All is well at Wakatobi: A conversation with Wakatobi’s resident marine biologist, Julia Mellers

Wakatobi’s resident marine biologist, Julia Mellers, joined the resort’s team in 2024 after earning her Master of Science in Marine Biology from Oxford University.

Since then, Mellers has introduced innovative reef health assessment programmes at Wakatobi’s private marine reserve using AI-assisted imaging and data analysis.

The analytical process enables the Wakatobi team to closely monitor data derived from the reefs, which in turn helps to inform decisions about how to protect them and ensure their pristine appearance remains sustainable.

Mellers’ work is strengthened by the long-standing partnerships that Wakatobi has with the local community, who share the common goal of protecting the reefs and whose deep connection to the ocean is essential to the success of the health assessment programmes.

More from Wakatobi

• Wakatobi’s Pelagian – not your average liveaboard
• Wakatobi’s new era of coral reef protection
• Wakatobi: at the forefront of Ocean stewardship
• Capturing the scope of Wakatobi’s reefs through wide-angle imagery
• Wakatobi – the business of conservation through sustainable tourism

We recently caught up with Julia for an update on the project, and her impressions of Wakatobi in general.

Q: What has been the most rewarding aspect of your first year at Wakatobi, and what are you most looking forward to in the future?

Julia: ‘I feel a profound sense of calm when diving at Wakatobi. While many of the world’s reefs are now threatened or compromised, all is well within our marine preserve.

‘We now have scientific data confirming that the future of these incredibly biodiverse reefs is secure, thanks to a preservation system that works.

‘It has been incredibly rewarding to translate the joy of diving and exploring pristine reefs into data that meticulously captures biodiversity and verifies the positive effects of Wakatobi’s collaborative conservation initiatives.

‘We are now using data collected over the past year to invite external partners to participate in a reef preservation effort with documented impact. Wakatobi’s conservation effort is continually evolving and expanding, and I am looking forward to seeing how we can best accelerate this growth.’

Q: Have you noticed any changes in coral health, fish populations, or even the presence of invasive species?

Julia: ‘We are starting to see a clear signal of ecosystem protection in the reef health data. Assessments are made by reef scan photo surveys, which are then analyzed by an AI program trained to classify Wakatobi’s reef life.

The results indicate that reefs inside the protected area are significantly healthier than neighbouring, unprotected reefs. Our reef scans also verify that last year, while many reefs suffered from a catastrophic global bleaching event, there was no significant systematic bleaching at Wakatobi.

‘Environmental DNA consists of tiny bits of genetic material that organisms leave behind, such as cells, skin, waste, and mucus. Reef water contains valuable information regarding nearby reef inhabitants, but this information has to be untangled.

‘We’ve been filtering the reef water, trapping DNA on a filter, and then shipping the filter to a laboratory for analysis. In the lab, they use little pieces called primers to start sorting the DNA. The primers are like little tags for the DNA. They attach to a part of the sequence common to a particular kind of organism.

‘For example, there are primers that attach to coral, that will target a particular section of DNA specific to different coral species. This is a fantastic new technique because it allows you to collect vast amounts of information non-invasively.

‘It has been a particularly interesting project because coral primers are popping up in scientific literature only recently. We detected most rare corals only at the most biodiverse sites.

‘It appears that we can utilize coral eDNA surveying as a direct indicator of reef health, which is a novel approach! That’s quite exciting!

‘This data has shed light on Wakatobi’s biodiversity, for instance, confirming the presence of 11 vulnerable coral species, among other rare critters.

Q: What other reef research initiatives are in the works or in the planning stage?

Julia: ‘We are now scaling up our research efforts to measure the pulse of the reef across a wider swath of the protected area throughout the year.

‘This means integrating scientific monitoring into the dive team’s schedule, a task made easy by the team’s vast wealth of experience and their enthusiasm to contribute to the scientific effort. The dive team’s ongoing data harvest, with the help of AI analysis, enables us to keep an eye on the state of the whole reef ecosystem.

‘We are also adding new methods to our toolkit. We have recently deployed a sensor kit that relays live ocean weather information to an app. This enables us to monitor the metabolic pulse of the reef in real time.

‘We can watch throughout the day as sunlight determines the balance between photosynthesis and respiration on the reef, driving the large daily fluctuations in water chemistry. The large fluctuations that we observe at Wakatobi are a sign of a metabolically active reef, and therefore a signature of productive ecosystems.’

Q: What inspires you about working with the resort team?

Julia: ‘It is a rare privilege to work in a place where people and marine life coexist, not just peacefully, but productively. Working both above and below the water at Wakatobi, it is truly inspiring to witness how the systems directly support each other.

‘Wakatobi is not a static system— it has a rich history of successful operations and continues to be at the forefront of innovation. Working in this dynamic environment means continually refining research measures already in place while always keeping an eye on the next step-change that will enhance value.’

