Silver Bank continued

As the sun set on our third day at the sanctuary, the wind died down and the sea was calm. We are all hoping now that the last two days will bring better conditions and more whale encounters. Regrettably, although the sea was flat and visibility improved, there

are few whales around and they are only on the distant horizon. There are no animals on the inner reef, and two squalls soaked the tender as we disembarked after a disappointing morning.

The afternoon was not much better for in water swimming encounters. We did follow a very playful calf who amused itself by swimming on its back, rolling around, splashing and peck slapping with its mother. She carried the calf on her head and at her side with the escort who flanked them. Suddenly a large aggressive challenger swam up and proceeded in hot pursuit for quite some time.He showed a lot of interest to our little boat as well , gliding just beneath the surface below our hull and weaving back and forth.He surfaced alongside us and blew with an angry trumpeting sound.Try as he might, he could not get the mother to leave her escort and they sped off into the deep blue together. When we reached 5 miles out from Sun Dancer we turned back in. The whales never stopped to rest. Sadly, another day with no swimming and no photos.

The marine sanctuary area is visually stunning, from the Sun Dancer or the tenders it appears that we are floating on a spacious and luminous sliver blue disk, with only the horizon as far as the eye can see from our mooring.The inner reef is dotted with turquoise swathes of coral rheads. Some of the rocks breaking the surface give the illusion of whales logging or surfacing to blow and breathe. Cruising on the tenders feels like floating across a perfect richly enameled glass plate. The sky forms an azure hemispheric canopy dome overhead, and I now know how early mariners and explorers felt they would sail to the edge and "fall off" in to a void beyond the ocean. The full sun shines down on the glittering water, huge billowy white clouds tower and decorate the sky, then pass over the sun and the ocean become dull and flat. As the sun reappears it looks like a brilliant light switches on, and the sanctuary becomes a glowing metallic mirror once again.

Silver Bank Dominican Republic 2012- Atlantic Humpback Whale Safari

Silver Bank is a 10 by 20 mile limestone plateau 70 miles north of the coast of the Dominican Republic. It is surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean waters which are thousands of feet deep, and rises to 60 to 100 feet or shallower, providing a calving and breeding area, and natural playground/habitat for the beautiful North Atlantic Humpback whale.The Dominican Republic named the area to be a Sanctuary for Marine Mammals by decree in July 1996.

We are here to snorkel and frolic in awe of these elegant cetaceans from surface tenders in small groups, to capture images and marvel at their animated interaction , breeding and calving, and singing their haunting whale songs.Our guides note that only the males are singers, and no one has ever seen a humpback mother giving birth.

I return to travel on Sun Dancer II , the live aboard I first dived on in Palau in 2001.We set out at 11Pm across the deep blue to arrive at the Sanctuary by dawn.Rough weather was predicted but I found the passage to be fairly calm with no unpleasant bouncing about in our cabin. This is my first snorkeling trip with my housed D90 camera, cumbersome in the water but able to capture what I hope to be great images for my collection.

Our first day was not promising. We geared up and did a test snorkel around 1:30PM, after a lunch of Chef Jerry's wonderful spaghetti bolognaise. A brisk wind picked up and we bobbed around in our small crowded tender, watching for signs of whales in the immediate vicinity. We did spot a few trails of spray, and saw white flukes and pectoral fins flapping in the distance.

A mother with calf and escort passed near us. The whales submerged to rest, and we slipped into the water to observe them from the surface. The visibility was poor and a large cloud passed to block the sun, but as it passed I took a couple of images of the mother as she rolled on her side exposing her white belly and pectoral.After 3 more long hours in the tender of wind, spray and swells, a squall blew in and forced us back to the Sun Dancer. We all hope the next day brings better conditions, sunshine and more whales.

Unfortunately the next day Monday was a complete BUST.There were no whales to swim with. Another squall brewed on the horizon , waterspouts weaving on the ocean swells and crossing in the clouds. A beautiful rainbow arced across the steely backdrop of the storm. After our return to the boat whales surfaced and converged around us, cavorting and fin slapping to taunt us.

