Diver UK – July 2019

FACTFILE

GETTING THEREOnly United Airlines

services the Marshall Islands, flying in from

Honolulu. Trips are arranged around the

every-other-day service to Kwajalein.

DIVING & ACCOMMODATIONIndies Surveyoris

comfortable, clean and substantial, says Mark Hatter. It has

five twin cabins and two communal heads, indiestrader.com

WHEN TO GOWreck-diving in Kwajalein is year round but

only July-October is calm enough to reach Rongelap and

Ailinginae Atolls.

MONEYUS dollar

HEALTHIndies Surveyorhas a recompression chamber

and crew trained to operate it.

PRICESThe 10-day charter costs US $45,000 for up to 10

divers, including food (excellent, says Mark), beer & wine

and nitrox. The round-trip price from Honolulu, Hawaii is

$1600. Flights to Honolulu cost from £800.

VISITOR INFORMATIONvisitmarshallislands.org

47 divEr

the dome-port millimetres from the
animals. It appeared to be a good omen;
it was our first dive on the outer reef, and
I had already found the underlying
purpose for pulling this trip together.
As it happened, we later found that this
reef was the only known location for the
three-band anemonefish. After several
additional days’ searching for the fish at
other sites, the group was kind and agreed
to return to this reef, allowing me to
capture more images with my macro kit.
We finished our dive on a shallow
corner of reef at the mouth of the pass,
where the current had accelerated sharply
due to the venturi effect created by the
tidal bore pushing against the narrow,
shallow pass opening.
We found sanctuary from the current in
small amphitheatres below ridges of dense
coral formations outside the pass, and
lingered there photographing the many
colourful fish.

N

EXT MORNINGwe steamed to West
Pass, a remote, deep, narrow channel
between the lagoon, reef crown and open
ocean on the western ring of the atoll.
No other passes lay nearby, and we
expected a “shoot-the-rapids” dive
experience on the incoming tide.
We were not disappointed. While the
current was too strong for most reef-
building corals, the walls were covered
with orange-pastel sea life, coral-like in
nature but unknown to all of us. As on all
the other dive-sites on the outer reefs, the
ubiquitous sharks followed curiously.
In 2016 the central Pacific, along with
most of the world, experienced a
significant, extended warmwater event
that exacted a toll on the Marshall Islands
coral population. By the time of our 2018
trip, unless you knew the tell-tale
indicators of bleaching damage you’d

Above: Main purpose of the

trip – the elusive three-band

anemonefish.

Right: Orange pastel sealife

in West Pass.

Below: Indies Surveyor at

anchor off Rongelap Atoll.

believe that most of the

sites we dived were

minimally, if not

completely, unaffected.

However, as we were

exploring new sites every

day, we expected and did

come across two reefs

heavily damaged and

struggling to recover, as

evidenced by the

abundance of macro algae

inhibiting new coral

colonisation.

Yet most of the locations we dived were

in excellent shape, well along the road to

recovery, as measured by the numbers of

fist-sized coral colonies established

between older, larger growth colonies that

had survived the warmwater event.

On the fourth day, we discovered

something incredibly rare: a spectacular

reef with the most dense, colourful and

diverse coral coverage that any of us had

witnessed anywhere in more than a

decade. It was stunning!

Beginning with an open forest of table

corals, many 2m in diameter, and building

to an impenetrable plateau of hard corals,

this reef surely set a gold standard in reef

health. Everything was big, healthy and

colourful, including a century-old giant

clam. It left me hopeful that even under

the deadly impact of recent climate-

change-driven events, Mother Nature’s

resilience can still surprise us.

Ailinginae Atoll

Eight miles west of Rongelap, uninhabited

Ailinginae Atoll was where our crew

“guaranteed” that our dive-team was

“absolutely the first” to explore its reefs.

Down to our last day, with a long steam

home ahead of us, we could afford only

two dives to explore the south wall of the

atoll. Using the same criteria for selecting

dive-sites on Rongelap, theIndies Surveyor

dropped us on a pair of winners.

As at Rongelap the outer wall was a

heavy spur-and-groove reef, as was the

case at the second site, but with a twist.

Near the end of our dive, at 15m, our

guide discovered a series of caves and

tunnels formed within the wall of the reef.

I followed him down a rabbit-hole, and

contorted through the twisting tunnel. I

switched on my torch and marvelled at the

ancient structure, careful to avoid banging

my camera on the brilliantly hued walls.

Some minutes later, we popped back

out on the reef 5m deeper and 20m from

the entrance. Leaving the tunnel,

I extinguished my torch and ascended to

blue water off the reef for the final time,

joining my fellow-divers for a safety stop.

As my computer began to tick down my

interval, I could think of no more

appropriate ending to an incredible trip,

documenting relics of a distant war and

exploring places once held off-limits for

the darkest of reasons. And all for the sake

of the three-band anemonefish.

PACIFIC DIVER

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