Q: Do you have a favorite dive site or type of marine life at Wakatobi?

Julia: ‘To me, one of the best things about frequently visiting the same dive sites is that you start to get to know animals with particular personalities. There is a particularly short-tempered octopus at The Zoo, often perched on a rock punching any fish that dares to come too close!

‘A scrawled filefish at Cornucopia, normally a shy species, is always happy to pose for a photo. A pair of porcupine fish perpetually chase each other around at Spiral Corner. A Hawksbill at Dunia Baru is always so intent on munching that she seems to barely notice any company!

‘I couldn’t pick a single favourite site – varying bio-geographies throughout Wakatobi’s reefs beget unique assemblages. Pinnacles and reef ridges are often referred to as “ecological magnets”, with their topography attracting predatory fish aggregations. 

‘Roma is one such site, where you can often spot dogtooth tuna through schools of black snapper, barracuda, and long-nose emperors. At Pockets, the reef slope extends deeper than elsewhere, giving rise to an astonishing diversity of hard coral species, which are only able to grow at depth because of Wakatobi’s clear water.

‘Currents at Turkey Beach accelerate water over a series of ridges that attract black-tip reef sharks and eagle rays.’

For more about Julia’s work with Wakatobi’s reefs, head to Wakatobi’s blog pages to keep up to date. For more from the resort or to make a booking, head to www.wakatobi.com, e-mail: office@wakatobi.com or fill in the enquiry form.

Follow the team on Facebook and Instagram and watch conservation in action on the Wakatobi YouTube Channel.

The post All’s well at Wakatobi, says resident marine biologist Julia Mellers appeared first on DIVE Magazine.

Indonesia regularly tops polls of best places in the world to scuba dive – here are ten of the best dive spots (and there are many more!) of Indonesia’s vast archipelago of more than 17,500 islands

Indonesia’s top dive spots (clockwise from north-west)

1. Pulau Weh – Sumatra
2. Derawan/Sangalaki – East Kalimantan
3. Bunaken Marine Park – North Sulawesi
4. Lembeh – North Sulawesi
5. Raja Ampat – West Papua
6. Ambon – Maluku
7. Wakatobi – Southeast Sulawesi
8. Alor – Lesser Sunda Islands
9. Komodo National Park – Flores
10. Nusa Islands (Lembongan/Ceningan/Penida) – Bali

(1) Pulau Weh – Sumatra

The small volcanic island of Pulau Weh is located at the northernmost point of the Indonesian archipelago, at the tip of the vast island of Sumatra where the Indian Ocean meets the Pacific.

Pulau Weh has a wonderful range of diving, from small critter diving to larger pelagics. It’s not as well travelled as other parts of Indonesia and while the infrastructure is not as developed as it might be in Bali, Pulau Weh retains a wild, untouched vibe – and you’ll meet far fewer divers than most other dive spots!

Diving is year-round with temperatures averaging around 28-29°C and excellent visibility. It’s mostly dry from February to November but the rainy season in between is the best time for spotting mantas

(2) Derawan/Sangalaki – East Kalimantan

Sangalaki is one of the Derawam Islands, located just off the coast of Borneo, and one the best places in the world to dive and snorkel with manta rays. Daily encounters are almost guaranteed, especially around the full moon when you can fidn yourself surrounded by 20 or more mantas as they feed and make use of cleaning stations.

Derawan itself is nicknamed ‘Turtle Island’, for the hundreds of turtles that can be found there, although there are plenty of other critters and a good chance of spotting the deadly (but very pretty) blue-ringed octopus. If you’re staying on the island itself you might be lucky enough to see the turtles mating.

It’s also worth checking out the freshwater jellyfish lakes for another unique immersive experience.

Diving is year-round although visibility can deteriorate during the November to March rainy season which makes spotting even the biggest fish a bit tricky.

• Check out: Scuba diving Derawan – the other side of the Sulawesi Sea

(3) Bunaken Marine Park – North Sulawesi

The islands of Bunaken and Siladen are located off the city of Manado on the northern tip of Sulawesi. They are surrounded by high-energy walls and rolling coral gardens which have some of the most exhilarating drift dives through forests of soft and hard coral and crowds of reef fish.

Turtles abound and sharks, eagle rays and other pelagic predators all revel in this protected zone. You can stay in the resorts surrounding Manado and enjoy a 45-minute commute out to the reefs, but far better is to stay in the small but wonderful eco-resorts on either Pulau Silanen or Bunaken.

• Check out: Siladen Resort & Spa

(4) Lembeh – North Sulawesi

Two hours’ drive and a short boat ride from the North Sulawesi capital Manado is the island of Lembeh, and the associated straits between the island and the mainland are renowned for their amazing muck diving.

A large percentage of the critters you will find there are unique to the region and it’s entirely possible you may not realise that some of them are actually living creatures until your guide points them out!