Tuesday Feb 28 dawned and we had whales at last!!! Again the day broke with ominous skies, dark clouds carried a storm over the choppy water . The tenders bounced up and down along side Sun dancerII, like horses champing at the bit to run free after whales in the surrounding shallow area. Our first encounter was out in the swells with two adults. The male and female went through four breath cycles of sounding and then submerging to rest about 25 feet down. We were able to have an hour and half long swim.The whales floated asleep near the reef bottom, smaller fishes preening and cleaning them along their flanks and around their faces. As they rose slowly and took off I was finally able to get some shots. The camera was very unwieldy in the rough water and it was a challenge to swim in the crowded group.

We saw a pair of dancers glide animately back and forth under the boat. That afternoon another adult pair approached us. They were in shallower water but visibility remained poor, as it was throughout the trip. I waited to shoot as the whales pirouetted gracefully to the surface.

The Philippines March 2010

I had mostly recovered from a horseback riding injury and it was time to head off on a dive adventure with my new camera ,a Nikon D90. I was thrilled with the prospect of really being able to see my images in the camera's larger viewing screen.

I recently read a fascinating book by Richard Bergreen entitled Over the Edge of the World, a spellbinding account of Ferdinand Magellan's first circumnavigation of the globe. Magellan's goal was to establish a route to the Spice Islands, but he met his unfortunate fate in the Philippines at Mactan. I am currently working on a multi-media project for my images and dive travel journals throughout Indonesia, to trace the voyage of Magellan and what remained of his fleet from the Philippines down into the area I have been diving for the last 3 years.

Down a dusty hidden shrub-lined lane in Dauin lies the new boutique Atmosphere Resort. It is really NOT a place for divers,but more a romantic hideaway for couples who enjoy an occasional dive.Regrettably I had no one to be romantic with...

The property faces southeast onto a windblown sea in Negros Oriental near Apo Island.The sloping gray rock and garbage strewn beach is shaded by coconut palms. At the end of the resort to the left is a gauze curtained airy gazebo where you can get a deep massage at the end of the dive day.

The lot is a narrow rectangular shape dotted with simple white buildings. Bushy plumeria tress light up with ivory globe shaped lanterns in the evening, but no blossoms perfumed the night as it was dry season.Staying at Atmosphere is a bit like vacationing in a barnyard.At sunset a cow bellowed boisterously next door to the bamboo wall behind our outdoor shower area;before dawn ,roosters crowed and ponies whinnied in the lot behind the dive storage area.

The bar and infinity pool were delightful and inviting for a leisurely swim looking out to the horizon, after a great morning espresso or an evening cocktail.

Boarding our dive boat Victoria in the surf off the beach was a bit like a Navy SEAL drill. First one must be suited up to walk out the LONG beach, then wade out into the waves pounding the rocky eroded shore and scamper up a narrow bouncing plank /ladder onto the side deck. YIKES! We were told no piers were allowed to be built due to "marine sanctuary restrictions" which were enacted just as the resorts opening for business occurred.

The worst of the boat's amenities, besides the lack of fresh water rinse or a decent rinse tank for the cameras, was the open top WC that barely reaches neck height when seated on the marine toilet, and provides on a modicum of privacy( forget comfort) when going to the loo or changing into a dry bikini.

Entering the water for scuba is a feat of daring especially in high winds that blow around Apo Island, where we spent 2 days diving.Due to my injuries I had to inch to the bow in my wetsuit where I donned my dive rig with the crews's assistance and then tottered to the edge and was pushed off into the water, at least 7 feet down jarring myself as I plunged several feet below the surface in the bubbles.Needless to say the crew found this hilarious!

Exiting was even more perilous. If lucky, the dive guide ended our excursion under the boat. If unlucky, we had to swim out against the surge and waves with camera in tow, waiting in a cluster for the boat to pull up with us between the hull and the outrigger pontoon.Sort of like waiting to be run over... we then had to grab the ladder,remove weights, BC and fins, and being mindful of the waves slapping us in the face, we hoisted ourselves up the ladder to safety. What ever happened to boarding aft on a swim step:-(?)or back-rolling in from a low panga ...

Komodo below

Every day we dived three to four sites to sample the view of Komodo underwater.

Cold, current swept pinnacles allowed a bit of wide angle and even a visit from mantas at Manta Alley, but were mostly macro dives. I saw two brightly colored Rhinopios, a myriad of nudigranchs laying eggs, fire urchins and sea snakes. The warmer northern muck dives near Moyo Island were a pleasant change for the chilly ones at Cannibal Rock.

