MISOOL ISLANDS OF RAJA AMPAT, WEST PAPUA NEW GUINEA CORAL TRIANGLE KAYAK TRIP Dec 12 2015

I was still, sitting in my kayak on a calm glass sea, immersed in the manifest quiet of an indigo sky, the tranquility of small islands around me. My gaze fell at the horizon where towering anvil clouds had transformed from deep blue to mauve and pink in the setting sun. Nearby islets became electric violet/green in the evening light. I had paddled out into the middle of the channel to reflect, listening to offshore gulls and frigate birds soaring nearby. I experienced what is called becalmed, a word used by sailors for centuries to describe the kind of utterly placid sea, an unusual stillness that surrounds you when there is no wind. Smooth as a mirror, it reflected the sunset and vast skies above, and below the surface are hidden mysteries seen through clear ocean water supporting an amazing diversity of corals and fish. It’s dusk, and I am at the far southern edge of Indonesian waters, off the Misool Island group of Raja Ampat. The calm was suddenly broken, and I was startled by two rapid blasts of air behind me only 15 meters away. Behind me and breaking across the glassy sea came a pod of long-nosed spinnaker dolphins, now beginning to feed in the changing tide that brought with it a rising a strong current filled with baitfish. The dolphins were incredibly animated and playful and I was privileged to witness them spy hopping, lobtailing, and leaping far out of the water in a spinning motion, exposing their white undersides. Their spinning breaches explains their name.

The Misool Islands are located along the eastern edge of the Coral Triangle, a large marine designated area that includes 6 countries. Named for its staggering coral diversity, here the Indian Ocean mixes with the Pacific, forming strong currents through a vast network of islands and tropical reefs. This area of ocean mixing is considered to have the greatest marine diversity in the world and holds over 76% (605) of the coral species of the world and boasting more coral reef fish diversity than anywhere else in the world: 37% (2,228) of the world’s coral reef fish species, and 56% of the 4,050 coral reef

fishes in the Indo-Pacific region. And the superlatives continue with the area sustaining six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles including the huge jellyfish eating leatherback, hawksbill and green, 700 species of mollusk including 7 giant clam species, 57 species of mantis shrimp, and 13 marine mammal species including the endangered dugong, dolphins, and the blue and sperm whales.

The Coral Triangle area is called an ‘underwater Amazon’ that stretches across 5.7 million square kilometers 6 million km2 (2.32 million miles2, 1,4 x the area of Alaska) and its biodiversity sustains the lives of 120 million people The area extends from the Island of Borneo west that includes Sabah Malaysia and Kalimantan Indonesia north to the Philippines, then spans east across the Indonesian island chain of Java, Bali, Sulawesi, Maluku, the Raja Ampat islands, and Papua new Guinea to the Solomon Islands. Raja Ampat means ‘The Four Kings’ after the majestically stunning four main islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta and Walgeo. It was named during the 15th century by the Muslim Sultanate of Tidore, centered on the Spice Islands off Sulawesi, and a rival

of Sultanate of Ternate for control of the spice trade. The name of Raja Ampat comes

Spinnaker dolphins

from local mythology that tells about a woman who finds seven eggs. Four of the seven eggs hatch and become kings that occupy four of Raja Ampat biggest islands; the other three become a ghost, a woman, and a stone.

It is in the remote complex of the Raja Ampat Islands West Papua that I joined kayak Asia on an 8-day exploration of the remote Misool Island complex, the southernmost of four major island groups in Raja Ampat. Like most of life, there is some hard work to get there, necessitating patience if you want to visit West-Papua. We met as a group of 17 kayakers at Changi airport Singapore late afternoon December 12th, waiting for check-in amidst a mound of gear, including inflatable kayaks, duffel bags of snorkeling and camping gear and dehydrated food. Once tagged and checked in at Garuda airlines, by 5pm we left for Jakarta. There is no direct way to get to Raja Ampat. This is certainly a place that is all about the destination and very little about the journey. We had what can only be called an adventure of flights to get there. Thankfully all 3 flights were with Garuda Indonesia, that proved they have well earnt their latest 5-star economy rating. From Jakarta we endured a late-night layover, then transferred and flew to Makassar Sulawesi, and finally departed in the early morning for Sorong West Papua, an entire 14 hours’ worth of flights, airport snoozes, bad coffee and squat toilets.

