The area underneath the ship consists of sand and scattered
coral bommies. The hard coral cover of the bommies was about
10% with a quite high diversity. We identified Pocillopora,
Acropora, Porites, Goniopora, Caulastrea, Pachyseris, Leptoseris,
Fungia, Galaxea, Mycedium, Pectinia, Hydnophora, Merulina
and Plerogyra. Also there was a healthy population
of soft coral and gorgonian seafans.
Besides the usual small reef fish we saw a couple of huge
angelfish, rainbow runners and some small groupers. Due to
a high turbidity the visibility on both dives was only about
10 meters.
This big bommie close to the south pass provides a high density of hard and soft coral, sponges, sea fans,
zooanthids as well as sea anemones.
The hard coral cover on the bommie was about 20% with up
to 80% of the colonies being quite healthy.
There were very few fish in this area of the Namena reef
system, but on both dives we saw two beautiful lion fish.
The timing of dives in the passes had to be coordinated with
the tides.
The bottom composition of this site consists of a reef wall
dropping down to a sandy bottom with several small bommies
and patches of rubble at about 15 meters. The upper 10 meters
of the reef wall showed a high diversity of hard coral as
well as different types of soft coral, mainly Dendronephthya
and leather coral. Lots of small reef fish were seen around
the coral bommies, but larger pelagic marine life was absent.
There were several large giant clams sitting on the reef.
The barrier reef of Namena provides a wall of live coral
and coral rock which drops off steeply at about 30 meters.
Inside the passage there are several coral bommies spread
over a sandy bottom as well as some areas of rubble. As expected
the passage is full of pelagics. We saw several gray reef
and white tip sharks, a school of about 200 barracudas, schools
of jacks, schools of fusiliers, schools of trigger fish, lots
of groupers, a huge Napoleon wrasse, wahoos, emperor fish,
anthias, rainbow runners, surgeon fish, puffer fish, unicorn
fish, groupers, giant sweet lips, angelfish and many other
reef fish. Being at the right time at the right place we even
saw a school of about 30 large hammerhead sharks that seem
to inhabit this area. The hard coral cover was about 50 percent
on the bommies and 10 percent on the wall. They are in a good
state of health with the dominant genera being Acropora
and Pocillopora. There is little algae cover and very
few colonies showed signs of bleaching. Areas of the reef
are smothered by leather corals, mainly Sarcophyton,
and tree corals of the genus Dendronephthya are quite
abundant on the coral bommies. Big colonies of the non-reef
building hard-coral Tubastrea grow on the reef wall,
as well as large sea fans and sea whips. Currents and visibilities
varied a lot depending on the tides.
The fringing reef of Namena consists of a reef wall and
sandy bottom sloping gently down. The hard coral genera identified
on this site are Acropora, Pocillopora,Porites, Montipora,
Merulina, Galaxea, Diploastrea, Lobophyllia and Fungia.
The percentage of live coral on the reef wall is less than
5%. There are many dead colonies and a high number of colonies
are affected by overgrowth of filamentous as well as coralline
algae.
The inside of the barrier reef is mainly composed of coral
rock. The hard coral coverage is quite low with a much more
abundant population of soft corals.
There was a
slight current running into the lagoon and plenty of fish were feeding in the
current. We saw a school of fusiliers, two coral trouts, one grouper, jacks,
mackerels, sweet lips and flounders.
The bottom underneath the ship consists mainly of sand with
some small coral bommies. The dominant coral genus is Acropora
and almost all hard coral colonies showed signs of edge damage.
On our first anchor dive we saw hardly any marine life, whereas
on the second dive we encountered two big remoras, fusiliers,
angelfish, longface emperors and yellow margin triggerfish
Divers:Orla, Anna, Kitty, Sylvia, Starrlight,
Paul
Date: July 12th
TI: 0910
TO: 1000
MaxDepth: 7m
Divers:Kitty, Anna, Sylvia, Paul, Nada
Date: July 12th
TI: 1100
TO: 1150
MaxDepth: 7m
Divers:Kitty, Starrlight, Grant
This shallow patch is made out of a reef slope with the
highest point at 2 meters, dropping of to about 7 meters on
the lagoon-ward side . While descending we saw a giant Napoleon
wrasse. Especially on the top of the reefslope, there were
many small reef fish, anthias, parrot fish and damsel fish.
