Location: Sagof, Raja Ampat
Getting there: 45 minute by speedboat ride
Depth: 4 – 40+ m on the walls
Visibility: 20+ m, when you can see through the anchovies
Without a doubt the most action filled dive I’ve had in years. When I heard that a baitball of anchovies had been seen at Sagof, 45 minutes from Misool Eco Resort, we headed up there the next morning with a couple of tanks. When I first jumped in to check the current, to my disappointment, there were no anchovies to be seen. I decided to check the other side of the site, just in case...
Putting my face in the water, I immediately saw 6 Mobulas just metres beneath me shooting through a gigantic baitball of anchovies. I jumped back onto the boat and told everyone to prepare for the best dive of their lives. In the water we descended into blackness, the sun being blocked out by the rolling waves of thousands upon thousands of tiny fish above us.
Getting there: 45 minute by speedboat ride
Depth: 4 – 40+ m on the walls
Visibility: 20+ m, when you can see through the anchovies
Without a doubt the most action filled dive I’ve had in years. When I heard that a baitball of anchovies had been seen at Sagof, 45 minutes from Misool Eco Resort, we headed up there the next morning with a couple of tanks. When I first jumped in to check the current, to my disappointment, there were no anchovies to be seen. I decided to check the other side of the site, just in case...
Putting my face in the water, I immediately saw 6 Mobulas just metres beneath me shooting through a gigantic baitball of anchovies. I jumped back onto the boat and told everyone to prepare for the best dive of their lives. In the water we descended into blackness, the sun being blocked out by the rolling waves of thousands upon thousands of tiny fish above us.
Through the fish we caught glimpses of Devils, the Long-Horned Pygmy Mobula Ray (Mobula eregoodootenkee) swimming in formation, pushing the anchovies up and against the reef that we ourselves could barely see. They swept past in fleets of six or 10, constantly changing direction. As they approached the schooling fish, three or four would peel off and penetrate the bait ball with jet-like acceleration, pulling the fish into their mouth with the help of their cephalic fins.
Calvin Beale
We made our second dive at the same site and as we expected, encountered lots of ambush predators: Tassled Wobbegong sharks, Scorpionfish, Lionfish and lots of big grouper, all happily helping to ‘clear’ the water off the pesky anchovies. The reef itself is always spectacular to dive, with walls and outcropping ridges covered in vibrant soft corals and huge sea fans. But the spectacular backdrop was forgotten in the face of this incredible hydrodynamic display of the hunting mobula rays.