We were tired but arrived in Sorong West Papua in mostly clear skies with beautiful mauve colored clouds. It was early morning and already hot at 38 C, Sorong is a small town mixed with Indonesian and Papuan citizens, most Christian in contrast to the rest

of Indonesia. So good to see Papuans after 26 years since my last exploration in 1979 with Sobek rafting the Bulolo Watut River and exploring pre-tourist highland villages. The Indonesian government occupation of what was once called Irian Jaya had created resentment for the genocide of Papuans in the past. There is still tension. The largest gold mine and the third-largest copper mine in the world are nearby, and the Papua region is Indonesia’s largest source of tax revenue. That has attracted a large military presence, and many activists have disappeared, been killed or been jailed.

Gear and passengers were loaded gear into a lorry that took us through the small town to a boat launch area where we were to meet our two boats from the homestay at Harapan Jaya beach, Palau Yapale, a 5-hour journey to the south. The boats were narrow and fiberglass built, 35 feet long with twin 200hp Yamaha outboard motors.

We by left by 7:30 AM and maintained good speed on large swells in fairly calm seas for 175 km (100 miles) south to the homestay. The weather forecast was heavy rain for the entire week which would make the trip less enjoyable, but today is was partly cloudy conditions, which fortunately for us held our entire trip. After three hours, we passed through the Misool Island group that we were to explore, an incredible array of limestone karsts, with aquamarine passageways in between mushroom-shaped islets. Continued on another hour and a half south until we reached a series of lower islands and the fishing village of Harapan Jaya, and opposite on a smaller island the dock of the homestay. This Indonesian village was sustained by fishing and Muslim, with a small mosque located by the dock.

We were all strangers when we left Sorong but are quickly becoming friends as we spent time together. Unloaded all the gear, then spent the afternoon blowing up kayaks and setting up in the small bungalow I was to be in. my roommates were great Say Teo, Gabriel Lim, and Lee, who obtained his PhD at Singapore University in environmental science. Everyone settled in, and I picked out my Gumotex double, a rather fat sausage like kayak I would solo in for the week. It was the same boat I used on the Endau Rompin River earlier in the year; stable but fat and a challenging tub compared to my own sleek kayak in Seattle to paddle. Dinner was just okay: rice, overcooked vegetables in curry and peppers mixed with dried tuna. We turned in early, exhausted after two days of no sleep, only to spend another night almost sleepless listening to the whine of mosquitoes as they settled in for their meals for the night. Boy can Gabriel snore.

Our first four days would be spent on exploratory day paddles the northwest and northeast chain of Misools small jewel islands; the last three we will camping from island to island in the southern section. Each day we will be ferried north by long boat, then picked up in the evening. I was excited to see this area, having read about the history of the spice trade, and explorations of Alfred Wallace, who spent so many years here. In the eighteenth century, the Moluccas were the nexus of the lucrative spice trade over which the Dutch and English battled for control. In the mid-19th century, the Victorian explorer Alfred Russel Wallace identified and named hundreds of species of flora and fauna on his more than 70 expeditions. In 1860, he lived alone for three months in the jungles of Waigeo, the northernmost of the four main islands—a voluntary Crusoe observing in its natural habitat the flamboyantly plumed bird of paradise, then found only in this archipelago. He lived in Ternite for 10 years and came to the conclusion of a different kind of evolution than Charles Darwin, who is acknowledged was the brilliant and

indefatigable naturalist, but more so a self-absorbed speculative theorist, a self-mythologizer who wanted to represent himself, when the time was ripe, as the pioneer evolutionist”. Darwin abandoned science in favor of propaganda and launched a systematic campaign of deliberate suppression of his predecessors largely by refusing to acknowledge them, and offered Victorian England a reprieve from following the Bible.

