Full Circle Digital Magazine August 2013 | Page 21

M A R I N E

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GEORGINA JONES • GEOFF SPIBY
Raja Ampat, a remote archipelago at the extreme eastern end of Indonesia, has water temperatures of 31 degrees. This magical place is home to more than a thousand fish species and three quarters of the world’s hard corals can be found here. This place has been ocean and equatorial since marine life began and a constant inflow by Georgina Jones of currents ensures that many different and exotic creatures have developed here. Divers can take advantage of these currents to do drift dives, idling along as the wonders of this most biodiverse region of the planet unfold beneath them. There are sharks with fringes on their chins, cowries decked out to mimic soft corals, crabs of astonishing camouflage ability and blood red slugs which only emerge from their hiding places at night, presumably hoping their major predators are asleep. It’s a place of mangroves and reefs and palm-bedecked islands where birds act as melodious alarm clocks.

1. Raja

Ampat, Indonesia

Manta Point, where, in spite of its name, mantas actually DO come to visit.

FULL CIRCLE DIGITAL MAGAZINE AUGUST 2013