Cenderawasih Capers - Reefs and Whale Sharks

Hi There,

I have finished editing my first video from my laterst trip to Indonesia in October this year. The below is the result of this.

Reefs and Whale Sharks in Cenderawasih Bay in West Papua. A recently so called discovery (well by Westerners anyway) of interactions between traditional fisherman and Whale Sharks which come for a free hand out. This allows lucky divers amazing interaction and observation of these beautiful marine creatures.

http://vimeo.com/31401651

[vimeohd]31401651[/vimeohd]

I hope that you enjoy half as much as I did being lucky enough to have this encounter.

Cheers

Matti

If those whale sharks show up reliably then they could be in for a lot of visitors! Nice video. Great footage. Would love to have seen some half-in/half-out shots of the whale sharks feeding, or even just pop your camera above the surface a couple of times. I was very curious what was happening above the water.

Looks fantastic Matti but you have to tell Wayne to buy some board shorts

My mother-in-law is going there next year. Arrrrggghh I'm so jealous! Nice footage, well done!

If those whale sharks show up reliably then they could be in for a lot of visitors! Nice video. Great footage. Would love to have seen some half-in/half-out shots of the whale sharks feeding, or even just pop your camera above the surface a couple of times. I was very curious what was happening above the water.

Nick, they are there now pretty much all the time. The good news is that it's a pain to get to, either by long flights and long boat rides or a liveaboard. This whole scene sorta reminds me of Yomitan. I'm just glad that the Ahe fishermen found a way to earn money from the sharks. I can see how the Indonesian traders will be making a move for the sharks either to sell the big fins to restaurants (apparently basking and whale shark fins sell for over 100k. in the market).

Looks fantastic Matti but you have to tell Wayne to buy some board shorts

All the fish porn in the world and you notice the underwear as swimwear guy! LOL

I do have some split shots, didn't work out as well as I wanted (big contrast and small particles in the water made taking those shot problematic with flash). I do have a little bit footage break through the surface but I had the Camera in portrait shot which is a bit disorientating video wise.

Drew: I do agree with your comment from Matt.

As for travel there yep it was a bit of an effort as planes to Nabire ( the closest spot to the sharks) are Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday and return flights Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Then these flights don't necessarily line up with other internal flights so you need to factor in a bit of travel time.

Another thing to allow for is the moon cycle as 5 days around the full moon the fishermen don't catch the small anchovies (ikan puri) as they catch these at night using lights on their boats (Bagans). So these days aren't the best otherwise its all go.

Pretty neat how they interact like that.

Nice blue water too. :-)

So cool! How perfect, perfect encounter, perfect viz....

It was a great trip, I am glad that it was mentioned to me as I was trying work out where to go, so soon as I heard about the place and did a little research that was it I was off and running .

I have got a couple friend lining up to do a similar trip next year and I might have to join to see if the experience gets any better .

Matti

PS I am still working through the footage I took at Raja Ampat on the same holiday, I have done most of my initial short listing but still have to cull through the remaninder and then select squences out.

nice, which boat were you on? or did you stay at the resort?

nice, which boat were you on? or did you stay at the resort?

Hi Mike,

I stayed at the resort on this trip.

Matti

Matti,

I really enjoyed your video. Thanks for posting it.

Richard

Thanks for all the comments, I might have to get back there again next year and see if I can improve on the footage and photos. I have got a few concepts in mind just need the stars to line up to get it to happen.

Matti