In Contrast Alfred Russel Wallace was a methodical scientist, who developed a concept of Intelligent evolution. directed, detectably designed, and purposeful common descent. Both forms of evolution describe change through time, but only Wallace’s intelligent evolution limits the power of natural selection to effect biological change. It suggests that in those areas of the biological world beyond the scope of natural selection’s operations, some purposive intelligence must be called upon to explain their existence. In contrast, Darwinian evolution claims that all biological life can be explained through a directionless process of “survival of the fittest” and random mutation. It has failed.

Both Wallace and Darwin conceptions of science were dramatically different: Wallace science was simply the search for truth in the natural world; for Darwin science must invoke only natural processes functioning via unbroken natural laws in nonteleological ways. Wallace’s view of science was Right: Alfred R Wallace drawing of Standardwing bird of paradise Sulawesi

unencumbered by philosophical assumptions whereas Darwin’s science was pigeonholed by the philosophical presumption known as methodological naturalism (or methodological materialism). He was giving England a backdoor exit from the Christian faith in contrast to the strong believers and noted scientists Cuvier, Mendel, and Jean Louis Agassiz, the latter regarded as one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century teaching at Harvard. He is the founding father of the modern American scientific establishment, and a lifelong opponent of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

We motored for an hour to our drop off point on the mid-section of the eastern Misool chain, threading through a magnificent group of islets to a bay where we unloaded the kayaks. There was a small trail weaving through sharp limestone ridges that ascended to an overlook on top of the islet summit. Amazing views of these limestone karst islands to the north east and west. So many needle islets, and white mud bays colored a jewel-like transparent turquoise. Descended back to our kayaks inspired and began our exploration, paddling to open water west under overcast skies, passing by islands filled with unknown melodic birdsong, and the chatter of parrots.

Northeast section of the Misool Island group, our first day paddling route. Second day we explored east

We turned south from the open ocean between two islands and several kilometers into an inlet. Passed the gypsy seafaring Bungai people that lived on floating houses and learned they have overfished the area and there are few large groupers or rockfish. Passed steep walled limestone cliffs, dead end bays, and at the end a great limestone cave with stalactites that we entered. We returned quite a distance until we reached our pickup, a total of 18 kilometers today. Everyone exhausted, as we paddled 10 straight hours with a small lunch break. Need to strengthen my shoulders and use core.

Longboat ferrying us to first dropoff, bay of hill we climbed, limestone cave with kayakers inside Our second day we were a bit sore from the long paddle, but contrary to the forecast clear skies. Our longboats brought us north again to the same islet and climbing hill, but we would explore east instead of west. We snorkeled near the limestone reef at the

Karst limestone islands mixed with some volcanic, hidden bays, drone photo by Say Teo, exploring hidden passages

head of the islet, and there were no large fish, instead small schools of 1-inch long silver bait fish that was still amazing. Coral diversity not a great as Bunakan Island off north Sulawesi, one of the most incredible coral areas I have seen next to Madang on North Papua New Guinea. We paddled through interesting bays, passages with steep karsts walls and limestone mushroom islets with little vegetation, and pure limestone islands with steep cliffs. Once on the outside northern edge of the open sea, more snorkeling revealed to me an improvement of the coral diversity, mostly staghorn corals. Again, very few fish, impacted most certainly by overfishing by the local Bajau Laut sea gypsy and village populations at our homestay. There has been dynamiting and cyanide poisoning documented in some parts of these islands, but not sure about here. Long day, exhausting paddling 18 kilometers.

