Coral Bleaching in Dampier Strait?

[Joneill]

I

Hey @kiwidives

I’m on Kri now. Speaking openly, it’s not great. Dived Yenbuba jetty yesterday and it was probably one of the saddest dives of my life - there was a lot of sea life - but at points of the dive it was literally just totally bleached coral as far as the eye could see. There was also a lot of rubbish. It was quite shocking I can’t lie. We also dived Sawadarak (I know I’m spelling this wrong) which wasn’t much better.

In the afternoon we dived Cape Kri which was significantly better. However my plan is to stay in Kri for one more day then get out to Fam islands which apparently are in much better condition (but going to cost me a load to get to I think!). I’ll report back then!

Separately, has anyone dived Cendarwasih Bay? Triton is full and so I’m thinking of heading over

On my way back from a 3 week Indonesia trip at present. We did a Misool to Triton Bay LOB and never saw widespread bleaching (there was definitely some spotty bleaching here and there - but nothing really significant other than the check dive near Sorong (and even that was not affecting everything)). I saw much worse/widespread bleaching in Little Cayman in Sept 2024 where the shallows were almost all white and there was widespread bleaching at depth as well.

We dove Sauwendarek on Jan 28 and there was definitely some bleaching there. I saw none there back in Jan 2023 but I still would not describe it as extensive at present - there was plenty of healthy coral and tons of life. Melissa’s garden was still awesome as well and looked very healthy.

Definitely something that needs to be acted on before it gets out of hand as it would be a catastrophic loss to see the event expand! Unfortunately, It’s the same old story that is the root of almost all the world’s issues -greed and just too many people/over-tourism without the proper restrictions and infrastructure to safely handle the waste.

We did see floating trash patches in many places and even the remote, unpopulated island beaches we did many surface intervals on were typically littered with plastic trash at the high tide line! It’s mostly water/juice/soda bottles and plastic bags/food wrappers along with a surprising amount of shoes/sandals/flip-flops. Sad to see!

 

[Dan]

Here is an interesting take on the bleaching... One of the worst algae blooms I have seen in Raja was in June of 2022 right when the country opened again and we were the only boat I saw during our Raja trip so you can't blame tourists and boats on that one.

Cyanobacteria in Raja Ampat: Trouble in paradise

In the biodiversity oasis of Raja Ampat, cyanobacteria poses a serious threat to the health of coral reefs. Is tourism to be blamed?

oceanographicmagazine.com

Thanks for sharing the “Trouble in Paradise” article. I was in Arborek back in 2016. The site was pretty pristine then. I even saw swimming Wobbegong during a night dive under Arborek jetty.

 

[Centrals]

^
Living in the Past(nothing to do with Jethro Tull).
LOL.

There are many factors contributing to coral bleaching. Global warming is the killer.

United States and the Paris Agreement - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

trump and his administration did/does not give a toss on the issue.

 

[Laval]

I am just back to Sorong from a 2.5-week diving in Dampier Strait of Raja Ampat. There is a very significant coral bleaching in the area. Some dive sites impacted more than others, but it is a significant problem. We were there a year ago, and there was no bleaching at all.

 

[kiwidives]

Hey @kiwidives

I’m on Kri now. Speaking openly, it’s not great. Dived Yenbuba jetty yesterday and it was probably one of the saddest dives of my life - there was a lot of sea life - but at points of the dive it was literally just totally bleached coral as far as the eye could see. There was also a lot of rubbish. It was quite shocking I can’t lie. We also dived Sawadarak (I know I’m spelling this wrong) which wasn’t much better.

In the afternoon we dived Cape Kri which was significantly better. However my plan is to stay in Kri for one more day then get out to Fam islands which apparently are in much better condition (but going to cost me a load to get to I think!). I’ll report back then!

Separately, has anyone dived Cendarwasih Bay? Triton is full and so I’m thinking of heading over

Thanks for this honest report! I think I will base around Pam this time, hopefully Kri recovers in the future

 

[Dan]

did they either prevent you from boarding or cause you issues leaving the plane?

No joke. Wheel passengers got sitting priority on outbound flights and last to disembark on inbound flights. The flight from TPE to IAH was 90 minutes late to arrive and 30 minutes longer to sit people in the plane. So two-hour late arrival just ate up our layover time. In the future trips, I’ll make sure to have a minimum 4-hour layover in TPE.

Separately, has anyone dived Cendarwasih Bay? Triton is full and so I’m thinking of heading over

Yes in 2015 (ten years ago). It’s a great trip if you want to dive with Whalesharks.

However,Triton Bay Whaleshark diving is better than that of Cendrawasih Bay as iunder Triton Bay bagan you will see dolphins & sailfish feeding on those baitfish.

