This year, we commemorated the first anniversary of our great friend’s passing. The coral feast that I had planned to show him and that was left unfinished, ended up into another great adventure celebrating Jake’s coral love with other great coral nerds.
Great Company
No less than the great Julian Sprung and the fantastic Russel Kelley, were with us nerding, and goofing with corals every single dive. We were seconded with great Jake’s friends, farming and maintenance experts, Steve Gareth from Steve’s Acropolis, Toni and Joe Caparatta from Unique Corals, and Triton’s US. The best surprise was the last-minute addition of Luke, Jake’s brother. I have to admit, to have such a great quality of Jake’s friend and coral nerd for a diving trip was already a dream come true. And I can’t be thankful enough to Jake, for putting all of us together, and he was with us in spirit all along the way.
A Coral Feast
The program was already clearly set for more than 2 years. North Sulawesi, is a coral heaven, that I still have to find anywhere else. Located in the heart of the Coral Triangle, the diversity of coral species and coral’s habitat is just through the roof. The trip took us to Manado, Bangka and Lembeh.
Manado Bay:
The LPS world’s capital, with some dive sites called no less than ‘Euphyllia Reef’ with a whole reef of Fimbriaphyllia ancora (Hammer) and Fimbriaphyllia yaeyamensis (Branching Frogspawn). Or ‘Lobo Loco’, a reef filled with all the different species of Lobophyllia, in all the possible coloration, all growing together. And also ‘Bubble Reef’ where we could observe so many different species of Plerogyra that we’re still trying to figure out, ‘How many species was it really?’
In Bunaken:
We saw the insane Turbinaria and SPS Maze of Fukui Point, with Giant Clams (Tridacna gigas), and Montipora walls. Colonies that are bigger than houses, older by several thousand years, are the best corals, that will leave every coral enthusiast speechless.
On the way to Bangka, we stopped by a Catalaphyllia jardinei colony bigger than a tennis court, at the foot of a mangrove, in just a few feet of water. That was unexpected, which made it even sweeter.
Bangka
Saung is the classic Bangka dive site, with rocky walls filled with Scleronephthya sp soft corals of all possible colors, huge schools of fish, large leather soft corals, and an Acropora florida, hemprichii and muricata heaven for the safety stop.
‘Sweet Dreams’ has to be my favorite site for the whole trip. The site that I couldn’t wait to show Jake. Hills of Foliate, plating hard corals as far as the eye can see, Mycedium, Echinophyllia, Oxypora, Pectinia, Echinopora, Montipora, … with the biggest colony of Nemenzophyllia turbida I have ever seen. I saw Russel’s eyes, after the dive and it was the most rewarding thing.
Lembeh: The world’s critter capital
Lembeh is famous for its continuous supply of nudis, frogfish, blue ring, mimic and wonderpus octopus, flamboyant cuttlefish, and pygmy seahorses… but it’s also a coral lover paradise.
Acanthophyllia deshaesyana, Trachyphyllia geoffroyi, Cynarina lacrymalis, Fimbriaphyllia divisa, Plerogyra sinuosa, Blastomussa vivida… to name a few, they are all there, to the keen eye. All along Fimbriaphyllia ancora and yaeyamensis colonies the size of houses. And if you’re too tired to look at corals, there are always all these crazy critters!
Jake’s Reef
We couldn’t complete that trip without planting Jake’s reef. And every year we will return, maintain, and make it grow. The sight of Julian and Joe reefing underwater on a natural reef was one of the trip highlights!
We mixed some of Jake’s ashes with some cement to secure some loose coral fragments to a reef. So Jake will always be with corals!
Another great trip next year!
Like a pilgrimage, we will return to that place again and see all these corals again. Now they are part of our family. The dates will be from the 15th to 24th of July 2024. Some of us already signed up to come back next year. I hope many of you can join. If you’re interested, shoot me an email here: [email protected]