Most of the dive sites are only a short boat ride from whichever of the secluded resorts you choose to stay in, and slack currents, shallow water and the colourful sea life contrasted against the black sand make Lembeh a macro photographer’s paradise.

Diving is year-round, but peak time for critters is probably July and August.

(5) Raja Ampat – West Papua

Raja Ampat – ‘the four kings’ – is an archipelago of more than 1,500 small islands of which Misool, Salawati, Batanta and Waigeo are the largest, and one of – if not the – most biodiverse marine habitats in the world with

More than 1,500 species of fish and 550 types of coral – around 75 per cent of all known species – are found in its waters, among which divers can encounter everything from sharks and mantas to dugongs and leatherback turtles to the minuscule pygmy seahorse.

Raja Ampat has to be top of the list for diving in Indonesia and, for most who’ve visited, the best scuba diving in the world.

• Check out: Diving Raja Ampat and Lembeh with Aggressor Adventures

(6) Ambon – Maluku

Ambon Bay has, in recent years, become one of the world’s top muck diving destinations with underwater photographers able to tick off blue-ringed octopus, wonderpus, flamboyant cuttlefish, rhinopias and mating mandarin fish from their black-sand bingo cards. It’s not quite up to the same standard as Lembeh, but it is a lot easier to get to.

For those who prefer some deeper water and a bit of current there are some decent reefs and walls along Ambon’s southern coast, and the excellent wreck of the Duke of Sparta, a 100m-long freighter sunk in 1958 and only rediscovered by divers in 2009 is just a short ride away.

Ambon is best dived during the dry season from October and April, with the best time probably September to December. Rainy season is May to August – the reverse of most of the rest of Indonesia – and weather conditions during this time can make diving difficult with very poor visibility. You may find that some resorts will close completely during July.

(7) Wakatobi – Southeast Sulawesi

Wakatobi is a purpose-built eco-resort in the heart of the Tukangbesi archipelago off the southern tip of Southeast Sulawesi. It opened in 1995 with the specific aim of restoring reefs that had been damaged through dynamite fishing and other dubious practices and the resulting reefs are some of the healthiest on the planet.

The island is reached through a private light aircraft and airstrip and you will explore some of the most pristine reefs in Indonesia without seeing a single soul outside of your own dive team.

The house reef is a world-class dive in its own right and there are plenty of stunning sites to explore, creating an underwater photographer’s paradise in year-round warm waters with outstanding visibility.

Those looking for adventures further afield can make it a ‘two-for-one’ trip split between the resort and Wakatobi’s luxury liveaboard, Pelagian.

• Check out: Wakatobi’s ‘double dip’ diving experience

(8) Alor – Lesser Sunda Islands

The island of Alor is towards the remote eastern end of the Indonesian islands. Best dived from a liveaboard for that reason, the location remains mostly unspoilt by human activity and offers a wide diversity of wildlife and diving.

Schools of hammerheads are frequently sighted, as are pilot whales and dolphins. Currents on the reef can be strong so some experience is required, but there are sheltered spots which, due to the volcanic nature of the island and the resulting black sandy sea bottom, make Alor an excellent place for both muck-diving with macro lenses and wide-angle shots of the bigger stuff.

Diving is year-round but the best is from September to November when the currents are at their strongest. Take a reef hook.

(9) Komodo National Park – Flores

Komodo National Park, designated a World Heritage Site in 1991 by UNESCO, is most famous for the Komodo Dragon, the world’s largest lizard and endemic resident of the island – but the marine diversity, like most of Indonesia, is also spectacular.

The park includes the lesser-known Padar and Rinca and 26 smaller islands, affording divers the opportunity to explore a range of different marine environments.

The northern regions of the park, filled with bright coral and cruising reef sharks, are generally warmer and clearer than the south, where cold upwellings drive nutrients towards the surface leading to a decrease in visibility but an increase in mantas!

(10) Nusa Islands (Lembongan/Ceningan/Penida) – Bali

Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningnan and Nusa Lembongan are three islands approximately 30 minutes by speedboat from Sanur harbour in southern Bali. They are often referred to as the Nusa Islands, although ‘Nusa’ is actually the Bahasa word for ‘Island’.

For many years, Lembongan was the centre of activity with most of the diving taking place around Nusa Penida, the largest of the three. Penida opened to tourism in 2015 and has developed rapidly, especially around the main harbour, but there are still plenty of places around the island to escape and chill.

The islands are go-to places for sightings of southern mola, (Mola alexandrini), particularly at the famous (but often very busy) Crystal Bay, and the resident population of reef manta at feeding and cleaning stations along the southern coastline, where sightings are almost (but not quite) guaranteed.

Penida’s north shore is one long, unbroken and spectacular coral reef, but currents around the islands can be very strong and some dive sites are for experienced divers only. Diving is year-round but be warned – the water temperature is much cooler than other locations in Indonesia, dropping below 20° at times, so 5mm full-length suits are essential.

