Kingdom of Nemo

I frequently guide tourists on snorkeling trips to coral reef areas in Raja Ampat, Tambrauw, and Manokwari. The objective of the trips is to find and see various species of beautiful and colorful tropical fish. The fish that I and tourists like to see is anemonefish. There are several species of nemo.

Red and Black Anemonefish

In the waters of Raja Ampat, I see Pink Anemonefish. In northern coast of Manokwari, the ones that I often see are Red and Black Anemonefish. Yesterday I went to the same beach to enjoy snorkeling again. When I walked into the waters, it was in low tide. As usual, I carried my digital camera Fujifilm XQ2. I had inserted it into its waterproof case.

Slowly I swam away from the beach. There were Striped-surgeonfish, Yellow-tailed Blue Devil Fish, Butterflyfish, Rabbitfish on the reef flat area. As I moved closer to deeper water, I saw more varieties.

Kingdom of Nemo

There was a huge boomie that was located in deeper water. I went there. Because it was in low tide, the distance of the top of the boomie from sea surface was around 2.5 meters. So, it was easy for me to freedive. With the camera in my right hand, I decended to the boomie. I had visited it a few times. So, it was not a new thing for me. Its top was covered by anemone. I found a hard coral where I could grab to stabilize my body in the water. It was a cauliflower coral that was strong and would not easily brake. I pulled myself deeper to be in eye level position with the anemone. There were a lot of fish around me. I did not want to waste my time down here. So, I quickly aimed my camera at the fish and made a lot of shots. Most of the nemo fish were Red and Black Amemonefish. I called this boomie as Kingdom of Nemo.

Spinecheek Anemonefish

When I was busy exploring the boomie, I found another different species of nemo playing on some anemone inside a crevice of lettuce coral colony. It looked like a Spine-cheek Anemonefish. Interestingly the fish was much smaller. The edges of its fins were yellow. Its body was dark yellow with three vertical white bars covering its front, middle and rear sides. The one that I saw in Mansinam island was significantly bigger with strong maroon color.
For one hour in the water, I saw a lot of species of marine creatures including the sexy Burrowing Clam, Crab, and Leopard Blenny. My snorkeling experience that day was very nice. The sea was calm and the visibility was good. I could upload new photos and stories to this blog.
If you are interested in taking a snorkeling tour in Raja Ampat, Tambrauw and Manokwari regencies of Indonesia, and want me to be your guide, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.

Leopard Blenny

Burrowing Clam

Clownfish are attractive for visitors who are avid snorkelers. They are colorful, easy to be watched, and are not affected by the venom from the "hair" of the sea anemone. The symbiotic mutualism relationship is nice to be watched. Anemone provides protection to the nemo fish from predators. Its poisonous tentacles are safe nest for nemo. On the other side, movements of clownfish swimming through and wedging inside the anemone has improved the circulation of water as well as supply of air to the anemone. Clownfish cleans anemone by eating leftover meals from its tentacles, so, he is a carpet expert. Charles Roring/ 20 May 2019.

Snorkeling with 4 Dutch Tourists

Nemo Fish

Two days ago I had a snorkeling tour with 4 Dutch tourists at Bakaro beach. We left Hotel Triton where they stayed at 09.00 by motorcycle taxis for north-east coast of Manokwari city. It was quite a long ride and we arrived the beach around 15 minutes later. However, we did not walked into the water immediately. We still did some hiking tour through an unprepared road, passing by farmlands that belong to the people in Aipiri village. We also saw a lot of coconut trees that stood along the coastal area. We experienced some rain during the morning walk but it was quite short. After walking for 1 hour, we arrived in Bakaro village. It was a nice place for people who liked swimming and snorkeling because it was located in a bay. The sea was calm and the beach was of white sand. 

Red and Black Anemonefish; and Three-spots Dascyllus

The Dutch tourists changed their clothings to the ones that were suitable for swimming. A few minutes later, they walked into the sea to enjoy swimming and snorkeling. It was a clear water and they were able to see coral reef, fish and other marine life in the water. They took the pictures of the marine environment using Gopro camera.

I joined them one hour later. I used a good pair of swim fins, a set of mask and snorkel. I said to them that I would do some freedivings especially in coral reefs where nemo fish thrive. I found some colonies of nemo. They lived together with three-spots dascyllus and other fish as well. 

Anemonefish in Coral Reef

To take pictures of them, I dived into the depths of 3 to 5 meters and positioned myself to be on the same eye level with the fish. Slowly I approached the nemofish and then pressed the shutter button of my camera. I made a few photos from several different directions. I used Nikon AW 130. It was quite good for taking snorkeling pictures. After spending around 1 hour in the sea, I and the Dutch tourists returned to the beach. 

Charles Roring with some Dutch tourists

We continued our tour to Mansinam island where we visited the cross monument and went hiking to Jesus statue. It was a warm summer day. We made some pictures around the area and then walked down to Air Salobar beach in the south of the island. We stayed there for a while enjoying the beauty of the quite beach. 
We returned to Hotel Triton again at 16.00 local time.

One of the tour participants, had a little wound on his feet. He accidently hit the coral rocks at the beach. There were tiny shards from the coral that stayed in his wounds. So, I called a friend of mine who was a doctor to help take them out. She came with her friends and did a little surgery to take the coral shards out of his wounds. In less than 15 minutes she finished the job. We said thank you and good bye to the Dutch tourists. I returned home again with pictures from the sea that I could share in this blog. - This was written by Charles Roring
Also read:

• Snorkeling and Birding in Raja Ampat
• Christmas Tree Worm