The top of the hill at the preserve afforded a hazy panoramic view of the bay and sparsely covered hills with eagles and cockatoos flying by squawking. The harbor water was dotted with boats and twinkled under the morning sun . We stopped for a group photo and began our descent to the beach. Back at the village I collected some souvenirs at the covered market area where one can find dragon carvings and all sorts of trinkets and local pearls.

Over the next few days we sailed south to Rinja and Horseshoe Bay. On Rinja Island we went ashore for brief encounter with more dragons who roamed the beach unrestricted by a park environment. These animals are more aggressive and curious than those at Loh Liang on Komodo . We made a wet landing in the panga and scurried up above the sand to a slight embankment, armed with tree branches as the dragons approached to check out the latest visitors. One dragon took off and chased a diver in our group, but he was stopped by a couple of large sticks planted in his path. A large can of tuna was proffered to distract the dragons, and we headed back to our boat.

The crew headed to Rija a few times after the end of the dive day to play soccer on the beach, and the dragons approached and watched from closeby, doubtless fascinated by the humans darting about kicking a round object across the sand.

Love those dragons

Our group made an early morning visit to the park to observe the famous Komodo Dragons up close. As we reached the landing pier around 7:30AM, the island was already teeming with tour groups. The heat and humidity were already cloying and intense.The visitor center is well organized with guides, maps and story boards of facts about the island and its wildlife.We were given excellent reference materials and information pamphlets that helped us get the most out of our brief time ashore.

We encountered a pair of dragons almost immediately on the trail. Sometimes they stay hidden from view, although there are deer, wild boar , cockatoos and flowers and other animals to see. A large pair of males engaged in a singularly amusing tussle as they warmed up in the morning sun. When the dragons awake they are almost comatose from the cooler evening air, but then they warm up and move about. They can run up to 15 MPH! One dragon lay outstretched in a small clearing as another male approached from the rear, climbed on top of him and began wriggling and scratching his flanks with long fearsome claws. The crowd of onlookers laughed with amusement, we quickly shot images and moved on along the scanty forest path. Hidden in the trees , a timid deer nibbled grass and leaves. One interesting tree was a cotton tree. From its boughs hung large soft fluffy balls of material that looked like cotton candy.The trail looped around and up a hill ; we trudged along the slippery path in the soaring heat. Every few yards we came across a set of tracks, marked with long, deep grooves from claws...the dragons had been there.

In the Land of the Dragons Oct 14-23, 2009

Indonesia is one of my favorite regions of the world for diving and exploring. Its rich diversity above and below water makes it ever mysterious and full of enchanting surprises. Having visited dive sites around the perimeter of the Moluccas "Spice Islands" in Sulawesi,Banda Sea , Raja Ampat and the Lembeh Strait, I joined friends from Brazil to head for Komodo and the Sumba Sea to the east of Bali. After a rendez-vous at the palatial Hotel Intercontinental in Sanur we spent a blissful night by the beach and set out on our journey. Komodo was a total departure from the other areas I had visited in Indonesia. The landscape is barren, brown and arid. The dry rolling hills resemble slumbering dinosaurs that might suddenly awaken and amble down into the placid aquamarine waters. Small colorful fishing boats glide across the sea, back and forth in the bays and straits, the mirror like surface hiding swift currents that flow around the reefs and sandy bottom.

Komodo National Park is a World Heritage Site and consists of two main islands: Komodo and Rinja, with a few smaller islets sprinkled in between an to the east and north. We spent our first night in the park area by Pink Sand Beach, its lovely expanse the color of a conch shell's interior. My mask fogging plagued the first two days of diving on macro sites which contained a treasure trove of new species to observe. Crystal Rock was a welcome change for sensational wide angle shooting full of fish and rich yellow soft corals like Onemobaa.

We spent time on land surveying Komodo and Flores nearby, and wandered about at the crest of a breezy hilltop overlooking quiet bays on either side. Returning to Mermaid I and swimming off the fan tail was a welcome departure from gearing up and riding out to a dive site in a crowded panga. As I soon discovered this was my last opportunity for days to swim in warm water. As we ventured south the temperature dropped to a chilly 70*F. BRRR! More weight, more neoprene, darker and colder dives.