Ared soldierfish, sheltered in a crevice, is looking bashfully at me with big doll eyes, like a wee escapee from a Japanese anime film. Then silvery trumpet fish with Pinnochio noses shimmy past. I am hovering above a gloriously alive coral reef in my wetsuit, blowing bubbles and loving the sensation of weightlessness again after a hiatus of long years from scuba diving. Raja Ampat, meaning Four Kings, is a quartet of islands (Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati and Misool) on Indonesia’s far … [Read more...]
Restoring coral reefs through art initiative breathes new life into Senggigi Beach
Text by Sudibyo M. Wiradji. Photos by Foued Kaddachi. Published in The Jakarta Post on June 5, 2014. Underwater installations for an artificial reef park not only attract fish and divers but also benefit locals. Senggigi Beach in Lombok, one of Indonesia’s emerging tourist destinations, is on its way to regaining it lost heyday as a habitat for shrimp, lobster, squid, jelly fish and other unique marine species. The beach lost its appeal years ago due to the destruction of coral as a … [Read more...]
