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Dive of the Month
  On
December 13th 2005, dive guides Siksei Markungael and Clayton Johannes
took a group of 10 divers from Ocean Hunter II to Peleliu Wall
& Cut. This reef on the west side of Peleliu starts just below
the surface, slopes to about 7m/20ft and turns into a huge drop
off (description of the site).
At 07.45 AM everyone performed a back roll entry from the chase
boat and descended to 15m/45ft, wall on the left. The viz was good, at
least 30m/100ft and there was some surge. "The current was
moderate and it was our first dive of the day", Clayton says.
"Since I was leading the dive having Siksei in
the back, I was the lucky one to spot the fish that made this dive so
special."
"Ten
minutes
into the dive," Siksei continues, "I hear Clayton
all of a sudden bang on his tank. He clearly spots something and points
up in a 45 degree angle in front of him. Just below the surface, at
5m/15ft, a school of 13 sailfish moves its way opposite to our
direction. T-h-i-r-t-e-e-n of them! What a sight! I have seen sailfish
before, but never so many at once."
 "Unfortunately,
the encounter lasted only one minute after which we continued drifting
along the wall", Clayton says. "We passed the cut,
a part of the reef we normally hook ourselves onto, drifted all the
way to the corner, ascended, did our safety stop above the plateau and
then surfaced. On that dive we also saw leaf fish on the wall and
dogtooth tuna and sharks in the blue, but yeah, you tend to almost
forget them!"
Mike Tougas,
Captain Ocean Hunter II
Mike
is from Minnesota, USA
and joined the Ocean Hunter II as a captain in 2005. A few of his
passions are sailing, technical diving and U/W photography. His
favourite reef in Palau is Ulong Channel and his favourite fish are
manta rays, marble rays and guitar sharks.
When and why did you come to Palau? Mike: "I came to Palau in
March 2005 after completing a 4000 mile journey by sailboat. The reason
why I chose Palau is because of the remoteness of the island and the
diversity of the sea life. What I've seen of Palau so far is stunning."
What's the most memorable dive you did in Palau? "A dive we
did in Ulong Channel", Mike answers. "That's a
shallow channel with coral formations on a sandy bottom located west of
Koror. A very cool dive site if you've got incoming tide. We usually
start the dive at the mouth of the channel to check out patrolling grey
reef sharks, stay there for 15-20 minutes, then drift into the actual
channel. The average depth inside is around 12m/35ft. You can get
extremely close to a resident school of glass eyes, you'll see whitetip
reef sharks, turtles, groupers, lots of soft corals, a huge formation
of lettuce coral and giant tridacnas. The best part is in the back of
the channel though. That's where sharks, tunas and groupers usually
feed on a school of bait fish. We've been in the middle of the action a
couple of times. I never knew some of the species of fish can be that
fast while they're feeding!"
Fish 'n Video
Silver Tip Shark at
Blue Corner
(WMP/1.1Mb)
Manta Rays
at Devilfish City
(WMP/2.2Mb)
Guestbook
"Unique"
replied John Pos, an ex naval and commercial diver from Woking,
England, when he was asked to describe Palau in one word. John who was
diving with Fish 'n Fins in December 2005, has been diving for 32 years
now and logged around 1000 dives. He has dived in the UK, Scapa Flow,
Red Sea, the Arabian Gulf, the Maldives, New Zealand, Chuuk, Yap,
Hawaii, Florida, The Keys, Barbados, Protea Banks, Aliwal Shoals and
the Great Barrier Reef.
"Blue
Corner is
one of the best dive sites I have ever seen", John
explains. "There's so much going on at that particular part
of the reef, so much action." John smiles when asked if he
liked using the reefhook: "it was as if you were watching  a movie
really. Almost underwater yoga! Imagine the incredible view of having a
school of barracudas on your left, sharks in front of you and a big
napoleon wrasse on your right. Yes, I can highly recommend Blue Corner
to anyone. And the boat ride to and from the dive site was a thrill by
itself. WWhat spectacular and unique scenery when touring through the
Rock Islands! To me they are as impressive as the Bay of Islands in New
Zealand. Unspoiled and so beautiful. The same can be said about
Jellyfish Lake, what a sensation that was! Nothing like it."
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