Dive Details

Location

Date

28 February, 2013

Time

3:18pm - 4:10pm

Details

Dive 28 of the Raja Ampat trip in February 2013 on board the S/Y Indo Siren and the third of six dives in Dampier Strait.

The current was pretty strong on this dive which made it difficult to stop and take photographs. We still saw quite a lot. Near the end of the dive, after seeing a large wobbegong, we saw the largest moray eel I have ever seen. This one made the one from "The Deep" look tiny. I wish I had taken some video of it. It's head would have been 25-30 cm high.

As mind blowing as the moray was, there was still better to come. While starting my ascent, Timo signalled to me to look where he was pointing. I did and I saw a giant manta which had a wing span of at least 4 metres. Timo thinks it was 5 metres. The visibility was not great and it disappeared very quickly but it was an amazing thing to see.

Buddy

Sheree Papuni

Seas

Slight

Visibility

15 metres

Duration

51 minutes

Maximum depth

25.0 m

Average depth

15.8 m

Water temperature

28.8°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Camera gear

Camera

Nikon D7000

Lens

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D

Housing

Ikelite 6801.70

Lens port

Ikelite Flat Port 5502.41

Strobe

2 x Ikelite SubStrobe DS161

Photographs

Depth information, where present, indicates the depth of the camera when the photograph was taken and can be used to approximate the depth of the subject.

Paeony bulleye, Priacanthus blochii. 24.4 m.
 

Multibarred angelfish, Centropyge multifasciata. 22.6 m.
 

Clown triggerfish, Balistoides conspicillum. 17.4 m.
 

Blue-face angelfish, Pomacanthus xanthometopon. 17.1 m.
 

Day octopus, Octopus cyanea. 16.5 m.
 

Pygmy seahorse, Hippocampus bargibanti. 20.9 m.
 

Pygmy seahorse, Hippocampus bargibanti. 20.8 m.
 

Orangutan crab, Achaeus japonicus. 19.5 m.
 

Nudibranch, Flabellina sp. 17.8 m.
 

Nudibranch, Phyllidia varicosa. 13.8 m.
 

Bearded scorpionfish, Scorpaenopsis barbata. 13.5 m.