 

[CaliDiver14]

I’m in Triton Bay. Most of the bleaching when we were there was in the immediate area of Cape Kri. Even less than hour away by a relative slow dive boat there was minimal bleaching . We didn’t see significant bleaching at Melissa’s Garden (west of Cape Kri) or down south at Misool. Raja is still a pretty spectacular place even with some bleaching.

No bleaching to speak of in Triton Bay btw (a couple of hundred miles from Raja roughly ) . Dove with whale sharks , dolphins and sailfish this morning but start the trek home tomorrow

Thank you!!

 

[cetacean]

No joke. Wheel passengers got sitting priority on outbound flights and last to disembark on inbound flights. The flight from TPE to IAH was 90 minutes late to arrive and 30 minutes longer to sit people in the plane. So two-hour late arrival just ate up our layover time. In the future trips, I’ll make sure to have a minimum 4-hour layover in TPE.


Yes in 2015 (ten years ago). It’s a great trip if you want to dive with Whalesharks.

However,Triton Bay Whaleshark diving is better than that of Cendrawasih Bay as iunder Triton Bay bagan you will see dolphins & sailfish feeding on those baitfish.

@hillz3

I've been to Cenderawasih (twice) to dive with the whalesharks, and have had friends dive Triton Bay as well.

@Dan is one of the more knowledgeable traveling divers on this forum, so I don't want to disagree with him too much ... however, Cenderawasih is a bit different, so really depends on what experience you are looking for.

First - as @Dan mentions, in Triton Bay (under the bagans) there is a chance to see dolphins, sailfish, and as a good friend of mine experienced last year, potentially other megafauna wandering through.

Having said this (and you can see this in the pictures shared on this forum) - Triton Bay is green much of the time, the visibility is not nearly as good as what you usually find in Cenderawasih (which had very good vis and blue water both times I've been there).

Another difference is that at Cenderawasih it's now snorkeling only, no scuba allowed with the whalesharks. I haven't found this to be a limitation at all, but it's worth noting than in Triton Bay they do still allow diving with the whalesharks. For those that have swam with whalesharks before - you know that keeping up with an animal of this size is extremely hard - scuba makes it harder, although it does give you the option of positioning yourself lower in the water column while waiting for a whaleshark to approach.

Our Cenderawasih experiences were some of the best diving experiences we've ever had - zero hesitation recommending Cenderawasih to anyone. It is also worth noting that although there is some very good diving after coming around the top of West Papua as well as along the eastern edge of Cenderawasih Bay, Triton Bay (by all accounts) is world class, so the diving in the Triton Bay area is likely a bit better than Cenderawasih outside the time you spend with the whalesharks. We were not disappointed with the diving, but it's not quite the calibre you get in RA for example.


[Image taken by a friend during one of our WS sessions in Cenderawasih - focus on the WS, leaving me a bit blurry... of course]

 

[Joneill]

@hillz3

Having said this (and you can see this in the pictures shared on this forum) - Triton Bay is green much of the time, the visibility is not nearly as good as what you usually find in Cenderawasih (which had very good vis and blue water both times I've been there).

The whale shark diving is not actually in Triton Bay - the fishing baggans are north west of Triton Bay in the open sea off the coast near Kaimana:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/mfAGTvRH1W4nPYtz7?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

Visibility was actually quite good - pretty clear in the top 25 feet or so where we spent most of the dive!

Another difference is that at Cenderawasih it's now snorkeling only, no scuba allowed with the whalesharks. I haven't found this to be a limitation at all, but it's worth noting than in Triton Bay they do still allow diving with the whalesharks. For those that have swam with whalesharks before - you know that keeping up with an animal of this size is extremely hard - scuba makes it harder, although it does give you the option of positioning yourself lower in the water column while waiting for a whaleshark to approach.

Diving with the whale sharks (vs snorkeling) was, to me, unique in that it put you right in the thick of things. The whale sharks cruised right past at super close range and sometimes bumped you if you did not see it coming or did not get out of the way fast enough - they also seemed to like the diver’s bubbles and sometimes “chased” you a bit with mouths wide open. The one downside was that folks who went a bit deeper (most of us stayed at 10-25 feet) sent up curtains of bubbles which were a bit annoying at times.

 

[hillz3]

Thanks for this honest report! I think I will base around Pam this time, hopefully Kri recovers in the future

im heading to Pam tomorrow but have heard good things. I’ll let you know

since I posted, I’ve dived Blue Magic twice, Sardines and Chicken Reef. All were really fantastic and there was bleaching but *significantly* less than what I saw around Yenbuba