7
2 Dampier Strait
The Dampier Strait separates the mainland of
West Papua and nearby Batanta from Waigeo
to the north and contains well-known sites
such as “Sardine Reef”, “Manta Sandy”,
“Aerborek Jetty” and “Cape Kri”. A large
amount of water passes through the strait
and is known as the Indonesian Throughflow.
Due to the strait’s topography, this flow is
constricted upon entry, causing currents in
the strait to be quite strong at times. These
currents are what set the reefs alight, bringing
large numbers of schooling fish to “Cape Kri”
and “Sardine Reef”, feeding vibrant corals and
schooling scad around the pilings at “Aerborek
Jetty”, and enticing the mantas to the cleaning
stations of “Manta Sandy”.
The hard corals pulse
with anthias and damsels
3 Jef Fam
6. A school of barracuda
silhouetted against
Stretching out into the
sun
Halmahera Sea are the island the
Equipment & settings:
groups of Fam and Penemu.
Canon EOS 7D, Aquatica
housing, Tokina
Penemu’s small neighbour,
10–17mm, two Sea &
Keruo, features channels
Sea YS-250 strobes, f/10,
1/250s, ISO200
with sea fan covered miniwalls and a coral garden
7. Spectacular hard
corals cover the shallow
at the southern tip that is
plateau of Melissa’s
unbeatable for over-under
Garden in Jef Fam
shots, especially at sunset.
Equipment & settings:
Just east of Keruo, “Melissa’s Nikon D810, Nauticam
housing, Sigma 15mm
Garden” is a vast shallow
lens, two Sea & Sea YS250 strobes, f/8, 1/125s,
reef plateau that spans the
ISO200
area between and around
three large rocks that break
the surface. The