On March 25th, a Fish 'n Fins dive boat headed out to the Blue Holes, an area 50 minutes southwest of Koror, with dive guide Shane "The Insane" Kuartei and videographer Mark Thorpe.

"Reports had been coming from various dive guides that huge numbers of Orange Spine Surgeon fish had been spotted schooling around the southern reef systems of Palau", Mark explains. "Seeing as this is where most of the established dive spots are located I was pretty sure that something was about to go off in a big way. On the day in question I was on a dive boat heading out to the Blue Holes area with Shane as the principle guide and a boat load of divers planning to do Blue Holes and then drift to the outgoing side of Blue Corner (visit the dive sites section for detailed descriptions). I had other plans. Slipping into liquid, I was home. The all too familiar sounds of air escaping my regulator, the sluggish almost sensual movement of the water as it carried me gently to one of the most highly regarded dive sites on our Ocean Planet. I’d never really filmed any kind of schooling behaviours in Palau, silly as it seems having been here for almost two years I normally find myself having to consider angles to include divers in the “frame”, today was my day to film. I was ready, or at least I thought I was! Clearing my mind of thoughts from the loud world above I fixed my mind on the task ahead. OK, find a school of a gazillion fish, sit in the middle of them and film away... simple, right? Wrong!

I descended on the shallow section of the incoming side and scanned the area, nothing, not even any trace of other divers. I watched the languid but deadly efficient grace of a few Grey Reef Sharks as they patrolled the drop off[short clip WMP/2.1Mb], watched as a school of Large Eye Jacks maintained formation as the sharks stuck to their flight paths in front of them, the scenes that make Blue Corner a special place. They came out of nowhere, and in their hundreds. What was a plateau made of rock, solid and unwavering, took on the appearance of an undulating black carpet interspersed with flecks of Orange. They must have been aggregating in the depths and had come up over the reef drop off and swarmed onto the plateau, and they were rushing straight toward me. This was a full on stampede, I now feel very sorry for those working the counters at your local McDonald’s, and they gotta put up with this everyday! I could see why they had rushed across the plateau as hot on their heels materialized a squadron of Giant Trevally Jacks, White Tip Reef Sharks, Napoleon Wrasse and pretty much anything else that could fit one of these bite sized fish into their predatory mouths.

The slaughter began. Giant Trevallies started slamming the group from all sides, the White Tips were rushing through the school, mouths wide open vacuuming their prey as they went. Groupers, Napoleons, Grey Reef Sharks and even Blue Fin Trevally Jacks were in on the hunt. The hunted were swirling in all directions, the hunters darting everywhere to satisfy their gluttony, and I was in the middle of it! Right there in the thick of the action, right where I intended to be... it was wild. On one occasion a small group of surgeons had decided the best place to take cover would be under that strange bubble-blowing object in their close vicinity. The first notice I got of their evasive tactics was when a 35lb GT almost slammed me in the ribs in an effort to work the surgeons who were trying in vain to get into my BC pockets. This was nature at its most pure level. The daily selection of the fittest was unfurling in front of my camera, and I was getting it all. By now the school had started to split into smaller groups and were making their respective escapes, the action was slowing down. The whole episode had lasted around 10 minutes with sporadic action in the meantime. Before long they all moved on, chased across the reef by predators new to the melee. Many White Tips were resting bloated on the plateau; I could almost hear their skins stretching as they lay there drawing exhaustive gasps of water through their gills. The Napoleons almost lethargic in their movements just kind of hung, satiated and full, in the water column.

I moved on to the outgoing side of Blue Corner and met up with the other divers who had by that time reached their limits of both air and time for their dive. Getting back on the boat I could only explain what I had seen. The next dive was planned for Blue Corner... round 2? Well that’s another story..."

White tips at
Blue Corner
(WMP/5.1Mb)




Whale shark
passes Blue Corner (WMP/5.4Mb)

Guestbook

"Non existent", replied Sander Jongeneel and Sanne den Houter when asked about their dive experience before coming to Palau. "We admit we're rookies." Both of them had previously done two introductory dives in Italy, Sander finished his Open Water Diver course last year in Mexico and Sanne decided she wanted to get certified in Palau. They flew all the way from The Netherlands and stayed in Palau from April 16th to May 2nd, 2006.


