Sipadan and Kapalai Water Village

We landed in Borneo and were transferred to Semporna, from where we departed for Kapalai. In Borneo we saw monkeys lined up on the powerpoles which were super cute! We also saw evidence of much deforestation and commercial palm plantations – this deforestation is why Orangutans are sadly going extinct. The housing and buildings are fantastic to see, there are ostentatious mansions situated right in the middle of broken old shacks.

Our boat ride to Kapalai took us past beautiful islands covered in natural rainforest and fringed by water villages – hundreds of tiny shacks on stilts above the water, some accessible by jetty but many detached from the land by a hundred metres or more and only accessible by boat. Fathers and young sons take their tiny fishing boats out for food.

We sailed past Mabul, one of the main resort islands accessing Sipadan and eventually we reached Kapalai Water Village, our home for the next 8 days. The mainland of Borneo is just a shadow in the distance, and the only other land we can see are the islands of Sipadan, Mabul and Siamil. Unless of course you count our “island”, which consists of a sand bank approximately 20x10m – the resort is literally a water village. 

The restaurant is open air (no doors) and in the centre there is a large viewing platform with spotlights to the water below where we could watch the lionfish floating lazily around in the light at night time. Slightly unnerving were the large boards available to barricade our doors in case of pirates!

Below our bures is shallow water teaming with turtles, stingrays, Lionfish, Trumpetfish and glassfish. Lying on my own private deck, the only sound to break that of the water is the turtles noisily coming up for air – I am sure one of them at least had respiratory problems, he sounded like an old smoker. 

Sipadan Island

The island of Sipadan used to house dive resorts until some tourists were kidnapped a few years ago and since then no one is allowed to stay overnight on the island except the Malaysian Military of which there are many – we had an area of the island available for eating and playing, exploring the rest of the island is forbidden (enforced by militia with guns).

We had three days diving Sipadan and three days on the house reefs around Kapalai, Mabul and Siamil. The Sipadan diving was spectacular – the island is volcanic so we dived along walls above the blue where the depth is 600m or more – ideal conditions for Bumphead Parrotfish, schooling Jacks and barracuda, and my reason for going – sharks! 

Schooling Jacks

Large Grey Reef Shark

Anenomefish

White Tip Reef Sharks

Schooling Grey Reef Sharks

White Tip Reef Shark

Grey Reef Shark

Octopus

We saw countless White Tip Reef Sharks and turtles, but my highlight were the schools of Grey Reef Sharks – some only half a metre long, the largest about 2.5m long. We did see a very juvenile White Tip Reef Shark hiding in some coral, he was very timid. 

Juvenile White Tip Reef Shark hiding in coral

I had hoped for some larger sharks however we were only diving to 30m and our guides informed me that it is rare to see the larger ones at Sipadan – I suspect that if we had gone deeper we may have seen more however this would limit our dive times. Sipadan is a turtle breeding zone so there are turtles EVERYWHERE, eventually we barely blinked an eyelid as they swam by us. 

The house reef diving was surprisingly very good, with lots of small usually rare things available for us to practice our macro photography skills on. Frogfish, Leafy Scorpionfish Ornate and plain pipefish, seahorses and nudibranchs were plentiful. We saw many morays of varied colours and sizes. 

Frogfish - the master of disguise!!

Seahorse

Nudibranch (="Naked Gills")

Cuttlefish

Spotted Moray

We were terrified when we heard loud bangs and felt vibrations so fierce it seemed they stopped your heart for a beat – these were very frequent and later we learned that this was the Malays illegally fishing with dynamite – a cheap way for them to obtain fish but a tragedy with each blast as the vast majority of fish killed are too small or otherwise unsuitable for eating, not to mention the destruction of coral reefs hundreds of years old.

If could change the world,
I would be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby, if I could change the world

Eric Clapton

Exmouth Navy Pier (WA, Australia)

Sharks, sharks, sharks! The cool water and poor visibility had me disappointed and regretting the decision to dive for the first 60 seconds, until a 2.5m Grey Nurse (Sand Tiger) swam right by me – from then it was on.

We followed (him?) under the pier to where an identical Grey Nurse was lying on the sand. They circled a few times and then swam off so we continued our dive – by now I was buzzing. We came across three White Tips resting under a log. In contrast to the slim, sleek cat-like appearance one normally associates with these sharks, these looked beefy and well fed.

We saw 3 tasselled Wobbegong Sharks, many endemic catfish, and several Giant Grouper. Under the Pier is a hive of activity, with schooling fish of all shapes and sizes.

Tasselled Wobbegong - Look hard!! Head to the left, tail to the right. He is so well camouflaged even with me within touching distance.

The highlight of my dive was the end, however. I went back to find the Nurses. I settled on the sand next to one who was lying there resting. The other soon appeared and we spent a good 5 minutes eyeing each other up.