Also clownfish were hiding inside different types of sea anemones.The
dominant hard coral genus is Acropora. One Acropora
colony showed a white band between healthy and dead tissue
which could be White Band Disease. Some Porites colonies
were densely overgrown by filamenteous algae. The whole patch
is smothered by little tunicates which are more abundant in
the darker areas of the dropoff of the reef. There we also
found a corallimorph of about 40 cm diameter attached to a
vertical wall of coral rock. Leather corals of the type Sarcophyton
and Lobophytum are very abundant, covering about 40
percent of the reef. This reefslope served as a Vitareef as
well as a transect site. The results of the study may be seen
on our science website.
This reef
is a drop-off with several flats in between. The bottom composition is mainly
coral rock that is overgrown by hard and soft coral with areas of sand and
rubble.
Off the reef we saw a beautiful eagle ray, a school of fusiliers
as well as some coral trouts. The dominant coral genera on
this site are Acropora, Porites, Montipora, Favites, Goniastrea,
Leptoseris, Merulina, Turbinaria and Astropora.
The live coral coverage is
about 10 percent on the wall and 30 percent on the flats.
We chose this reef drop-off for a study site because of its
high coral diversity and because it represents the character
of the outside of the barrier reef. There is a live coral
coverage of about 50 percent with the dominant genera being
Acropora, Porites, Pocillopora, Favites, Goniastrea and
Pavona. Some colonies show signs of possible diseases
(White Band Disease), most of the Acropora colonies
however are in a good state of health. Further information
may be seen on our science website.
The Chimneys provide the classic reef system. There are
two towers extending up to about 5 meters below the surface
and dropping down to 30 meters. Their peaks are covered with
a healthy hard coral population and many types of soft corals
of all growth forms and colors. Also the fish population is
vibrant. We saw schools of anthias, damsel fish, surgeon fish,
unicorn fish, banner fish, moorish idols, cardinal fish, regal
and semicircle angel fish, several big groupers, sweet lips,
black snappers, titan trigger fish, many different types of
fusiliers, one pipefish, butterfly fish and many clownfish.
Several jacks were hunting along the reef. Tubastrea
colonies and sea fans are scattered over the vertical wall,
reaching quite impressive sizes.
The site is composed of a reef patch sitting on sandy bottom.
The reef has a high hard coral coverage. About 20 – 30% of
the colonies are covered by algae.
Several hard coral
colonies showed signs of anchor damage, some were suffering from bleaching,
algae mat smothering and possible diseases.
There were garden eels, moray eels, many anthias and fusiliers,
groupers and snappers. Also we saw a healthy population of
giant clams.
Divers:Kitty, Matt, Anna, Sylvia, Starrlight,
Paul
The fringing reef of
Namena showed a low abundance of hard and soft coral, invertebrates as well as
fish life. There were many dead colonies as well as big areas of rubble.
Further information may be seen on our science website.
Divers:Michel, Orla, Eddie, Matt, Didi, Alex, James
Date: July 9th
TI: 1220
TO: 1300
MaxDepth: 25m
Divers:Michel, Eddie, Starrlight, Orla
Date: July 10th
TI: 0820
TO: 0910
MaxDepth: 33
Divers:Grant, Sylvia, Anna
This site consists of two tall pinnacles rising up to a few
meters below the surface. On top of the pinnacles Acropora
was the dominant coral genus, whereas the wall showed a high
population of Diploastrea, Porites, Merulina, Mycedium
and Galaxea colonies. The percentage of hard coral
cover was 15% on the wall and 40% on the top. There were big
patches of Sarcophyton soft corals and sea anemones,
as well as several massive seafans. Thousands of small reef
fish hung out around the two pinnacles, turning the reef into
a busy and colourful hotspot. Also many jacks and different
types of groupers were seen on all dives.
Because on this dive we moved almost a mile under water, we
saw all kinds of bottom compositions. There was a wall with
crevices, shelves, rubble and sand. On the walls there was about
5% hard coral coverage, on the flats about 40%. Pocillopora,
Acropora and Diploastrea were the most dominant genera,
but we also saw some Pavona, Lobophyllia, Leptoria and
Platigyra.
