On this anchor dive we encountered several different species
of large parrot fish. Valleys of coral were found right underneath
the ship at a depth of about 24 meters. We noticed a lot of sedimentation
and algae overgrowth.
This dive site is a big rock sitting on the about 30 meter deep bottom extending
up to 5 meter below the water surface. We found a high diversity
of hard corals and also some soft corals colonizing the walls of
the rock, although the percentage of living coral was low and their
state of health quite poor. Many corals were affected by bioeroding
mussels as well as christmas tree worms. Overgrowth by filamentous
and coralline algae was significant. Also the abundance of other
marine animals was rather disappointing, since only a few small
reef fish crossed our way.
After moving the ship closer to the shore we did a dive to check
the anchorage. We saw a large moray eel sticking its head out
of a coral rock. Large areas of coral rock were overgrown by coralline
algae.
This bommie close to our anchorage is a great spot for coral
identification and Vitareef training, both diving and snorkeling.
The bottom consists mainly of bcoral rock with a few areas of
sand in between.
The coral diversity in this area is high: we identified colonies of Acropora,
Pocillopora, Porites, Galaxea, Diploastrea, Montipora, Favites,
Lobophyllia, Astreopora, Goniastrea, Psammocora, Platygira, Fungia,
Pachyseris, Pavona and Symphyllia. Also we spotted some
Crown of Thorns and other star fish, as well as many sea cucumbers.
Some beautiful seafans were waving inside a small cave in the coral
rocks. But despite all this diversity, the reef in this area seems
to be under extreme stress. Sedimentation, overgrowth by filamenteous
algae and by invertebrates are significant. We sighted 4 or 5 Crown
of Thorn on this reef. They are feeding mainly on Acropora
colonies.
The second bommie we dove is, in bottom composition as well as
coral diversity, comparable to the first bommie (dive site D).
At this site we also noted the poor state of health of the corals.
The reef suffers from sedimentation, also from filamenteous and
macroalgae overgrowth. We spotted a lion fish and some schools
of smaller reef fish along the bommie, but the overall abundance
of marine life is low. However, there are many beautiful colonies
of the soft coral Dendronephthya, feather stars and sea
fans. On our night-dive we found a pufferfish, many lion fish
and several large Crown of Thorns starfish.
The
entire area of the Alacrity Rocks includes beautiful formations
of coral rocks, valleys and deep canyons in between patches of
sand and rubble.
On the outer side of the lagoon we found a rather small abundance
of reef fish. The bottom of this site consists of coral rock and
is covered with lots of hard coral, soft coral and sponges. Most
coral colonies were quite small which indicates that they are
either new colonies or the leftovers from formerly large colonies.
This bommie has a wall full of different hard and soft corals,
sponges and tunicate-colonies. The upper 3 meters of the bommie
were smothered by filamentous algae and hardly any living coral
was seen in this zone. The lower part of the bommie however offers
a wide diversity of corals. We spotted a white tip shark cruising
around the rock, also a lion fish and a huge grouper.
This site showed an especially interesting rock formation with
small caves reaching deep into the rock. There was a high diversity
of hard corals but with a low abundance. The overgrowth of coralline
algae was quite high.
This huge rock offers a beautiful wall-dive. Besides several
schools of small reef fish and a few jacks, we also saw an eagle
ray and a white tip shark . The percentage of live coral was quite
low but the beautiful rock formations made the dives here a true
pleasure. In spite of the low abundance of hard coral, the genus
diversity is quite high.
We chose this rock for our transect dive because it represents
the typical hard coral and fish population that we found during
our stay in Ono. The results of this transect can be seen on our
science website. While we were busy studying the marine life,
a white tip shark cruised around the reef.
At this site we did our second transect dive. The results of
our study can be seen on our science site. The overgrowth of pink
coralline algae on this reef was about 40 percent and we found
about 15 percent live coral.
Piero, our Italian friend offered to take us out to different
dive sites on his boat and we got the chance to do some beautiful
diving on the windward side of the island. At dive site G we found
a small plateau gently descending down to 35 meters. The upper
part of the reef is covered with quite healthy hard coral, mainly
Acropora colonies, and we noticed beautiful crevices with
soft coral . Even if we did not see a lot of big fish life there
was a large school of parrot fish and a healthy population of
small reef fish. Also a napoleon wrasse, a tuna, butterfly fish,
banner fish and five green turtles passed by.
This reef is made of a sloping wall and a tongue of coral rock
coming out at about 25 metres. Here we found a rich and diverse
fish life. We encountered surgeon fish, a huge napoleon wrasse,
a big tuna and a school of jacks. Also we spotted a moray eel,
a green turtle and a white tip shark. This area is known to be
the place to spot hammerhead sharks, but no sign of them on our
dive. On the reef we saw beautiful sea fans and impressive growth
forms of soft coral. Due to a high amount of plankton in the water,
the visibility on this dive was limited.
We dove the pass between the Acracity rocks and found beautiful
formations of canyons and castlelike rocks which were dropping
down to about 25 metres. There was a great swimthrough with seafans
that were covered with featherstars and a lot of soft coral. We
also spotted different kinds of sea anemones which gave shelter
to many beautiful small clown fish. The hard corals that we saw
however were in a poor state of health. Three white tip sharks
and a barracuda were cruising around the reef along with a huge
school of about 300 surgeon fish and another school of fusiliers.
At the end of the dive we saw a green turtle passing by.
While we were descending we could already see the 45 metre deep
bottom that was covered by many purple and yellow treelike soft
corals. The sight was just spectacular. In between this field
of soft corals there were many starfish as well as huge sea fans
which were overgrown by large featherstars. Against our expectations
we did not encounter any schooling fish or much other pelagic
marine life, apart from a white tip shark and a giant napoleon
wrasse. A moray eel stuck its head out of a small cave when we
passed along the reef. The upper part of the reef showed a healthy
and abundant hard coral population, while the percentage of live
coral sunk gradually with increasing depth.
The
entire area of the Alacrity Rocks includes beautiful formations
of coral rocks, valleys and deep canyons in between patches of
sand and rubble.