Second and third day we explored 18 kilometers a day to the eastern outer islands and isletsOur

Coral undersea gardens with the richest coral diversity in the world

third day we motored 1.5 hours east to the more rugged and spectacular outer islands along the north east exposed side. We paddled from our sheltered bay along an unnamed island edge, and entered a karst overhang that acted as a tunnel. We had to lower our heads above the deck of our kayaks to pass through into the now open water. Here we finally got to feel the pulse of the sea with larger swells. The water got rougher as winds picked up by afternoon, and we had a falling tide that moved against the wind creating chop. The limestone islets were more dramatic in profile, black in color with more vegetation and open vegetation than to the west. We experienced strong tidal currents exploring interesting passages between islets, but if there was no exit we had to paddle back towards the open channel against a strong 6 knot current, making it extremely difficult and energy consuming to the open sea edge. Wonderful to feel the swells and rough seas and hovering just on the outside edge of the waves crashing on the undercut limestone rock. It reminded me of my first kayak trip on Vancouver Island in 1978. A rain squall hit and it was refreshing, moving in the water watching small hail pelt the surface of the sea. And I love the feeling being pulled by powerful currents that created eddies, shear faces, slip currents and boils indicating a complex sea floor. And you enter an inlet in the falling tide, it was a challenge to work back to the open section, hugging the rock intertidal to use back eddies next to the shear face of the main current.

We continued to explore the next islet group to the east in increasing chop, passing sheltered bays and steep cliffs before entering into a very hidden bay from a narrow

Amazing coral diversity, two species of anemone fish taken with sony in underwater housing

inlet. Stopped to snorkel from our kayaks and here the water was amazingly clear and rich in coral diversity. Found anemones and clownfish, and wonderful colors of both soft coral and hard coral. Again, very few fish. This was the Balbulol group on the outer coast. Exhilarated having explored the amazing maze of islands, we came back to our pick-up point, exhausted. I was full of gas from eating all the curry and peppered dishes,

and once in the boat, on the bow, bent forward to sit down on the front seat crowded by the ladies. A huge fart blew out of me before I could hold it back as I tried to sit down. They all burst into laughter, boasting that’s one way to get a seat. So funny but embarrassing.

Large insectivorous bats (size of fruit bats) weaving in the edge of the palms by the bungalow at dark. We were all exhausted. Most of us picked up bed bugs on the dirty mattresses we slept on, even placing my own bedsheet on it.

Our fifth day under clear skies we packed up the longboats with camping gear, food and our kayaks to begin our 3-day camping exploration on the islands southeast of the homestay. We motored east for over an hour, watching large anvil clouds building up on the horizon with the storm front advanced quickly from the northeast. The storm quickly passed with some rain, and left on a small islet, loaded our kayaks with tents with provisions for three days. Paddling was now more of an effort with extra weight, but our first crossing to a small island was only 6 km. The storm passed presenting unusual shaped clouds as it cleared midchannel in my paddling rhythm I gazed the horizon, then suddenly I was startled by a school of flying fish leaping out of the sea next to my kayak, pursued by unseen fish predators below the surface. These sleek fusilier shaped silver rockets had long pectoral fins and seemed to actually fly as they burst out of the water, going some 30 meters before reentering. An amazing show, and the water underneath began boiling with large schools of small baitfish, many leaping from some unseen predation, and I thought tuna.

Once on the small island, we paused to snorkel and rest, and I discovered more numbers of medium sized fish including tangs, butterfly fish, parrot fish, and two curious 2-meter-long black tipped reef sharks. We now are within a marine reserve with a station maintained by park guards that afforded more protection, at least for the reef. Continued to yet another small islet with a great sandy beach where I found several

week-old tracks of two sea turtles that nested on the beach. But upon examination I discovered the nests had been robbed of eggs by either locals, or by rangers, who either exposed the nest to count how many turtles had emerged, or ate the eggs. The nest was not reburied. Here we pitched our tents and soon discovered that the mosquitoes were bad with no wind. Managed through the night to keep them out of my tent at night.

The next day we moved towards another camp and explored east along the islands shore facing steep cliffs on the north side, but greener and well forested with stunted trees. Two Sulphur crested cockatoos cackled and flew along the forest edge just above the rocks, huge white birds that were raucous and loud. Once around the sheltered tip we encountered the open straits and high winds from a storm cell bringing heavy rain, lightning and thunder too close for comfort. We were worried about being on open water in an electrical storm. Not smart.