Related articles

• The best places in the world for scuba diving
• 7 reasons Wakatobi Resort is a scuba divers’ favourite
• Aggressor Adventures launches new Komodo Aggressor
• Wakatobi – the business of conservation
• A pirate’s life: the story of Raja Ampat’s Calico Jack

The post Ten best places to dive in Indonesia appeared first on DIVE Magazine.

A choice divers often face when planning a luxury dive trip is between an idyllic land-based resort or a liveaboard cruising distant reefs. At Wakatobi Dive Resort, you can have both.

By Walt Stearns

Wakatobi has earned a reputation as one of the world’s premier snorkelling and scuba diving destinations, delivering a combination of pristine reefs, relaxed luxury and five-star service. To complement the land-based operation, Wakatobi also operates an equally lavish live-aboard dive yacht named Pelagian.

The making of a dive yacht

Measuring 35m/115ft in length, with a copious 7.3m/24ft beam, the MV Pelagian is a substantial ocean-capable vessel. Launched from the Batservice Verft A/S Shipyard in Mandal, Norway, she began life as an elegant world-ranging motor yacht named Harmony. Some 14 years later, she was purchased and adapted into a liveaboard dive yacht Fantasea II by Red Sea diving pioneer Howard Rosenstein.

Through the 1980s, Fantasea II was seen by serious divers and undersea explorers such as Dr Eugenie Clark, Stan Waterman and David Doubilet as a premier liveaboard and the ‘grand lady’ of the Red Sea. She was sold and moved to Seychelles in the early 1990s, until returning to Indonesia in 2005 under the name Pelagian.

Wakatobi Dive Resort took over the operation of Pelagian on behalf of her owner, Dive Asia Pacific, before purchasing the liveaboard and giving her a mechanical overhaul and luxury refit in 2008, accompanied by a comprehensive redesign of her floor plan to make her the world-class dive yacht she is today.

Luxury cruising with Pelagian

From the moment you step aboard, it’s apparent that Pelagian is a different breed of dive yacht; one of its most noticeable departures from liveaboard convention the fact that Pelagian is configured – rather like a private luxury yacht – to host a maximum of ten divers in its five spacious cabins.

For those seeking the most lavish experience, the master suite spans the full width of the vessel, occupying the entire forward portion of the main deck. Amenities include a walk-around king-size bed, a spacious lounge with a love seat, and an entertainment centre fitted with a huge flat-screen HDTV and Blu-ray DVD player. The contemporary bathroom has a spacious dressing area, top-of-the-line rainforest shower, and vanity fittings.

Also offering an enhanced level of luxury are Pelagian’s two below-deck Superlux Staterooms, which feature a walk-around, queen-size bed, a separate day bed, and an ensuite bathroom and shower. Having stayed in one of these cabins I can attest that they are exceedingly roomy.

The main salon and dining area mirror the upscale décor and furnishings you would expect from a high-end private yacht and its full range of creature comforts.

Additional social areas on the top deck and near the bow are ideal for reading, quiet relaxation in the sea air or spectacular star gazing in the evenings.

Pelagian’s personal touch

Pelagian is staffed by a crew of 12, which includes dedicated stewards and an executive chef who creates fine dining experiences daily, either inside the climate-controlled main salon or out on the spacious aft fantail against a stunning backdrop of sea and sky.

Dive briefings take place on the yacht’s shaded aft decks, after which all you need to do is suit up, as gear transfers between the yacht and its two custom-fabricated dive tenders are handled by the crew.

As an added personal touch, the crew rinse your wetsuits and dive skins and hang them to dry on the upper deck between dives. I had to chuckle when we found our wetsuits neatly laid out on the fantail like evening wear, with dive booties just below.

The comfortable dive tenders are 18-foot rigid-hull inflatable boats (RIB) equipped with dual 60-HP outboard engines, tank racks and one of the sturdiest deck-mounted stainless steel boarding ladder systems for divers I have ever seen in a RIB. With a maximum of just ten passengers per cruise, there is plenty of room on the RIBs the divers – and especially those carrying cameras.

Underwater photographers are well catered for by Pelagian’s dedicated indoor climate-controlled camera room, which has plenty of counter space for a large number of camera systems, together with an ample supply of Indonesia’s standard 2-prong 220v/50Hz electrical outlets and 110-volt adapters and power rails.

Gas mixtures for diving are provided by a trio of Bauer K-14 compressors with a Nitrox Technologies NO2 system. While 32 per cent is the standard nitrox mix, Pelagian can accommodate custom charters with custom nitrox and trimix blends, as well as oxygen fills and sorb for rebreather divers.

Diving from the MV Pelagian

The first day of Pelagian’s seven-day itinerary (ten-day cruises can also be arranged) begins with a couple of afternoon warm-up dives close to the resort before heading further into the Wakatobi Regency’s National Park.

