Indonesia - Komodo NP: Mawan

Setting

25.6ºC. 31% oxygen. 10 m viz. Extreme current. Eventually hit crazy current that was the fastest I’ve experienced in a long time. Temp.=25.6ºC. 30% oxygen. 25ºC, 10-m viz. Temp.=25.0ºC. Poor viz. High particulate load.

General benthic features

Descended over rubble field colonized by cyanobacteria and soft corals (e.g., Image 1).

1

Occasional Acropora, though loads of Acropora rubble. Eventually reached pristine reef with several monster cuttlefish. Stylophora, Seriatopora, Pocillopora acuta, Pocillopora verrucosa, Pocillopora eydouxi, and many species that can tolerate high flow (including many soft corals). Stinging hydroids (the species common in Raja Ampat), brain coral, enormous cuttlefish, Pachyseris (small), small massive Porites, low-relief hard+soft coral community for most of dive (e.g., Image 2, Image 3).

23

Red fluorescent mussids. Seriatopora caliendrum and Stylophora pistillata very common. Enormous Euphyllia colony. Many species of hard coral I’ve never seen before. Isopora. Plerogyra, Physogyra, abundant, and diverse sea anemones, and many gorgeous nudibranchs. The coral at the cleaning station was not particularly impressive: broken up Acropora, some Seriatopora, mostly soft coral on rubble. Reef was poorly consolidated though in the process of being colonized by CCA (e.g., Image 4).

4

Fire coral, Pocillopora eydouxi, Seriatopora hystrix, and Seriatopora caliendrum/Stylophora pistillata all very common. Massive Porites (small), plentiful soft coral. After 45 minutes, decided to explore the reef, which was surprisingly beautiful. Probably one of the most beautiful hard coral spots of the trip. Stinging hydroids were everywhere. Soft coral common in all areas (e.g., Image 5).

5

Diverse and abundant Acropora. Anemones. Pocillopora acuta very common, always darkly pigmented. Mixed hard+soft coral community at 8 m. More structure/rugosity than most sites in area. Reef very colorful at 5-6 me, partially on account of a pretty, turquoise blue sponge. Pocillopora verrucosa, Montipora, Galaxea, Pavona. Very diverse hard coral assemblage. Site was mostly unconsolidated Acropora rubble with some CCA. Live Acropora, Seriatopora hystrix, and very small/few Montipora.

Coral cover

Coral cover: 14% — a blind Claude computer-vision point count of 150 of Anderson's edited photographs (20 points per photo; water, fish, and obstructions excluded). Other computer-vision methods are listed in the method table. Anderson is still comparing computer-vision models, and these figures will be updated as the methods improve.

Fish and other fauna

Dead ended at manta, though viz was likely too bad to get a good picture (4-m wingspan). White frogfish in Acropora colony. Razor wrasse x 3 (super beautiful and NBS). Another amazing manta ray dive, albeit with only 6-9 mantas (instead of 20-30). Also saw a black tip reef shark, a giant trevally, and a stingray. Hit the jackpot on this manta ray cleaning station dive, which was absolutely excellent. Probably saw 20-30 different mantas, all in close proximity. Many of the 3-4-m wingspan mantas made very close passes. Could have reached out and touched them.

Comparisons with other data

No independent survey was made at this exact site; the nearest ones are listed in the table below.

Dive record

2019-1-19 dive 3: Mauan/Mawan (#3). 14:54-15:57 (63 min). Max. depth=18.3 m. 2019-1-26 dive 2: Mawan (round 3; #29): 10:52-11:55 (62 min). Max. depth=9.4 m. 2019-1-25 dive 2: Mawan Island (round 2; #25): 10:53-12:00 (67 min). Max. depth=9.1 m.

Other notes

Did not get good pictures due to housing fogging, but it was a breathtaking experience nonetheless.