He was very curious about me and I have never been so engaged with a shark. He swam up and down in front of me looking me in the eyes, and then swam right for me, coming within 30cm of my face. He then settled in the sand near me, obviously content that I was not a threat. Grey Nurses are not aggressive sharks and he was swimming slowly and calmly so there was no danger involved, but I was buzzing that he was so curious and spent so much time with me.

http://www.sharkwater.com/

Whale Sharks in Exmouth

We were picked up by Ningaloo Blue and immediately discovered that one of the crew was from Nelson so we had a lot to talk about. We were told that they had seen three sharks the previous day. We struck gold with our first shark – 8 metres long!

He was very relaxed and we swam with him for what seemed like eternity although I never wanted it to end. I spent most of my time level with his left pectoral fin, looking him in the eye and wondering where all the other snorkelers were – I began to feel guilty thinking that I must have been hogging the shark but when we finished the swim it turned out that everyone has the same feeling – the sharks are so large that everyone gets their own unobstructed view.

Over the course of the day we saw a total of eight sharks, this was the record for the season. We were very lucky as others from our hotel had only seen one or two – we chose the right company to go with! Spotter planes are a must. We had 3 very relaxed larger sharks, and five of the smaller more active and flighty sharks (small is about 4-6m!).

This last photo shows a shark “banking” – this is where the shark rotates so that his back is facing a perceived threat. The threat in this case was a free diver who got too close for the shark’s liking. The skin on the shark’s back can be 14cm thick so this is a mechanism to protect the shark’s vulnerable underparts.

 On our way home we saw humpback whales EVERYWHERE – they seemed to be following us, and they put on a spectacular show of breaches and tail flips. Every time we lost one group we would find another.

http://www.heartsforsharks.com/ is an organisation started up by Amy, the crew member we met from Nelson. Have a look!







The sky is crying the streets are full of tears
Rain come down wash away my fears
And all this writing on the wall
Oh I can read between the lines
Rain come down forgive this dirty town
Rain come down and give this dirty town
A drink of water a drink of wine

If I been hard on you I never chose to be
I never wanted no one else
I tried my best to be somebody you'd be close to
Hand in hand like lovers are supposed to

As you'd sleep I'd think my heart would break in two
I'd kiss your cheek I'd stop myself from waking you
But in the dark you'd speak my name
You'd say baby what's wrong ?
Oh ? Here I am baby I'm coming back for more
I'm like a wave that's got to roll into the shore
Yes and if my love's in vain how come my love is so strong ?

If I been hard on you I never chose to be
I never wanted no one else
I tried my best to be somebody you'd be close to
Hand in hand like lovers are supposed to

Now you and me go parallel together and apart
And you keep your perfect distance and it's tearing at my heart
Did you never feel the distance
You never tried to cross no line
'CAUSE it's another dirty river and another dirty scar
And I don't know who's kissing you and I don't know where you are
So far from home don't you think of me sometime

If I been hard on you I never chose to be
I never wanted no one else
I tried my best to be somebody you'd be close to
Hand in hand like lovers are supposed to(2x)

Sky is crying see the streets are full of tears
Rain coming down to wash away my fears
And all this writing on the wall
Oh I can read between the lines
-Dire Straits

The Montebello Islands

The Montebello Islands are an archipelago of 265 islands located 120km off the coast of North Western Australia. In 1952 the British tested nuclear bombs here, and the residual radiation means much of the land area is off limits for humans. There are no visitor facilities, so access is restricted to those who have a large boat able to withstand heavy weather, or who are able to pay the hefty fees for a tourist charter. 

The islands are an important breeding ground for turtles. I was lucky enough to visit on a friend's boat 3 times, each at a different stage of turtle reproduction. 

Arriving into Vodka Bay. Hundreds of mating turtles are seen in the water throughout the bay 

Female Turtle laying her eggs. She uses her powerful fins to dig out a hole, lays the eggs in the hole, crawls out, then fins sand back into the hole to bury the eggs and protect them from birds and reptiles

Exhausted, the female turtles rest awhile at the water's edge on their way back out to sea

The reason for the waiting? The shallows are swarming with males turtles, keen to mate again!

Back into the onslaught

The number of tracks present give us an idea of how many turtles use this beach for laying!

Hatching time! The babies hatch, dig themselves out of the sand and make their way down the beach into the ocean. They follow the light of the moon to guide them to the water.

Into the surf - they struggle through, paddling furiously and being washed all over the place. These are the lucky ones - many before them have been dug up by Goannas, or picked up by birds on their way down the beach (especially those silly enough to hatch during the day!). Once in the water, they still need to survive the threat of predators.

Goanna Tracks

The boys took the boat fishing, leaving us girls to entertain ourselves with kayaks, Corona and...

Inflatable Crocodiles: A must when abandoned for 6 hours on a deserted island! 

http://sharkangels.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55&Itemid=63