Misool

 Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Misool

 We’ve lost a day.  Yesterday morning they called us all into the lounge before breakfast to announce that we had changed course.  One of the passengers had taken sick and needed to get to a city with a hospital and air service.  We had changed course overnight and headed for the city of Ambon.  We docked there at mid-day, and were met by an ambulance which took the passenger to a local hospital.  We then departed and tried to catch up to our schedule.  In the meantime we had two great lectures, one on the birds of Australasia and the second on methods of photography.

 Yesterday in the late afternoon there was a major cocktail party on the sundeck as sunset approached.  Here we are with a couple of women from Hawaii that we’ve made friends with:

 

And here is the sunset: 


 This morning found us even more remote again, off of the island of Misool.  Raja Ampat (Four Kings) is an archipelago of over 1500 small islands, cays and shoals.  The seas here supposedly hold the richest variety of species in the world, including 75% of all known coral species.  Here’s a map of where we are off the west coast of New Guinea: 


And a close-up, showing some of the larger islands: 



That’s our Zodiac off to find reefs for diving and snorkeling, while we had another photography lecture this morning.

 After the lecture it was time for diving, snorkeling or glass-bottom boat.  I chose snorkeling, Joyce went on the boat.  We’ve become friendly with a couple who both are retired from the NIH; they live in Bethesda.  The woman of the couple, Joan, was my snorkel partner, and her husband went on the glass-bottom boat with Joyce.  Joan shared her underwater camera with me, and we snorkeled this most amazing water, perhaps the best snorkeling I’ve ever done. 




Back to the boat for lunch, and then a Zodiac tour of some of the thousands of islands.  These are limestone, not volcanic, and quite distinctive: 


Living on one of the islands we found insect-eating pitcher plants: 

We saw from the water the gorgeous coral reefs we had snorkeled in the morning: 


 Off to dinner shortly.  Tomorrow: skull caves and rock art of the Macassan culture.  More then.

Comments

  1. Ralph P. LockeDecember 7, 2022 at 2:51 AM

    Such astounding photos! Any idea if the colors of the coral are in any way functional (attractive, defensive, disguise?) or are just random products of the particular chemicals? I do realize that the whole question of color is complicated, since fish and insects, for example, do not all see colors as we see them. (I've read about bees' color vision, which is more limited than ours.)
    --Still, regardless of questions of function and evolution, what gorgeous images you've captured!
    --Are any of those islands inhabited? Are they largely uninhabitable? Or are they protected so as to preserve them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Victor PoleshuckDecember 7, 2022 at 3:57 AM

      Thanks, Ralph. We've had no instruction on the function of color, but I'd bet it's not random. I don't know, though. Most of the islands are uninhabited, but a few are, with a couple of villages here and there. Villagers survive primarily on fish and subsistence farming.

      Delete
    2. Mark JacksonDecember 7, 2022 at 6:48 AM

      Apparently coral colors are for the benefit of the symbiotic algae: https://www.whoi.edu/know-your-ocean/did-you-know/why-are-corals-so-colorful/

      While bees generally can't see red light they can see ultraviolet wavelengths we can't.

      Delete
  2. Rwa442December 7, 2022 at 12:49 PM

    Beautiful sunsets and ocean views. It's all like a lost world that you are exploring. So fascinating, everything so different from our world in western NY!

    ReplyDelete

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