Not the easiest of places to get to, the Raja Ampat area is in the western part of Papua
province, Indonesia. We were back again on the wonderful Mermaid 1, (our Komodo
trip live aboard) departing from the port of Sorong.
The area has astonishing amounts of life, huge schools of fish, both very big and very
small juveniles. There are areas with strong currents that help nurture huge sea fans
and vibrant corals, the underwater scenery is stunning, as are the hundreds of
islands and rocky outcrops that we passed thru. It's certainly a place thats been on
our wish list for a long time and an area we will be revisiting.
For me, the highlight was finally getting to see the fantastical Tasseled Wobbegong
shark thats found here and around Australia. The name comes from an Aboriginal
word that means "beard" and you can certainly see why when you look at the photos.
It's an ambush hunter that lurks at the bottom but can open it's mouth wide and
inhale anything thats close enough, it's astonishingly fast for a big fish!
CLICK ON THUMBNAIL FOR FULL SIZE IMAGE THEN "PLAY" TO ACTIVATE
SLIDESHOW, OR CLICK "NEXT" FOR PICTURE BY PICTURE ACTIVATION.