Interesting story about Nudibranchs just published in National Geographic Magazine... PADI teaches us NOT to touch Marine Life...but how come...
DID YOU KNOW?
Is brought to you by the
Philippine - Micronesia
Alliance,
the
Divers Choice.
We care about our Environment!
Picked up this interesting post from Gunther
Deichmann’s Blog...
click here.
Last night I became part
of an interesting 3-hour conversation with Marc Ambat and S M
Jayabalan, both are scuba divers and take underwater photos. Marc
is a Chief Technical Officer working at a Top Digital production
House specializing in Video FX and Jaya is the GM of Sensing
Technology Corporation. So there you have it, two very intelligent
and super nice people, our conversation started like
this…
I mention a recent article in DivePhotoGuide.com…
National Geographic has put up an
online gallery of amazing nudibranch photography from our good
friend David Doubilet, from the June issue. The imagery is
classicly Doubilet, putting a different perspective on
these amazingly diverse and colorful
subjects...read
more @ http://www.divephotoguide.com/articles/david_doubilet
Click on the Image and go direct to more of Omar’s
Photos
Above Photo: © Omar D.
Linsangan from
Dugong Dive Center, Palawan Philippines
This published article showcased the latest work
of David Doubilet…amazing images of cool looking Nudibranchs
(click the link for the images) http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/06/nudibranchs/
How did he achieve this? That is a very good
question…you might say Photoshop…but I have heard
another story…read the complete story
at:
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/files/category-underwater-photography.html
Matt Weiss from DivePhotoGuide & Dugong Dive Center...is he going to get that rare shoot of the elusive Dugong?
GD
Lucky Matt...I wish I could be there with him...Club Paradise
and
Dugong Dive Center, Palawan Philippines
© Photos - Courtesy of Dugong Dive Center
PALAWAN Philippines…Part two on the Wilderness Kayak Tours by Lee Goldman…Palawan the PHILIPPINES best kept secret & NATURES Paradise…brought to YOU by The PHILIPPINE-MICRONESIA ALLIANCE, The Divers Choice
© Gunther Deichmann - Nature at its
best...pristine Jungle in Palawan
http://www.alliancediving.com/main.html
The
main focus of the trip is the incredible area of northern Palawan;
El Nido and Bacuit Bay. This is easily one of the most beautiful
places I have ever been (and I worked in Palau, San Juan Islands
and Vancouver Island in the Pacific Northwest, Belize…) so I
have an idea what pretty is. We spent our time here snorkeling,
kayaking, and camping.
While it is hard to say what activity is best in El Nido, for me
snorkeling ranks up there at the top. There are over 400 species of
coral in Bacuit Bay and in a recent survey lead by the world famous
ichthyologist, Dr. Gerald Allen, they recorded over 800 species of
fish, including several new species and records of fish. What make
it so special are the gigantic islands in the bay that provide
protection from potentially large ocean swells that may damage
coral. Fields (and I mean fields) of staghorn coral, table corals
that measure 3 meters in diameter, un-imaginable colors radiating
from all types of hard and soft corals, beautiful and rare fish and
all this in 1-2 meters of water! On our trip we spotted hundreds of
juvenile fish with some of the guests favorites being the Humphead
grouper, Zebra lionfish, Helmut Gurnard, and Javanese Damselfish. I
am a coral guy, so to see such healthy and diverse coral gardens
was the ultimate treat for me.
While most of the bay can be accessed boat, kayaking is the only
way to see this place. Picture perfect shallow lagoons, intimate
stands of mangroves, and paddling next to a 300m vertical cliff
face that erupts from the water is a pretty amazing experience. We
conduct our kayaking with complete boat support, so we transport
the kayaks to our designated area. We had great weather; calm seas
and cloudless skies. Our daily excursions were designed to go to
places that not many other tour groups go and because we are
camping out in the heart of the islands, we could easily time our
visits between other operators.
