Mantas, Turtles and Sharks, Oh My!

After being out of the tropical waters and in the forest for a month or so we were ready to dive back in. And what better place than a group of small islands where we heard that people often encounter dozens and even hundreds of manta rays, there is a saltwater lake filled with stingless jellyfish and beaches where turtles lay their eggs nightly. This group of islands is off the coast of Berau in East Kalimantan: Derawan, Sanggalaki and Kakaban, and while we had not heard as much about it as other famous dive spots in the area, we were still very excited about the prospects.

The main attraction for us was, of course the manta rays, which neither of us had seen yet. Mantas are big, harmless stingrays which filter feed on plankton. There are similar ones off the coast of Florida where they are the namesake for the baseball team The Devil Rays. The ones here do not get quite as large as those, but they still reach wingspans of more than 10 feet.

We approached Derawan Island by speedboat and quickly noticed that the island, like so many in the Philippines, was heavily populated. Many houses were situated over the water on stilts, including our accomodation, which made for a very eye-pleasing view out over the ocean. Once we got settled, we decided to survey the small island as well as look for a boat for a snorkeling trip to Sanggalaki Island the next day. On our brief walk we saw a large turtle swimming near shore as well as a fenced off area which served as a sanctuary where turtle eggs were protected until they hatched. We would end up seeing tons more turtles in the water over the next few days, but unfortunately none laying or hatching on the beach (though we searched the beaches at night). Over dinner we talked with a nice Canadian who had been diving in the area the past week. He was one of those divers that has been many places and since he was highly impressed by the underwater world in the area, we felt confident that this would be a great place. He informed us that when he visited Sanggalaki, the famed manta island, he had seen dozens from the boat even before jumping into the water and tons more underneath. We could hardly sleep with anticipation of our trip the next day.

We woke up early, jumped in the boat and prepared oursleves for the 1.5 hour ride to Pulau Sanggalaki. We passed through a rain storm but when we arrived the sun was shining on the white sandy beach. We got off the boat and were able to see turtle tracks and nests in the sand. It is pretty much a deserted island other than one small resort and it was thick with forest. This lack of people on an island was rare to us after living in the Philippines where it sees that every semi-inhabitatble island is jam packed. The lack of people also meant a lack of fishing pressure and therefore, as we were about to see, there remained a wealth of big fish underwater.

Our boatman took us to the other side of the island where the mantas hang out and we were worried that something would be wrong and they would not be here today. We thought our fears were turning into reality since we did not see any as we approached their hangout. Still nervous we jumped in and were immediately whisked away by a rapid current. At first there was not much coral nor many fish and no mantas (our worst nightmares come true!). But this did not last for long. After a few minutes of drifting we were surrounded by schools of large fish. And then our first manta came into view. It was huge and appeared out of the murky water to glide gracefully past. It was a surreal experience.


The current was strong all day and it was fairly bad visibility for tropical waters at about 20 feet. This often doesn't make for ideal leisurely snorkeling conditions, but it did make for a great opportunity to see tons of big fish, mantas and other marine life since many of these creatures prefer the strong currents and the food that is brought in on them. Often times the large mantas would appear out of nowhere from the murky depths and provoke a scream from Lora which would then in turn scare KC. It was all good fun and the mantas provided quite a show for us especially in the PM during low tide when the current got even stronger and even more of them congregated in the feeding area. We had the boat drop us and then we would be whisked by the current past dozens of these gentle giants filter feeding in the shallows.

Each time we were dropped off by our boat, it proved to be a new experience. On one pass we would see tons of mantas, on the next loads of turtles and one the next it was 5 sharks and hige school of sweetlips. By the end of the day we were both pooped but felt that it had been our best day underwater ever. We not only saw dozens of mantas but also more turtles than either one of us had ever seen in all of our diving and snorkeling (more than fifty for the day). We saw about 10 reef sharks and 3 leopard sharks (also a great sighting which neither of us had seen before). To say that big fish were plentiful would be an understatement as schools of huge snappers, sweetlips and jacks were commonplace. For two biologists who love the water it was really nothing short of spectacular and also an uplifting experience after seeing so many fish-depleted waters in the Philippines. By 4 PM our boatman wanted to head home and so we reluctantly hung our snorkels and fins up for the day.

The next day, we planned to visit the island of Kankaban which has a saltwater lake that has four species of stingless jellyfish which inhabit it. The lake has long been cut off from the ocean for so long that the jellyfish trapped inside, in the presence of no predators, have proliferated and evolved to become stingless. I had once seen a program on a similar lake in Palau (small island in Micronesia) and it has always stuck in my memory. I was longing to see this weird phenomenon and once I heard about this place I was certainly excited since it was the next best thing and a whole lot cheaper to visit.

Unfortunately our boatman from the previous day (who had been great) was busy so we had to look for another one. This proved to be more difficult than the first day but we thought that we had one lined up the night before. In the morning they did not show up and we decided to wait for a while since time in Indonesia moves like time in the Philippines (which is not American time). After an hour or so though we were getting worried since it was eating up our snorkeling time and the island was a 2 1/2 hour trip away. We went to look for the boat and found that they had just returned from fishing and did not really seem too ready to take us out. After awhile and agreeing to pay a bit more money than we had agreed upon the night before we eventually headed off. On top of that, this boat was slower than the one the day before and every time you moved on the boat, it felt like it was going to roll over. After such a great and easy experience the day before we were a bit discouraged (Oh well... that's life) but hoped that it would still be a good day.

After finally arriving at Kakaban, we jumped in the lake and found that it was even murkier than the surrounding sea with visibility of only about 10 feet. The jellyfish were certainly there but not exactly in the proportions that I had imagined. I had dreamed of floating through throngs of the pulsing little jellies and having to fight my way through (much like I saw in that program on Palau). It was not exactly like that but it was still pretty neat to be in the presence of so many beautiful but usually irritating little creatures without feeling the bad effects.

What actually turned out to be the best part of the lake was the mangrove fringed shore. Along the shallow edge, the bottom and the mangrove roots in the water had been colonized by a community of strange and very colorful organisms. There were sponges and tunicates of many bright shades of red and orange. There were morays, flatworms, sea cucumbers and fish which were specialized for this very unique environment. It was like nothing we had ever seen before and it made the visit to the lake really worth it even with the problems with our boat (it also broke down on our way home: it was getting dark and we almost thought that we were going to be stuck out at sea all night or worse).

But we got back safe and even decided to try another trip. We decided to go back to Sanggalaki since we loved it so much. Our boat the next day was a different one and much better and our snorkelling while not quite as good as the first day, was still peppered with mantas, turtles and big fish. These islands were probably the most impressive that we have seen for cool marine life so far and we would both head back in a minute and maybe next time we will strap a few tanks on our backs.