Tough paddling for several hours paddling against a strong wind and chop before we entered and rested in a sheltered cove, steep walled with nice vegetation of tropical palms and forest. A hawk flew back and forth over us. With hours to go east to our camp, we reentered the open fetch in strengthening winds and even higher chop before we finally reached the eastern tip of this long island, a nice sandy beach facing both west and south. Had to round the point in huge 6-foot seas and strong currents with waves actually crashing over me, and the soaking was refreshing. Great fun attempting to surf in, but my kayak was open, and in entry was swamped again and the inflatable was full of sea water. We set up camp in a wonderful location with wind, no bugs, and the sound of surf. We enjoyed a fair sunset by a campfire eating New Zealand dehydrated dinner of beef and lentils; it wasn’t popular and someone broke out two bags of Bak kwa, Chinese port jerky that disappeared in minutes. I pitched my tent next to a pair of trees weeping sap, and attracted hundreds of butterflies on the low branches that sipped the amber liquid. They looked like a brown version of monarch butterflies in the Daniid family. Finally turned in well after dark, listening to the soothing sound of the surf, and no mosquitoes, and a nice breeze that moved through the tent to keep me cool through the night.

Camp on exposed beach on the second day of camping exploration, SE Islands

My favorite times of the day are sunrise and sunset: waking up with a swim before breakfast and, at the dinner end of the day. Our second day camping was met with weather that continued to hold out with clear skies. Today we will explore a larger island west of us, and return to this camp in the evening. No wind, and the mosquitoes were

bad so we were motivated to get out on the water and be bug free. Paddled southwest under calm seas with little swell, then paddled on the exposed side of the island with a white band along the cliffs from salt spray layer above the intertidal. More palms here and the micro-climate of these islands was quite varied, with less vegetation and exposed cliffs, reminding somewhat of Isla Cortina in Baja Mexico that I had explored with Lindblad Expeditions in 1981 working as a naturalist. The pandanus palms formed shapes like cordon cactus along the cliffs.

Mangroves in a narrow passageway of the desert-like island, mangrove schools of fish

Paddling immediately under magnificent cliffs of brown rock scoured out at tide level by the waves, was immersed into the rhythm of the sea, until we discovered a passage into a bay filled with mangroves in shallow azure colored and crystal-clear water. Raja Ampat happens to have the world's most diverse mangroves, which serve as nurseries

for the tropical fish that populate its coral reefs. It was high tied, and we stopped to snorkel in the mangrove roots. Discovered plentiful schools of small silver fish wove in and out of the roots systems; and there were small crabs, and large shrimp with eye stalks guarding their mud tunnels. Above water I found a unique group of large orchid plants which were amazingly beautiful, purple and brown spots and yellow cream lower petals.

Exited to the open channel again along the exposed cliffs while large anvils b uilt up to the west, echoing thunder in the distance. Continued along the rocky shore and paddled closer to the cliff listening to each wave emanating deep belches as it reflected off the wall. I enjoyed the rising and falling of each swell, a roller coaster ride at the edge where waves broke against the scoured-out limestone then reflected back creating amplified crests. The spray was refreshing as it was very hot and humid.

Within an hour discovered another scenic cove and paddled through a narrow key hole entrance, which opened up to a larger passageway and to a large inland saltwater bay surrounded by forested trees and palms glistening green under blue skies. We paddled to the north side of the passageway and followed it towards the more sheltered west strait on the north side of the island. Here we encountered an area with strong currents known for gorgon coral sea fans and soft corals and stopped to snorkel beside steep slopes green with larger forest trees and palms. This passage way that turned out to be the best coral diversity and best schooling of small fish of the entire trip. It rivaled Bunaken Island Reserve off Manado Sulawesi for coral, but still not the large fish numbers. So amazing here with soft corals, yellow tunicates, snappers, small groupers, parrotfish, tangs, and butterfly fish. But saw no anemones or clownfish. Very clear and I lost time with the Sony camera underwater exploring, filming and held in wonder of Gods design and creation. I reluctantly left and paddled to the north side of the island to return along the reef edge.