We are also the only outfitter that provides luxury camping in
Bacuit Bay. Our campsite provides large walk-in tents with
mattresses, fans, lights; a dining tent with sit-down meal service;
a chef (who did a fantastic job preparing 3 – 4 course
breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals for us); a generator to charge
batteries (and make fresh fruit shakes or margaritas); a comfort
room tent and shower tent and we also had a certified masseuse
there to help with folks whose muscles were in need of attention
after a day of snorkeling and kayaking. Arriving at camp in time
for the sunset was a great way to end the day. Of course, waking up
to a beautiful morning amongst the islands was a great way to start
the day as well. For those wishing to get the most they can from El
Nido, our expeditions should not be
missed!
Lee
Goldman
Can YOU identify this Fish? Wilderness travel...Snorkeling in Palawan & Whale Sharks in Donsol... by Lee Goldman
This is Lee…Lee Goldman that is… I thought you might like this article and read about my recent experience in the Philippines...
Hi Lee, Gunther here…of course you always welcome and we are very happy to publish your real life stories, thanks Lee please keep it up, we appreciate your input very much.
See below the story which I have just received, thanks again to Lee Goldman, Marine Biologist, who always finds the time and supplying us with some interesting articles.
Who can
Identify this Fish? Please help...
Photo © Lee Goldman, image taken in the
Philippines
Snorkeling the
Islands of Palawan. Okay, so the title sounds like we spent the
entire time in Palawan, but our first 2 days of the expedition were
snorkeling with Whale sharks in Donsol. Come ‘on, how can I
invite guests to the Philippines and not expose them to one of the
best big animal encounters a snorkeler can have!
This entry will be a quick one because how can I describe the
experience? Amazing, exhilarating, sometimes exhausting. Because
visibility often does not exceed 12 m, when you see a whale shark,
it is an up close and personal encounter! The guides put you right
near them and as they swim by, you are sometimes only a few feet
from them. My guests all commented on how amazing it was that they
actually had to swim away from the sharks rather than having to
chase them down. Needless to say, our experience with the whale
sharks in Donsol was exactly as it has always been promoted; come
and swim with lots of whale sharks. We swam with no less than
eight. We also had a chance to snorkel in the area. Due to
proximity of the rivers, visibility was not optimal, but we
didn’t miss a beat. Many varieties of fish and coral exist
there and for most of my guests, new species of fish were checked
off in their fish identification books. For one guest, an avid
admirer of nudibranchs, a new species of Phyllidia was her treat
for the day. As a guide who spent many years in the Philippines and
Palau, you may think I had seen it all. No way, that’s what I
love about the Philippines; new species of fish I may know but not
seen, or in my case in Donsol a new species of fish I had no idea
existed.
Even some of the better
ichthyologists could not help me with the identification. I intend
to pursue this one and will keep everyone updated as I know more.
Anyone out there with a suggestion?
Lee
Goldman
Our Philippine-Micronesia Alliance
partner in Palawan Philippines is Club Paradise & Dugong Dive
Center for all your travel arrangements and
for Lee Goldman's Wilderness travel contact our partner in
Manila Blue
Horizons.
Great NEWS...BUSUANGA AIRPORT in PALAWAN Philippines extended... now more flights,comfort...plus several Whaleshark sightings in the Coron Island area
NATURE is a lot closer now....
BUSUANGA AIRPORT Palawan Philippines...
CLUB PARADISE, EL RIO Y MAR
and the
DUGONG DIVE CENTER
Busuanga
Airport, landing point for
CLUB PARADISE, EL RIO Y MAR
and the
DUGONG DIVE CENTER now has a 1500 meter concrete runway plus
a 400 meter gravel extension.
This gives a new dimension to tourism in the islands of the
Calamianes. Whereas before only 19 seater planes were able to land,
Busuanga airport is now being served by the super fast 32-seater Do
28 (needs only 35 minutes to get there from Manila) and the 50
seater Dash-7.
Starting next week, May 17, 2008 the service of a 72 seater plane
from Phil Airlines will begin daily flights. This will bring the
total seat capacity per year to about 100.000 seats yearly. New
hotels, lodging houses and resorts are under construction and on
the planning board. Present room capacity of 400 rooms will be
double within an
year.