On the second day, divers get to explore sites on the large atolls of Karang Kaledupa and Karang Kapota, where the reefs feature steep slopes, walls and overhangs covered by a broad range of vibrantly coloured soft coral species, and large gorgonians in hues of red, orange, pink and yellow.

The atolls are home to large aquatic life such as blackfin barracuda, green sea turtles and eagle rays, and a wealth of smaller finds, including the tiny shrimp and gobies found on the often overlooked sea whips that cover the slopes and walls of many of Wakatobi’s dive sites.

A highlight of any Pelagian cruise is the abundance of opportunities to find pygmy seahorses, as the area is home to three of the most well-known species: Bargibant’s pygmy sea horse (Hippocampus bargibanti), Denise’s pygmy sea horse (Hippocampus denise) and Pontoh’s, or weedy pygmy, sea horse (Hippocampus pontohi).

The dive guides are specialists in finding the tiny, white Pontoh’s sea horses that shelter in the Halimeda algae. Capturing these small creatures can be a challenging exercise in macro photography, but they make for great subjects whether viewed through the lens of a camera or an underwater magnifying glass.

Just as at the resort, Pelagian’s dive guides provide the best levels of in-water support while simultaneously being experts at locating rare marine subjects. There is also plenty of time to enjoy the dives, as many are relatively shallow and set against vertical reliefs, making it easy to perform up to four multi-level dives each day (the last of which may be a night diver) with bottom times of 70 minutes or more but no decompression required.

Playing in the muck

The wealth of marine diversity found on reefs within the Wakatobi Regency is exceptional, and no Pelagian cruise would be complete without a visit to the southeastern side of Buton Island and its muck diving.

Within the confined waters of Buton Island’s Pasar Wajo Bay lie a variety of environments from grey and brown silt and rubble to white sand bays with small coral gardens, with some of the best muck dives at sites such as Cheeky Beach, Banana Beach and In Between.

These sites feature gradual slopes from the shoreline down to 30m/100ft, with a desert-like bottom comprised mostly of sand and gravel. Unattractive as it might seem to the uninitiated, the muck holds a menagerie of marine life – from the alien-like peacock mantis shrimp and shrimp gobies keeping house with their symbiotic alpheid shrimp roommates (who seem to do all the work), to wonderpus, snake eels, or cryptic-looking zebra crabs hanging out on their fire anemones.

Pier diving

Any self-respecting muck diving destination should include a pier dive, and in Pasar Wajo Bay, Pelagian has three to sample: Asphalt Pier, New Pier and Magic Pier.

Each provides its own character and attractions, such as fan favourite Asphalt Pier, which – despite appearing to be abandoned – serves as the island’s primary terminal for loading bitumen quarried on the island onto waiting cargo vessels.

Divers can safely hunt around the front of the pier and among the clusters of pilings at depths between 5m/15ft and 14m/45 feet., where they will find shrimp gobies, frogfish, leaf scorpionfish and robust ghost and banded pipefish, plus many more.

As the name suggests, New Pier is the most recently constructed landing dock in Pasar Wajo Bay. With a similar depth profile to Asphalt Pier, the pilings are a great spot for finding blue ribbon eels, ringed pipefish and spiny devil scorpionfish, and the adjacent debris field a good place to hunt for octopus and gobies, which take refuge in shells, cans and bottles.

Saving the best for last is Magic Pier, best visited between dusk and dawn when the pier’s wildlife is most active. It is a prime site to spot a host of invertebrates from cuttlefish and blue-ringed octpuses, nudibranchs and flatworms, to finny oddities like frogfish and twin-spot lionfish.

But what truly what makes Magic Pier magical is that it is loaded with mandarinfish. When the sun starts to set, this garish member of the dragonet family emerges from hiding to mate allowing photographers and videographers to catch the sequence of courtship and spawning.

Back to reefs, walls and pinnacles

The third leg of Pelagian’s itinerary skirts the southwestern edges of Wangi Wangi and Kaledupa Islands, providing another round of magnificent reefs, dramatic vertical drop-offs and pinnacles.

A favourite among the broad list of sites around Wangi Wangi is Komang Reef, an elongated sea mound alive with growths of vibrant soft corals and sponges nurtured by the currents, and swarmed by plenitudes of fish life that peak when the tide changes.

Another divers’ favourite, Fishmarket – a combination of a steep wall with two deep ravines and a pinnacle rising to around 10m below the surface – is aptly named for the high numbers of schooling fish it attracts, including a huge school of blackfin barracuda.

On the way to and from its home base at Wakatobi Resort, Pelagian may stop at sites on the outer edge of day-boat range such as the seamounts of Blade. This unusual structure consists of a series of knife-edged pinnacles running in parallel, and connected by a lower ridge that gives the entire structure the appearance of a serrated knife blade set on edge.

