Star Dancer Diving in PNG, Part III

We’ve spent this afternoon enjoying a fine buffet lunch, reading a book and taking a quick nap to be ready for some new critters! We moved to Fairway Reef, near Bambam, Buli, and Lolobau Islands. This seamount is larger and flatter than some we’ve seen and is full of macro subjects, schooling barracuda and who knows what else.

Sure enough, as soon as we make our way around the edge of one wall, a huge swirling cylinder of barracuda appears before us. They aren’t particularly large ones (2 feet), but seeing so many all swimming in a column is a sight every diver will remember. We swim into the middle of them for a closer shot and feel that eerie shiver of being surrounded by so many fish with pretty big teeth!

We leave the barracuda and continue along our way finding some interesting subjects. A small cluster of bubble coral catches my eye and I go in for a close-up. We find two nudibranchs here, the large (3-inch) Jorunna funebris, decked out in black and white like formal attire. Much smaller but brightly adorned in blue with yellow ruffles is the Chromodoris elizabethina.

We are so impressed with the healthy hard corals on this reef, indeed in all of the diving we have done here in PNG.


Dive Log – Killibob’s Knob -- 9:30 am, water 88 degrees, 68 feet for 43 minutes

The sky is blue; it is hot; the ocean is flat, glassy calm. Below us in the seemingly transparent water, a saddle-shaped bommie, Killibob’s Knob reaches to within 50 feet of the surface. That familiar shark dive excitement is obvious about the deck as we suit up. We all know what’s coming next—sharks! What we don’t know is what kinds or how many. That’s part of what is so cool—no matter how many shark dives you do, no two are ever the same.

As we settle in around the bait that is tied to a buoy just at the peak of the bommie, the sharks are suddenly there, almost before we are. First there are White-tipped Reef Sharks, long and slender, brownish-gray with white tips on their dorsal fins and tails. In moments there are Silvertips and Silkys on the scene. Circling, eyeing us, unafraid, they approach closely enough for us to see the little details that stick in our memories—the way the mouth is open, teeth a pearly white, eyes bright and eager. Three or four Silky sharks and smaller Whitetips hit the suspended bait and bite off chunks, shaking the line and scattering small pieces of fish. This attracts several large ocean triggerfish and many smaller fish of all kinds who come in to get their share. The sharks circle the group of divers and then hit the bait again. We are shooting furiously, strobes flashing everywhere trying to capture the action. A large Silvertip cruises around between the divers and we all take turns at a photo op. The smaller Whitetips seem curious and come close to look us in the eye. We hang suspended watching the interplay of every moment, storing away the impressions from another incredible experience in the sea.

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