© Gunther Deichmann - the spectacular marine life in
Palawan
The Government has decided to pave the road from Coron to Busuanga
Airport to modernize the road system and create more
comfort for all travelers. Guests of the
Philippine-Micronesia Alliance
and
CLUB PARADISE, EL RIO Y MAR and DUGONG DIVE
CENTER will get to their destination a lot faster
and more comfortably now.
This will increase their time to enjoy all the exciting dive sites
to see the Turtles, Dugongs, WWII Wrecks, a whole fleet was sunk in
this area and of course beautiful reefs in this area.
Another great NEWS is, several Whale-sharks have been in sighted in
the Coron, Palawan area, a good reason for planning your next trip
to PALAWAN...the Philippines best kept secret...NATURE at its
best.
© Gunther Deichmann - the
WWII Wrecks of Palawan
© Gunther Deichmann - the WWII Wrecks
of Palawan
Late breaking NEWS from PALAU Micronesia! Conservation issue initiated by one of the founding members from the Philippine-Micronesia Alliance
Late breaking NEWS from PALAU Micronesia!
...brought to you by palautours.com
Ban on live fish export becomes law in Palau Micronesia a step in the right direction to preserve Palau's natural environment and unique Bio-diversity.
See below excerps from a News Paper article by the
Horizon News Staff
With a stroke of his pen, president Tommy Remengesau, Jr. has put a stop to the export of live reef fish yesterday in Bai Mengeliakl,
Ngarchelong. Remengesau signed into law the Senate Bill.
President Tommy Remengesau, Jr. makes it clear, the significance of stopping the exportation of live reef fish yesterday.
A NEW Website on PALAU Micronesia...bringing the Philippines and Micronesia closer? Travel News from the Pacific...
a very interesting NEW site which promise to be a huge source of information, I guess they still sorting out some issues but from what I have seen so far WOW.
If this site goes the way it looks already then what else do you need for your information on Palau and Micronesia.
The Philippine-Micronesia Alliance is keeping an eye on this one and we try to link up with them sooner than later.
Have a good browse, even it is not quiet finished but it is certainly very impressive.
GD
PALAUTOURS.COM
Your Tour Guide to Palau and Micronesia
© Gunther Deichmann - Kayaks in the Rock Islands, Palau
click the image and go to our Gallery @
http://www.palautours.com/gallery.html
PALAUTOURS.COM is a unique and very informative site for
all Your requirements before traveling to Palau in Micronesia.
The site is fully up and running but we have to fix some minor glitches
and add some more exciting pages for you.
By this coming weekend we should have everything just about in place.
The interesting part is, not only Palau will be represented but we include
islands like Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae in due time.
Just stay tuned or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest developments.
With these addition we bring you a lot closer to this amazing part of the world, You dont get any closer to Nature...above and below the waves.
To some extend these islands are still unexplored in parts hence the recent discovery of some unusual inhabitants (see our last blog) the scientist are still debating who and where these small people came from. PalauTours.com is trying to keep you well informed from this part of the World, not only on leisure activities, but news on Marine life, Science projects, discoveries and of course environmental related issues. If you have any interesting stories please dont hold back, send it to us, we love to publish it.
© Gunther Deichmann - Hotel, Resorts, Restaurant and Bar
Guide/Information
on Palau...click the image and go to Palautours.com
http://www.palautours.com/gallery.html
© Gunther Deichmann - Duty Free & Retail stores, Tour Operators
Government offices, Conservation & Medical services
plus a lot more...click the image and go to Palautours.com
http://www.palautours.com/gallery.html
© Gunther Deichmann - the World famous Blue Hole and
Blue Corner, Palau, plus many more different dive sites in our
Dive section including Dive Centers & Dive Resorts...
click the image and go to Palautours.com
http://www.palautours.com/gallery.html
We like YOU to use Palau Tours as your Resort, Hotel, Restaurant, Dive & Tour guide... YOU be amazed how beautiful this part of the world really is.
The Editor