These are just some of the many memorable sites that divers will experience on board Pelagian, and by combining a cruise with a stay at Wakatobi Resort, guests can experience the best scuba diving that Indonesia has to offer.

Contact the Wakatobi team at office@wakatobi.com for more information or to book a trip, and check out www.wakatobi.com for more information about Pelagian and the resort.

More from Wakatobi and Pelagian

• Wakatobi’s new era of coral reef protection
• Insiders’ insights into Wakatobi’s Pelagian liveaboard
• Wakatobi: at the forefront of Ocean stewardship
• Capturing the scope of Wakatobi’s reefs through wide-angle imagery
• Video: Maximising dive time on Wakatobi’s pristine reefs

The post High-style diving on Wakatobi’s Pelagian – not your average liveaboard appeared first on DIVE Magazine.

Wakatobi was founded on a commitment to coral reef restoration, a commitment recently enhanced by the resort’s new in-house marine biologist, Julia Mellers

Since joining the Wakatobi team in early 2024, marine biologist Julia Mellers, a graduate of the UK’s Oxford University, has overseen the launch of the resort’s new Reef Health Assessment programme, an ongoing project to monitor the health of the coral reefs within the resort’s private marine preserve. Data from the new programme will be used to further Wakatobi’s coral reef conservation efforts.

‘My main project for the first year is to establish a way of monitoring the health of Wakatobi’s reef ecosystem,’ says Julia. ‘This will allow us to provide hard scientific proof that Wakatobi’s conservation model measurably benefits reef health. Holding a finger to the pulse of the reef will also assist management decisions such as identifying priority areas for increased protection.’

Part of the new initiative involves incorporating more science into Wakatobi’s diving experience for customers. Julia has already presented a programme on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in marine monitoring, and a variety of additional courses are in development which will be offered to guests in the coming months.

‘The more you know, the more you notice,’ she says, ‘and what better place to learn about reef biodiversity and custodianship than in Wakatobi?’

Modern methods for reef management

The Reef Health Assessment programme Julia has implemented uses modern imaging and data analysis techniques to provide a comprehensive overview of reef ecosystem health, which will enable monitoring of the reefs without significantly diverting resources from their protection.

The programme focuses on capturing three indicators of reef health: the variety and abundance of its biodiversity; its structural complexity; and its soundscape – noises such as the snapping of shrimp and feeding sounds made by fish, an often overlooked measure of reef health.

By measuring these elements, it is possible to estimate how much life the habitat supports, a process which would ordinarily be complex and time-consuming, but which is greatly assisted by the machine learning models Julia is implementing.

‘Luckily, we don’t have to work all of that out manually,’ Julia says, ‘Artificial intelligence lends a hand. I train machine learning models to identify signals of reef functioning that would be otherwise undetectable.

‘For example, a model can be trained to recognize the sounds that characterize a healthy reef. This allows us to monitor the reefs at a scale, and with a thoroughness that would otherwise be inconceivable.’

In addition to the AI-assisted monitoring, Julia and the dive team at Wakatobi have begun an environmental DNA (eDNA) survey of the reefs. ’This involves taking seawater samples near the reef at different depths and filtering them to trap the organic matter that organisms shed into the water,’ Julia explains.

‘The samples are sent to a lab, where the DNA is labelled using probes and sequenced to identify which species are around. Using this technique, we should be able to detect hundreds of species from just a single litre of seawater. It’s a very cool process!’

From frogs to frogfish

Julia acquired her love of nature and biology from her parents, whom she describes as being eco-friendly before the concept became trendy, and a career in marine biology was inevitable, in part due to a love of the sea she discovered at an early age.

‘Camping, compost heaps and Attenborough documentaries were features of a nature-centric English childhood,’ she says. ‘I raised pond-dwelling critters, peered down microscopes, and became transfixed by cephalopods.

‘Having long been a sailor, with a family of sailors, I am at home at sea,’ she says. ‘I took my first sip of compressed air at the bottom of a swimming pool in London and have spent as much time as possible eye-to-eye with octopuses since.’

After completing an undergraduate degree in biology at Oxford University, Julia shifted her Master’s degree to focus to marine biology, a move she describes as ‘swapping frogs for frogfish.’

‘I went into marine biology because I see marine biological research as a powerful tool to connect people with the planet,’ she says. ‘Of course, nature should be worth more to us preserved than destroyed – but if you can’t put a price on it, no one pays.

‘Wakatobi has created an economic engine that financially incentivises reef custodianship. This leads to an ideal scientific setting – demonstrably vibrant reefs linked to genuine socio-economic fairness.‘

Julia’s Master’s project, completed in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), investigated a curious ecological phenomenon known as ‘reef halos’, mysterious rings of bare sand that surround reef patches within algal meadows.

‘We think these halos form because foraging fish will only venture a short way from the shelter of a coral patch if they are under threat from patrolling sharks,’ she says. ‘Since you can spot these halos from satellite images, they could be a neat way of keeping an eye on shark populations from space… and a possible addition to Wakatobi’s monitoring program’!