"Our best dive? Difficult to say", says Sanne. "The diversity of dive sites in Palau is overwhelming so it's hard to compare them with eachother." Sander: "Ulong Channel was astonishing. It turned out to be one of our most exciting dives. A dive with a strong current, lots of sharks and fish. Shark City", Sanne continues, "was a dive I personally liked because of the many schools of different kinds of fish. But my favourite dive was the one we did at Ngermeaus Island during the confined water phase of the course. At one point we must have been surrounded by at least a dozen blacktip reef sharks! Pretty cool considering the fact that confined water sessions are normally done in a swimming pool!"

"We chose Palau because of what we had read about it in the dive magazines and heard from people who had been there. Now that we've seen it with our own eyes we can only agree with them, despite our lack of dive experience. Palau has drop offs, blue holes, wrecks, caves, channels etc. etc. And sooo many sharks! We expected to see sharks, sure, but not so many and so close! Was I afraid of them? To me the sharks in Palau are so beautiful and fascinating that I almost forget they're real sharks when I'm diving with them", Sanne explains. "Palau is not only beautiful underwater", Sander adds. "The boat rides to and from the dive site were a thrill by themselves. I couldn't get enough of driving through the maze of mushroom shaped Rock Islands. And the Palauans? They're the most friendly and generous people I've ever met! The atmosphere at Fish 'n Fins is pleasant too. The dive guides, captains, videographer and other employees clearly get along well with eachother and have lots of fun which has its effect on us. A professional bunch of people, fun to hang out with."

A 12 day trip to the Southwest Islands of Palau

The Southwest Islands of Palau stretch for almost 400 miles south of Koror, the capitol of Palau. The island chain consists of Sonsorol, Merir, Pula Anna, Helen's Reef and Tobi. Few people live on these islands. There is no scheduled transport to and from the islands and there are no airstrips for air- planes. A govern- ment ship visits once every three to four months. This makes the islands virtually inaccessible to tourists and scuba divers. None of the other liveaboards in Palau travel to this dive destination, which offers pristine diving and great exploration.
Ocean Hunter II offers two expeditions in 2007 to this remote location: February 8-20/2007 organized by TAUCHREISEN ROSCHER and April 4-16/2007 (for more information contact Navot@oceanhunter.com or info@oceanhunter.com). Both expeditions are sold out.

Itinerary for expedition:

Day 1 - Arrival in Palau and board Ocean Hunter II
Check out dive in the lagoon on WWII wreck
Dive on Ngemelis Island
Night dive at German Channel

Day 2 - Diving Peleliu and Angaur
11AM Departure to Sonsorol (Angaur to Sonsorol 150 Nautical Miles)

Day 3 - Arrival at Sonsorol at 7AM
Diving Sonsorol

Day 4 - Diving Sonsorol
Departure from Sonsorol to Merir at 9PM
(Sonsorol to Merir 70 Nautical Miles)


Day 5 - Arriving Merir at 6AM
Diving Merir
Departure from Merir at 7PM to Helen’s Reef (Merir to Helen’s Reef 120 Nautical Miles)

Day 6 - Arrival at Helen’s Reef at 9AM
Diving Helen’s Reef

Day 7 - Diving Helen’s Reef

Day 8 - Departure at 1AM to Tobi (Helen’s Reef to Tobi 40 Nautical Miles)
Arrival at Tobi at 6AM
Diving Tobi
Departure from Tobi at 7PM to Pula Anna (Helen’s Reef to Pula Anna 120 Nautical Miles)

Day 9 - Arrival at Pula Anna at 10AM
Diving Pula Anna

Day 10 - Diving Pula Anna

Day 11 - Departure from Pula Anna at 5AM (Pula Anna to Koror 240 Nautical miles)

Day 12 - Arrival at Koror at 4PM