I HEART BUNAKEN

The coral walls were stunning, visibiliy was very good and the species diversity was jaw dropping. There was a spectacular array of both soft and hard corals, their colours strong and vibrant. The morning light glimmered through the surface of the water and I felt that magical feeling that is reserved for only a small number of places I have dived in the world...

I was in Bunaken to install a new ‘living sculpture’ in the sea.The ‘Love Mermaids’  is an artificial reef artwork  I made to create new fish and  coral  habitats as well as commencing what I hope will become a new eco tourism dive attraction featuring many more underwater structures  that the whole community of  Bunaken National Marine Park can benefit from. The Love Mermaids are located in Jalan Masuk, a small bay adjacent to the recently upgrade Grand Luley Resort, Manado who supported the project. At 12 metres, the sculpture is perfectly situated for divers of every level and the sandy bottom is surrounded by a lovely coral garden full of  soft corals and lots of small fish.

Bunaken National Park was established in 1991 and in 2005 Indonesia submitted an application to UNESCO to be included in  the World Heritage List. Significant  international funding was received in the early phase but this has steadily declined affecting, the Park’s ability to effectively patrol and managed its beauty. As such, international funding protocol is changing and greater emphasis on policy now invites more investment in local expertise so they can effectively manage their own resources long term. I believe that eco tourism plays a vital role in long term economic sustainability for local communities who rely on their seas for the livelihood.

Bunaken enjoys the perfect conditions for thriving reefs. Its coral walls plunge  down  into the 1000’s of feet, bringing a ready supply of cold water uprising which is the key to the health of Indonesia’s coral reefs. With the negative heating effects of global warming exacerbated by the current El Nino - thought to be the worst ever recorded - these cold currents help to keep the water from overheating as well as providing fresh supplies of nutrients to feed the reef ecosystem. Though big pelagic species where in short shrift, we did spot a few small white tip reef sharks hiding in daytime sleeping caves and the consensus is numbers are on the increase.

Bunaken is one of the acknowledged jewels of the Coral Triangle, sitting as it does near the geographical heart of the bioregion off the coast of  North Sulawesi, the large oddly shaped island north of Bali. It is part of  the Celebes Sea and its bays, which are surrounded by dramatic mountains, provide habitat to 390 species of coral as well as countless fish, mollusc, reptiles and marine mammal species. The Park is typical of many Indonesian tropical water ecosystems, consisting of seagrass plains ( I heard rumours of Dugong sightings) and extensive mangrove forests.

The Grand Luley Resort has a strong environmental and  community orientated ethos and the management have preserved the local mangroves -  less eco-oriented hotels often remove them to create beaches which will end up being washed away anyway. These vital ecosystems sequester carbon, provide coastal protection from storms and are vital breeding grounds for many species. The resort has an amazing jetty that takes you through this very peaceful and unique habitat.

Bunaken Park covers a total area of 890.65 km², 97% of which is marine habitat. The remaining 3% of the park is terrestrial, including the five islands of Bunaken including Manado Tua, which is the inactive volcano, a classical cone shape that  rises over 600 m above sea level and the sun sets picturesquely behind it.

The area offers a rich variety of diving -  Lekuan 1, 2 and 3 are wall dives but could just as well be called turtle dive as there lots of them, all very large and healthy looking! Depending on the tides, there can be strong currents which may be exactly to your likely or not so much in my case. But this can be easily avoided by checking with the dive shop. It seemed to me early in the morning was more relaxed but i am not sure if that is consistent. Stunning Mandarin fish can be spotted around 5pm at Katrin Point, a slope dive and sited for its macro or visit The secret garden a 15 metre deep Coral garden.

The Love Mermaids join a number of existing artificial reef projects in Bunaken including reefballs, hollow concrete domes  that provide a surface for things to settle and holes within which to enter and hide. There are also  eco reefs, ceramic star shapes that are placed on dead coral rubble which was created naturally through storms or as a result of the disturbing Asian habit of using dynamite to catch fish at the same time destroying ancient  corals  at the same time  leaving most of their kill to float uselessly to the seafloor.

The eco reefs stabilise the rubble and i was impressed to see how well corals have settled and the fish seems to like hiding in them too. There is also the Molas shipwreck,a World War II Dutch cargo ship. The wreck sits on a sandy slope about halfway between Bunaken and the Manado between 28m and 40m meters. Now of course there is the Love Mermaids a novel art attraction were you can have a fun photo taken and help spread some underwater love!