A Wakatobi welcome

‘The Wakatobi team has been exceptionally supportive and welcoming,’ Julia says as she talks about her introduction to the island. ‘They are able to maintain a totally laid-back atmosphere while coordinating an exceptionally professional operation. Wakatobi feels remote in the best ways, with pristine reefs and peace and quiet, while also being an extremely comfortable and well-connected place to work.’

The Wakatobi team has also proven to be an invaluable source of knowledge about the local ecosystem,’ she adds. ‘Wakatobi makes the perfect scientific laboratory. Being able to go from library to laptop to reef, all in the space of a hundred meters is the perfect recipe for generating new ideas and trying them out. It is so exciting to work with open-minded innovators keen to try novel approaches and look at things from different angles.’

‘Working within a system that works for the reefs because it works for the people is an absolute privilege,’ she says. ‘It also gives us a unique opportunity to unpick reef health and dynamics within an ecosystem that is actually getting healthier. In stark contrast to declines recorded elsewhere, our scientific data is already beginning to demonstrate the astonishing biodiversity evident to anyone who ventures underwater at Wakatobi.’

‘Having such a dynamic team has meant that we’ve made progress quickly,’ Julia says. ‘So far, we have a highly accurate machine learning model that classifies the reef community, a method to analyze the sounds that reef critters make, and a fully automatic way of measuring fish abundance. We are also in a position to add to this repertoire, trialling different techniques to quantify the complex 3D structure that corals make. We are even adding DNA analysis to the arsenal, which will enable us to detect biodiversity invisible to the naked eye.’

As her work progresses, Julia will continue to provide updates and insights on the important work she and the rest of the Wakatobi team are doing to understand and protect some of the world’s most pristine and spectacular coral reefs.

Learn more by visiting! Contact the Wakatobi team at office@wakatobi.com or enquire at www.wakatobi.com/prices-booking/booking-trip-enquiry

More from Wakatobi

• Wakatobi – the business of conservation through sustainable tourism
• Insiders’ insights into Wakatobi’s Pelagian liveaboard
• Wakatobi: at the forefront of Ocean stewardship
• Capturing the scope of Wakatobi’s reefs through wide-angle imagery
• Video: Maximising dive time on Wakatobi’s pristine reefs

The post Wakatobi’s new era of coral reef protection appeared first on DIVE Magazine.

‘A true five-star liveaboard experience’; ‘a 7-star diving experience’; ‘the best team we have ever experienced’ – underwater photographer Walt Stearns talks to Pelagian’s cruise directors about why Wakatobi’s liveaboard earns such high praise

The personal touch

Pelagian’s cruise directors, Ramon Crivilles and Judith Terol Oto, have hosted guests onboard cruises through the Wakatobi Archipelago for eight years. They say that one of the most often-praised aspects of a Pelagian cruise is the warm hospitality of the crew and the elevated levels of personal service made possible by limiting each cruise to a maximum of ten guests – who are served by a crew of 12.

‘Every crew member from the stewards to the tender drivers and the Dive Experience Managers (DEMs) are in direct contact with guests,’ says Judith. ‘They provide the perfect balance between professionalism and a friendly attitude, creating a homelike experience for our guests.’

‘What we most enjoy about our positions as cruise directors on Pelagian are the opportunities for one-on-one guest interactions’, adds Ramon. ‘This allows us to focus on accommodating requests and anticipating needs without asking, and, of course, we also really love having a management position that allows us to dive every day.’

Private, exclusive and relaxing

Privacy and exclusivity are two major reasons why guests choose Pelagian. Other liveaboards of a similar size incorporate ten or more compact cabins, however, Pelagian’s five-cabin layout and limited guest list create more personal space in all areas of the yacht.

As Judith explains, Pelagian’s exclusivity forms part of the dive experience: ‘We visit sites where we are the only liveaboard cruising the area,’ she says. ‘This means there are no other divers around, and the reefs are less subject to human impact.’

‘Pelagian itineraries showcase a variety of underwater environments,’ adds Ramon. ‘We combine a variety of different diving topographies, so the guests do not feel like they are always diving in the same spot.’

‘A typical Pelagian cruise takes in coral slopes, sandy lagoons, walls, pinnacles, piers, and muck diving sites,’ he says. We can find many different and unique creatures that are not often found at the resort.

‘To enhance the experience, the crew stages a muck diving presentation the night before making these dives, and once in the water the DEMs will seek out and share the best marine life finds with everyone.’

Another high point of a Pelagian cruise often mentioned by guests is the relaxing atmosphere. With multi-level dive profiles that can exceed one hour, and three scheduled dives a day plus night dives, there is ample time in the water to satisfy even the most enthusiastic scuba divers – but there’s still plenty of time each day to relax and enjoy a private yacht experience.

