Speedboats and sunsets

Will he be pleased? Photographed off Sapi island on 21st July 2006, Ardeadoris egretta (a Nudibranch from the Family CHROMODORIDIDAE) of course will not be asked. The idea though appears to be that the sea village on Gaya will be 'rearranged' and supplemented by 1,000 houses, government offices, and a fire station... all on Gaya itself. (It reminds me of defunct plans to build a bridge to Gaya ++. Maybe that plan is in danger of being re-floated too?) Here's hoping that my friend and his vast but fragile underwater society won't be so overcome by the benefits of 'development' (like construction silt and waste water), that there's little left to TARP but speedboats and sunsets.

Squeezing Sponges

I can't resist commenting now that we have official opinions about the upcoming impact of the global financial crisis on Sabah's tourism. Yesterday a drop was predicted which seems much more realistic to me. I feel sorry for those who depend on tourism income. Yet I also feel a little bit happier for the denizens of TARP who might just get a little less squeezed by all the attention they have been trying to get used to in recent years.

I've been investing huge amounts of effort reformatting my fish guide mock-up. Undoubtedly no one will now be wanting to invest commercial money in the project in the near future; after all, who would buy it? But as a not-for-profit conservation project a donor might be interested to cover the costs. And if I'm willing to make no profit and still can't get it published then maybe I will post the book in PDF format on-line so people can print their own copies: perhaps on waterproof paper or for laminating if they want to take it under water.

I'm also looking into obtaining photos of previously unseen fish (by me) via other outlets so as to improve the comprehensiveness of the guide. We'll see: they too are likely to be feeling the pinch and may not have much time now to help.

Here's a gorgeous Poripheran (sponge - possibly Family LEUCETTIDAE) which I hope will have a less pressured 2009 (photo taken on 21st July 2006 off Sulug island).

Fish Bombs

A couple of weeks ago , I felt two bombs go off underwater. I was diving off Olango island near Cebu in the Philippines. The second of these was so loud that it spooked the shoal of fish I was watching, and made my adrenaline run hard for a few moments. Yet on the surface, there was no evidence of nearby bombing at all - indeed we were in a marine protected area with several dive and snorkelling vessels and a community patrol boat with no story to tell; the bombing must have been miles away, yet its underwater effect reached out way beyond its immediate impact.

Here in Sabah, something similar seems to be happening. Whilst I have never heard fish bombs in TARP, I have been told by others that they sometimes hear them - not exploding in the Park itself but several miles away up or down the coast. It is illegal in Sabah. But three days ago, newspapers report that a man killed himself and his estranged wife with one here in KK. And now it seems the Police will step up their efforts to enforce the law against fish bombing. They say they have caught five fish-bombers already this year; here's hoping this sad tale will truly mark the end of a not only hugely destructive and unsustainable livelihood practice, but a humanly dangerous one. An instructor friend of mine in the Philippines was near a bomb when it was detonated underwater and nearly killed, but challenging the boatmen involved was physically risky and he says the police are themselves afraid of the violence of fish bombers in the Philippines. Let's hope it is different here when (if) the police step up their campaign.

Here's a regular friend at Hanging Garden off Gaya island, photographed on 28th December 2006 ,who's cousins elsewhere in the state might benefit: the giant reef dwelling Broadclub cuttlefish Sepia latimanus (Mollusc Family SEPIIDAE).

Housekeeping finds 2 fish

Wading through the backlog of unsorted photos in the last few days has led me to 2 fishes I couldn't identify at the time, but with help from Gerry Allen on an analogous example sent to me to identify from Lankayan island off eastern Sabah, I realised I had photographed (and have now added) Chromis cinerascens in its nuptial colours (a somewhat scruffy wedding outfit I have to say). Going way back to only my second day of diving ever at TARP, a new book I got for my birthday (Kuiter & Debelius World Atlas of Marine Fishes) has helped me place an unusual and normally cryptic Grouper - Epinephelus ongus. Neither photo was terribly good, so I have recruited a Map puffer fish (Arothron mappa - family TETRAODONTIDAE) taken the same day (17th May 2006) off Gaya island to play best man.

Incidentally, I have fully updated the species checklist which now lists all 311 TARP fish species logged so far.

Positive about the park

Beautiful day to dive again yesterday. And without fully analysing my fish photos yet, I think I will be able to add 6 fish to my checklist which is already 304 long. Indeed, one of them was an Angelfish (Centropyge bicolor) which is strikingly beautiful (purple and gold) and good news because after two years I'd given up on seeing any more species of the flamboyant Angelfishes here (3 species so far)! In discussion with some of my dive instructor friends, they also reported seeing some unusual Butterflyfishes in the past few weeks. Coupled with the first news I have ever heard about a Blue-ringed octopus on the reef by Downbelow, and I'm feeling pretty hopeful that things are improving gradually - although it may be seasonal or a 'statistical blip', and the Octopus was seen at 30 metres on sand - hardly the most frequented of local dive sites.

This gorgonian soft-coral (family PLEXAURIDAE) taken on 28th December 2006 at Hanging garden off Gaya island should benefit from improving reef conditions; the visibility there yesterday was excellent.

Save Our Sharks

I shouldn't have been shocked I suppose. Last night at a wedding banquet in a major resort hotel here in KK, I was offered Shark's fin soup. 4/10 of us refused to eat it (was it insignificant that the 4 of us were the only foreigners and avid - or married to avid - SCUBA divers at our table?) The Underwater Times notes that Singapore's Sentosa Resorts World has recently decided not to have Shark fin on its main menu (although for the richest gamblers they might be able to order it in private gaming rooms).

Sharks are beautiful creatures; necessary elements of the marine food chain; under severe threat as more and more people queue up to eat their fins, who knows why? The only shark I've ever seen in TARP was this Catshark - less than 2 feet long (Atelomycterus marmoratus, seen on 17th May 2006 off Gaya Island). In fact that was my first dive in TARP and my last sighting of such an amazing beast. His/her fins are not under threat; but I am not surprised to have seen no real reef sharks in TARP, just sad.