Basic HTML Version
most coveted fish for underwater
photographers. The Rhinopias here
come in a variety of colors — yellow
and black, green and black, reddish
brown and black and even pink.
Milne Bay and Tufi
On my most recent trip to PNG I
visited
Milne Bay
and
Tufi
, near the
southeastern tip of the mainland. I had
been to both places before, but neither
could ever get boring. Milne Bay is
inhabited by many of the most desired
subjects for underwater photographers
in PNG. It is best known for excellent
muck diving or, to use a more
appealing name, critter diving. The
dives take place over silt or black-
sand banks that harbor some of the
strangest, most alien-looking creatures
you will ever see. Eagerly anticipating
our first dive of the trip and close
encounters with these miniature
oddities, we boarded our liveaboard,
Star Dancer, and began making way to
Samarai Wharf
.
Samarai Island has a rich history.
During colonial times plantation
owners used the area as a beautiful
escape to spend quiet holidays with
friends, but the tranquility ended
during World War II when the
Empire of Japan attacked. Today, dive
aficionados know Samarai Wharf
has an abundance of marine life and
beauty that is unmatched.
As the sun gets higher and
penetrates the wooden planks of the
dock, shafts of light dance through
the water column. The piers are
fully encrusted with brilliant sponges
and corals, all homes to small fish
using them as safe harbor from
predators. Thousands of silver baitfish
gracefully swirl around the piers as if
participating in a May Day celebration,
while lionfish stalk them from below.
At the bottom, I picked through some
rubbish, and out of a protected pipe
appeared two very beautiful harlequin
shrimp. In and around their den was
a collection of starfish — enough to
feed the hungry little predators for
days to come. There was so much to
see beneath the wharf that I wished
we had more time to search for the
beautiful and unusual.
The incredible diversity of marine
life in Milne Bay makes it possible for
even the occasional visitor to discover
a new species. During a previous
trip, Milne Bay dive veteran Rob van
der Loos pointed out a small clump
of brown algae on the silty bottom.
I knew we had found something
weird when the clump blinked at me.
It turned out to be an undescribed
species of octopus that has not, to my
knowledge, been seen again.
Just outside Milne Bay is
Lauadi,
a black-sand slope that, upon close
inspection, reveals bobtail squid,
mantis shrimp, Inimicus (the ugly
devilfish), sea moths and sea stars. The
cast changes with the season, so you
can be surprised with each return dive
or visit. Although the Milne Bay area
is known as the critter capital, there
are myriad beautiful reef structures
here as well.
Doubilet’s Reef
is,
without a doubt, one of the most
stunning, and not far away is
Jason’s
Reef
, where cuttlefish and Rhinopias
abound.
Last on my long list of memorable
dive areas of southeastern PNG is Tufi
Resort, located on
Cape Nelson
in the
Oro Province. Here, beautiful fingers
of land reach out into the Solomon
Sea in dramatic, plunging valleys. They
look like fjords, but they were formed
by the eruption of three volcanoes
rather than by glaciers. The area offers
memorable diving along with a rich
cultural heritage.
The Oro Province tribes embody
warmth and friendliness and take
great pride in sharing their traditions.
With stunning facial tattoos (worn by
many of the women) and dramatic
headdresses sculpted from shells,
feathers and greenery, the Oro people
welcome visitors into their villages to
glimpse their fascinating lives.
a Rich culTuRal heRiTage
The cultural aspects of PNG cannot
be overlooked. All too often divers
forget the connection between the
incredible biodiversity of the marine
environment and the diverse people
and traditions that help sustain it.
The friendships I have made during
the past two decades of visiting PNG
have proven to be my most cherished.
They have led me to have a better
understanding of the relationship
68
|
WINTER 2012
A diver and orange-finned
anemonefish (Amphiprion
chrysopterus) on a stand of
cabbage coral
62-69_Papua_Winter2012.indd 68
1/11/12