We all stopped and snorkeled more reefs at the edge of deep drop-offs, and these cold vertical underwater walls held small schools of fish and a great diversity of coral. Very

clear water here. It is here where cold currents well up and bring nutrients and oxygenated water that sustains the amazing coral diversity here. We weave through several small islets, and one cannot resist staring down into the crystal-clear water at endless coral reefs, schools of colorful fish all milling on the deep dark blue abyss at the

edge. It draws one to jump out of the kayak again and again, to snorkel, discover and see the different reefs at the edge of the black depths of the drop off.

We crossed over into the inside less exposed section of the island and returned to our beach camp by late afternoon; it was calm with no surf and no wind. Beautiful horizon tonight with thunderheads building up over the broken islands as the skies lit up like a blazing fire. Beautiful island exploration today and great fellowship. Dinner bland but we all loved the freeze-dried apple pie, quite a hit. Too hot and humid for a beach fire tonight. Got a bad heat rash on my stomach from the lifejacket and the bed bug bites were really acting up on all of us, itching terribly. I had the rainfly off my tent as I gazed at the start through the netting but lay in my swimming suit on top of my bedsheet, no sleeping bag. I laid in a pool of sweat, with sand caked to the bottoms of my feet. Sand is so difficult to keep out of the tent. I had to overcome the itching desire to scratch. The night air offered little relief from the 30 plus degree humidity and I longed for the faintest cooling breeze.

DAY 8 Sunday Dec 20. Got a good sleep but was sweaty and soaked on my air mattress in the tent laying just in my swim trunks. High humid this morning from approaching rain, our forecast at the beginning of the trip was thankfully delayed. We packed up and paddled north some 8 km north this morning to an island where we would be picked up by long boat. Swells out of the east where larger anvils clouds were building up on the horizon of the misool islands, and we were hit by intermittent down pours before we reached our final destination on a beautiful sandy beach. We had made it in time as we waited for our pickup boats, as strong winds picked up creating huge chop and white caps, then dark clouds, then rain. The boats didn’t arrive until 3:30 PM, and by now only one outboard worked on each boat slowing us down, so it was a long, wet and rough ride for 1.5 hours back to the homestay. Everyone was happy to get back, experience a fresh water polish bath. Turned in early after packing up all the gear and boats. Needed to leave by 5:30 AM for the long day back to Sorong.

DAY 9 RETURN HOME Monday Dec 21. Long night as I was hit hard with knife like stomach cramps then violent diarrhea. Oh, I was miserable, and it took two Lomotil to plug me up by 6 am. Didn’t eat breakfast, and I was so weak I could barely make it to the boat. Loaded up into the one good boat, but one of the engines didn’t work, so we motored north in heavy seas for four hours before the other engine sputtered and quit, leaving us stranded in the open ocean. This is homestay in Misool.

Had to call in a pickup boat from Sorong and after several more hours we reloaded, headed north again at a higher speed, late. Once moored, and loaded up the lorry, the driver navigated through blocked traffic in 40C hot sun to finally arrive at the small airport, and barely the made the flight out. When. So glad to be heading home. Delayed out of Makassar, missed flight in Jakarta, but finally caught a later flight and arrived into Singapore by midnight, ending our amazing trip with endurance in connecting to a remote place.

Reflecting upon an our journey through the Misool Islands, I was grateful to have explored a labyrinth of blue channels, white beaches, and coral reefs, and to paddle in a variety of seascapes in Raja Ampat. One day we're weaving through an archipelagic maze of green mushroom-shaped islands, and the next we're cruising along the edge of a fringing reef beside sky-high limestone walls, surfing tiny waves into a peaceful lagoon alive with bird calls or drifting in silence through a flooded mangrove forest, and paddle closer to islands where details come into view above, and below: a kaleidoscopic coral gardens. This left a good memory, and I was thankful to have seen a small sample of this areas marine biodiversity and hope it will be preserved and protected in years to come.