Komodo

Ross Armstrong & Diane Armstrong · Issue 5, Feb 2002 · pp. 18–20

Products mentioned: Nikon F90X, Sea&Sea housing, Ikelite SS200 Strobes, Ikelite SS50 Strobes, SubEye Reflex, Kodak E100VS, Fuji Velvia, Fuji Provia

Two more blasts from Lisa’s underwater horn indicated that she had found something special. This time it was a fire urchin with two Coleman’s shrimps living on it. Between Lisa’s horn, Sascha’s rattle and Graham’s tank tapping there was always something new to see. Not that is was difficult to find things ourselves, but four sets of eyes are always better than one. We were diving in Komodo National Park (KNP), an area of 1,817 sq km located between Sumbawa and Flores in the Indonesian Archipelago. KNP includes four main islands, Komodo, Rinca, Padar and Palau Motang plus many smaller islands and rocks. Sixty seven percent of the park is sea where only traditional fishing methods are permitted. Two floating ranger stations, equipped with machine guns, ensure that practices such as dynamite and cyanide fishing do not occur within the park. The marine biodiversity is incredible with over 25…