Ramon notes that the schedule allows almost two hours between the first and second dives, two-and-a-half hours between the second and third dives, and several more hours between the third and night dives. Such a schedule promotes an atmosphere of relaxation while at the same time enhancing dive safety with generous surface intervals allowing for longer repetitive dives.

Pelagian’s ‘Meal Appeal’

No discussion of Pelagian guest satisfaction would be complete without mentioning the meals, all of which are served as individually plated offerings, with three-course lunch and dinner menus.

‘There’s always a starter,’ says Judith. ‘Salads for lunch — garden salads, quinoa salad, Ceasar salad, tomato and bocconcini salad with balsamic reduction, pasta salad and more, and dinner begins with a soup choice — pumpkin soup, green pea, oxtail, mixed vegetable, asparagus, and so forth.’

”There are always three choices for a main course — meat, fish, or prawns as well as vegetarian options, and you can always suggest other dishes which the chef will be happy to prepare.’

In addition to the wide range of international flavours and fresh fruits, traditional Indonesian fare accompanied by spiced sambal sauces is also available. Special dietary restrictions or needs are always accommodated by the chefs – guests simply need to let the team know in advance.

Favourite dives

While guests usually describe the entire Pelagian diving experience as ‘exceptional,’ some sites are frequently mentioned as particular favourites.

‘These include the protected bays of Buton Island,’ says Judith. ‘You find hundreds of mandarinfish around Magic Pier, and many other cool creatures like cuttlefishes, octopuses, scorpionfish, baby yellow boxfish, different species of moray eels, painted frogfish, and ringed pipefish.

‘Another nearby favourite is Cheeky Beach,’ she says, ‘which is a prime hunting ground for nudibranchs, ghost pipefish, decorator crabs, snake eels and mantis shrimp.’

A popular shallow dive, and a favourite with wide-angle photographers, is the lagoon at Karang Kapota, where monolithic coral bommies rise from a white-sand seabed.

Equally photogenic is Karang Kaledupa’s Rainbow Reef, which is a chain of seamounts connected by ridges. These formations make for dramatic wide-angle images, while the dense coral cover atop the ridges holds a wealth of macro subjects such as pygmy seahorses, and frogfish.

The dramatic vertical profile of Orange Wall is heavily decorated in soft corals and sea fans and is capped by a pristine reef top overgrown with numerous varieties of hard coral.

Colourful sea fans and sponges are also key features of the crests of the Hoga pinnacles, which rise from depths of 35 meters. The tops of these structures swarm with fusiliers, redtooth triggerfish, pyramid butterfly fish and damselfishes.

All are accommodated

‘Divers of all experience levels can enjoy the Pelagian,’ says Ramon. ‘The more experienced they are, the more they can enjoy the diving and the more they understand and value the quality of the reefs.’

‘New divers are welcome,’ he adds, ‘and we recognize that they may need some additional attention and assistance to get the most out of their time in the water.

‘We compensate for lack of experience with extra personal attention from our DEMs, who will help with skills like buoyancy, make them feel safe on the dives and provide good briefings and presentations on marine life behaviour, habitats and coral variety.’

Ramon says that weekly cruise itineraries are customized to take advantage of the best seasonal conditions, and all trips are planned and adjusted according to weather, tides, currents, and the guests’ desired diving experience. Itineraries can also make accommodations for trips when there are snorkelers on board.

‘We have three DEMs on Pelagian,’ Ramon says, ‘so we can take care of divers and snorkellers at the same time.’

The early season advantage

‘Pelagian cruises sometimes sell out in advance,’ says Ramon, ‘but certain booking windows combine a greater chance of availability with excellent diving conditions.

‘From March to May, we usually have calm seas, no wind, good visibility, and warm water. It’s a time when we may be able to dive on sites that we do not visit during other months.’

While this time is generally considered to be the rainy season, Ramon says that does not mean it rains 24/7. ‘Most of the time we have some rain at night so it’s not a big deal for diving,’ he says.

‘We always plan the trips according to the weather forecast; we have more than 100 different dive sites to choose from, so we can always dive in areas where we are protected from wind and waves.’

You can find out more about the ‘the Pelagian Difference’ on Wakatobi’s blog page; and learn more about diving from the liveaboard at wakatobi.com/dive-yacht. You can also talk to a Wakatobi guest experience representative about booking a cruise on Pelagian.

www.wakatobi.com

More from Wakatobi:

• Wakatobi: at the forefront of Ocean stewardship
• Capturing the scope of Wakatobi’s reefs through wide-angle imagery
• Video: Maximising dive time on Wakatobi’s pristine reefs
• Wakatobi’s fantastic beasts — and where to find them
• Wakatobi – the business of conservation through sustainable tourism

The post Insiders’ insights into Wakatobi’s Pelagian liveaboard appeared first on DIVE Magazine.