A colony of barrel sponges at 25m an aggressive allergic reaction . It looked serious , the skin erupting in blisters and our friend reporting nausea and weakness .
When it became clear that he was fighting a fairly aggressive infection , he decided to cut his losses , begin a course of antibiotics and return home .
Reef lives
The diving continued – with a noticeable improvement in buoyancy skills – and we built up a fuller picture of the reefs . The coral was spectacular , especially in the shallows where the reef tops were dominated by colourful staghorn and porites corals . Looking back , I can ’ t help but wonder if this vivid colouration was a sign that the coral was putting on the display in order to attract symbiotic algae that may have been expelled during an earlier period of warm water .
There was , however , a distinct lack of midwater fish . We ’ d get the occasional passing jack or rainbow runner , but there were no schools , and even the usual Indo-Pacific reef fish were sparse . There were some notable exceptions , including encounters with broadclub cuttlefish and some chunky pufferfish .
Life at the macro end of the scale was also thin on the ground , though we found some beautiful anemones with clownfish and porcelain crabs . The star of the show was a pygmy seahorse of the Hippocampus denise variety . The one pictured here was large for the species , yet would comfortably fit on your thumbnail .
When you ’ re not surrounded by charismatic megafauna , the best tactic is to
look ever closer at the reefs , and for me this resulted in the discovery of my favourite fish of the trip , the squarespot anthias , Pseudanthias pleurotaenia . The males in particular have incredible colouring , a deep pink and orange , with the titular spot on the flank . They ’ re just the right side of ‘ difficult to photograph ’; I tested my buddy ’ s patience trying to gradually insinuate myself into their company .
Great apes , great japes
You can ’ t go all the way to Borneo without seeing the rainforest . We visited Samboja Lodge , an eco-resort attached to a sanctuary for orangutan and sun bears . The lodge was a treetops affair , with spectacular views across the canopy and its cast of birds , primates and things that go ‘ wibble ’ in the night . We embarked on a hike through the jungle , which was much harder work than anticipated and prompted some frank consumer feedback regarding my pre-activity briefing . The orangutan sanctuary , however , was magical . These are apes rescued from the cruelty of private collections and allowed the space and time to heal , shielded by a network of canals . To see their imposing
forms swinging through the trees just a few metres away was inspirational stuff , especially when one of the big males came crashing through the vegetation . We all fell in love with them . Best of all , I fulfilled my ambition to photograph an ‘ orangutan ’ underwater and in the trees , even if the marine version was actually a tiny crab .
Rambo the big male makes his presence known
Meet the ladies 57