NAUTILUS
in
KOMODO!

Liveaboard trip 20/7 – 29/7 2008

Bali - Komodo
INDONESIA

Mermaid I

I just couldn’t believe it – there it was, right in front of us during a nightdive in the Komodo National Park - a Nautilus!! This elusive cephalopod lives on 200 – 400 meters of depth, so seeing one on a dive is extremely rare. It stayed with us for 15 minutes, before returning back into the deep.

But there were lots of memorable episodes, the Nautilus just beeing one of them. We had Dolphins on three dives, including an encounter with a mother and her baby joining the sharks catching fish, at Takat Toko, north Komodo.
Every trip we go walking with the Komodo Dragons. This time we saw three of these massive reptiles, trying to regain some bodyheat in the sun.
At Cannibal Rock (regularily rated as one of the top 10 divesites in the world!) we saw three huge Frogfish, Zebra Crabs, big Turtles, Whitetip Sharks and plenty of Nudibranchs.

Next day, in the south of Komodo Natinal Park, we came across an old friend of ours – ”The Rhino Dude”. A rare Rhinopias (belongs to the Scorpionfish family) that we have seen before on this divesite. As expected, photographers went mad...

We spent a glorious full day at Manta Alley, with great Manta action! The big rays were feeding at the surface, getting cleaned at the cleaning stations or hanging out in the channel. You understand why the Mantas like this place – it’s a one-stop location!

Rounding off the trip, we had a lovely dive at Gili Banta, with Pygmy Seahorses, Blue Ribbon Eels and yet more Mantas.

PJ Widestrand

Video-Pro
Mermaid I

Liveaboard trips to Thailand, Burma, Bali - Komodo and Andaman Islands.