Raja Ampat’s position in the centre of
the Coral Triangle means that its reefs
are widely regarded as some of the
liveliest in the world. Soft coral drapes
from every rock and clouds of fish float
in a visual cacophony overhead. It is
one of the only places where one can
observe sharks that walk on the reef,
archerfish that spit at insects, and
seahorses riding bright pink sea fans,
all in the same dive! What few people
realise is that the rich life gets even
weirder just a few quick fin-kicks out
to sea.
We were jazzed for Kalig. An
especially friendly giant Pacific
grouper was rumoured to live at 25
metres. The plan was to drop down to
the grouper’s hole, then explore the
reef as we worked our way up. As we
descended, a distant series of clicks
and whistles grew to a roar. The guide
and I looked at each other and started
swimming off together to the distant
blue. The others in the group followed.
The whistles were absolutely deafening
when we saw some large black shapes
materialise in the distance.
We were being approached by a
pod of about 10 false killer whales.
The mammals came in fast and left us
bewildered in the blue.
False killer whales (Pseudorca
crassidens) are capable of covering
nearly 500 kilometres per day. They
are odontocetes and thus have a larger
brain-to-body-mass ratio than we
do, with an exceptionally developed
communication centre. And at four-
and-a-half to six metres long, they
are perfectly suited to hunt just about
anything and have been observed
hunting prey as big as whale sharks
just for the sport of it. False killer
whales are extremely vulnerable to
fishing. The insular population in
Hawaii is estimated to be only
120 individuals. The population
in Raja Ampat is so rare that it is
almost unknown.
They were a hard act to follow.
I spent the rest of the dive looking at
my buddy who would make the
universal sign for “my head just
exploded”. The enthusiasm followed
us back on board. The moral of this
story: Don’t ignore the open water! ADRaja Ampat, IndonesiaINDONESIARAJA AMPATKALIGKALIG
By Jeff Milisen