never shy....they will pose, they will dance and they will continue to do whatever they want to do irregardless of how many cameras are shoved into their faces , confident that divers are not stupid enough to touch them because of their toxic spines.

Except , I did hear of one almost fatal accidental mishap of one unfortunate lionfish and one diver's long pointer device....I heard la! Hahahahaa

So with the mutual respect on both sides, filming the lionfish is almost always satisfying with good results for the photographers and videographers who showed patience ;D

Quite excitedly also for my first time , I saw a real tiny juvenile lionfish at Tulamben....it was perched on a coral reef and with its soft pectorals swaying in the drift of the currents, I initially mistook it for a nudibranch,,,....until I edited the video....mmmm it's quite cute lei :-)

The fine black volcanic sandy bottoms of Tulamben really enhances the contrasts of colors for photos and videos...

The frantic moves of the striped catfish juveniles in a school as tightly packed individuals moving in unision and between short spurts of dispersal, coming together, dispersal ....wow, captured on video...it is my personal opinion that the catfish juveniles look fantastic with their ballad , double wow!!!

As a conclusion to our videos of Bali diving, here I think it is appropriate that I jot down some personal house rules below, both to remind myself and tips for anyone new to diving at Tulamben :

1. NEVER ever change lenses underwater because Tulamben's fine grains of black volcanic sandy bottoms full of lava ash sediments which may be so nice for photography , alas which I found out too late however ,
can cause damages to the grooves on the lens holder as one takes out one lens and tightens another e.g during changing lens from wide angle mode to macro mode ) !!! eeeeyer, celaka nya!!!!

It is imperative to decide on what mode to shoot and stick to using same lens until the end of each dive .
For me, at Seraya Beach for example, I should just use the macro lens and
only consider the wide angle for the Liberty Wreck divesite!!! *****

2. Double clean, or better still triple clean and check all equipment after each dive at Tulemban i.e mask, fins, straps , velcro parts of dive suits & gloves ,
most especially the camera's underwater housing's openings and edges of the "o" rings (most important double emphasis ) .
Dont forget to check and rinse the regulator and octopus mouth pieces!!! If u forget ...then u will go like me, pssflk pstflk psstflk when u put yr mouth piece into your mouth!!!!! LOL~

SERIOUSLY the fine volcanic sands STICKS everywhere and anywhere u can think of !!! *&^%$#@!

3. Last but not least...take off all kinds of jewelry !
Most especially magnetic jewelry when underwater at Tulamben is a
NO NO NO
because the black fine grains of lava ash will actually stick on rings, bracelets, necklace and it can make tiny cuts all over upon contact with the skin !!! Yeeeesh.

Like they say, belum kena belum tahu...;-{

But these are all inconsequential inconveniences ...as I review our photos and videos taken at Tulamben....
I will go aaaaah, Tulamben's definitely worth an annual dive visit if not more trips per year...smile.
So dive buddies, we have a date with Major Mike Goh come September 2009?