March 30, 2016
Banner photo by Stuart Ecob
bali, coral triangle, macro, marine protected area, nusa penida, underwater photography
Underwater photographer Stuart Ecob has spent a lot of time shooting in Bali and the surrounding islands. One place in particular that captured his imagination was Nusa Penida, an arid largely undeveloped island east of Bali. It's not surprising - the turbulent waters around Penida attract a myriad species, from giant mola-mola sunfish and oceanic mantas to the tiny critters that make up most of this beautiful photo story. Good to know, then, that they're being protected...
Melanistic Manta Rays are a rare black colouration of Manta Rays. Approximately 10% of the Manta Rays at Nusa Penida are Melanistic.
In the ever increasing bustle of Bali it's easy to forget that you're smack bang in the middle of the richest marine ecosystem on the planet. Mention the Coral Triangle, the world's epicentre of marine biodiversity, to most visitors to the island and you'll probably draw a blank look..."wow, where's that?" Well....you're in it! If the Coral Triangle is the underwater equivalent of the Amazon, Bali is, geographically speaking, like the Brazilian city of Manaus, which sits in the heart of the rainforest.
Goby with Eggs - This Goby was a silent sentry, guarding its eggs patiently. you can make out the individual eggs in the background.
While dive purists evangelize about other Indonesian destinations like Raja Ampat or Bunaken or Komodo, Bali's coastal waters offer an incredible variety of dive experiences. Arguably the most dramatic and diverse is Nusa Penida.This offshore island is separated from Bali by the Badung Strait and its water are infamous for their treacherous currents. But it's these currents of course which account for the incredibly rich biodiversity in the area.
Bob Tail Squid - I love night diving! There are many creatures that come out of the sand at night, and that includes these small Bobtail Squid. The bright colours are from chromatophores which are pigment containing cells which squid, octopus and cuttlefish can all use to change their colour nearly instantly.
Situated at the confluence of two great oceans, the Pacific and Indian, Nusa Penida - like so much of the Indonesian archipelago - is surrounded by nutrient rich waters that are brought up from the deep ocean by cold upwellings. This rich interface is known as the Indonesian Throughflow and it's one of the major reasons that it is here that you find the highest levels of marine biodiversity on the planet.
The eye of a blind Wobbegong Shark. Fish eyes are usually very interesting subjects to photograph, but even fish occasionally have accidents. Wobbegong Sharks are ambush predators and lie very still waiting for prey which allowed me to get nice and close for this unusual photograph.
Many of the dive sites around Nusa Penida require advanced diving skills and are not to be taken lightly - powerful down currents that can drag you down many metres in a matter of seconds are the norm here. But the payoff is an incredibly rich repository of marine life - from big pelagic species like oceanic manta rays to the elusive mola-mola sun fish for which the area has become famous - to macro favourites like those featured in this photo essay.
Pipe Fish Portrait - I find pipefish very fascinating…they remind me of miniature underwater dragons, maybe a hangover of my Mum reading the Hobbit to me as a child.
A very rare juvenile Randall’s Frogfish. This little guy was only 5mm long and very very very cute.
The Coral Triangle Center, a project of The Nature Conservancy, has been instrumental in establishing an innovative Marine Protected Area in the waters around Nusa Penida. The MPA has been selected by Blue Solutions, a knowledge sharing project focusing on innovative marine related projects, as a model that can be replicated in other areas too.
Snowflake Moray - This Moray Eel is a small moray with exquisite yellow, black and white colouration. They are usually under 1m long. Juveniles of the species can often be seen hiding in tidal pools hunting.
Nembrotha cristata is a very common Nudibranch in the Coral Triangle. Nudibranchs are colourful sea slugs. There are over 3000 different species, many of which can be seen in the coral triangle.
Among the many successful approaches put in place in Nusa Penida are collaborative management with full community participation, a successful zoning system with buy in by all stakeholders, regeneration of reef and mangrove systems, successful eco-tourism businesses and the gathering of important baseline data.
Manta Rays love to travel. This particular Manta Ray was recently identified as having migrated from Komodo in East Indonesia to Bali, a distance of over 450km.
Of course, as a diver you may not be aware of any of this - you just get to enjoy reefs brimful of colour and life!
