BajaNomad

Back from New Guinea

Ken Bondy - 3-17-2006 at 10:41 PM

I have been in Papua New Guinea and Australia for a month, missed wandering around the Nomad Board. Anyway back home now from a great trip (43 dives in 12 days on board). This photo could have been from Baja, but honestly it was taken in PNG:

Diver - 3-17-2006 at 10:44 PM

WOW ! Really nice shot Ken !!

elgatoloco - 3-17-2006 at 11:11 PM

Incredible photo, again! Thanks for sharing. You are a lucky guy.

A great shot of the symbiotic relationship between the animals.

Please describe what is going on for the viewers at home who may be wondering. :biggrin:

Someday we may make it to PNG. :yes:

Ken Bondy - 3-17-2006 at 11:23 PM

elgatoloco

Thanks so much for your kind words. Cleaning behavior is fascinating. I have observed it many times but never quite captured it like this.

This is a symbiotic behavior (both species benefit) between the eel and the shrimp. The shrimp is cleaning the mouth of the eel from parasites and other crud that gets in there. Lacking fingers and toothbrushes, the eel offers up his/her mouth to the shrimp for cleaning. The shrimp gets food (yuck) and the eel gets his teeth cleaned. One of nature's wonders.

Pompano - 3-18-2006 at 07:14 AM

Great photo of the cleaning/eating relationship!

Did the boat you were on give you a chance to dive any of the many WWII wrecks west of Loloata - Port Moresby? Hundreds all over that area covered now with coral must make for excellent diving?

Please post any more dive (or whatever) photos of Papau New Guinea. The modern world living next to stone-age cultures of that still remote and fairly undiscovered island is a marvel of diversity. Truly an unique place on earth. I remember hearing that a certain stone-age tribe only had contact with the modern world in 1989!

As you know, we have good diving here in Baja, too, but I doubt anything in the world compares to the Coral Sea.

Ken Bondy - 3-18-2006 at 07:57 AM

Pompano

I was in Milne Bay, which is at the very eastern tip of the island of New Guinea. The boat I was on (the Febrina) operates out of the little town of Alotau. We didn't dive any wrecks, not sure if there are any military wrecks in Milne Bay. I think most of the WWII battles were in the north. But I know firsthand that there sure are some great wrecks (ships and planes) in the islands off the north coast. This was my fifth trip to PNG (first in 1988), four for diving and one topside-only trip (Highlands villages and the Sepik River). Two of my dive trips were to Milne Bay, two out of Kavieng on the island of New Ireland, diving of of the adjacent smaller island of New Hanover. On the Kaveing trips we dove some outstanding wrecks, I particularly remember a very large Japanese freighter and a well-preserved Zero in about 30 fsw. You could sit in the c-ckpit.

PNG and Baja are my two favorite places on earth, for very different reasons. Arguably the best diving destination in the world, going to PNG is like stepping back 10,000 years into the stone age. There is simply nothing else like it. Many people still wear traditional dress, bones through the nose, body paint, grass skirts, giant hair wigs with feathers, seashells, etc, and of course, magnificent penis decorations on the men (greatly exaggerated in size, I hope). There are people there alive today who lived undiscovered in the Highlands villages, unaware of the outside world until they were discovered by Australians seeking gold in the fifties.

I don't want to clutter up the board with non-Baja photos, but here is a unique PNG critter:

Ken Bondy - 3-18-2006 at 08:02 AM

And another. I have some topside PNG photos at www.kenbondy.com/png.htm.

[Edited on 3-18-2006 by Ken Bondy]

[Edited on 3-18-2006 by Ken Bondy]

Pompano - 3-18-2006 at 08:08 AM

Another great underwater photo. I see with my cursor that it is an 'ornate pipefish'? I take it that it is unique to that area..very beautiful and more so when you are within inches of it, I am sure.


And...WOW...that bait school is fantastic! Reminds me of a dive we made down at ZeeWhatAnejo...(fun spelling) in winter of 1963.

Congratulations on what looks like a remarkable diving trip!

[Edited on 3-18-2006 by Pompano]

Diver - 3-18-2006 at 08:24 AM

Ken,

You are a fantastic photographer !
Your color, clarity and composition are excellent !
Having tried for many years to capture some of nature's underwater wonders, I know it's not easy.
Thanks again for sharing !

Ken Bondy - 3-18-2006 at 08:29 AM

Pompano and Diver

I really appreciate your kind words. Thanks ;D

++Ken++

Natalie Ann - 3-18-2006 at 10:40 AM

Outstanding photos, as always, Ken. Now I'm off to your site to enjoy the rest of your trip pix. Thank you so much for posting these. :tumble::spingrin:

Wow, THAT'S what photos are supposed to look like ?!

oladulce - 3-18-2006 at 10:54 AM

I forget, here in amateur-world, that images like yours are possible. Boy Ken, you may be costing me alot in equipment upgrades. Then again, I reckon the skill of the "operator" plays a big part in the beauty of your photos.

Enjoyed your website too. The yellow-faced, muscular PNG local really grabbed me.

David K - 3-18-2006 at 11:13 AM

Good having you back Ken and muchas gracias for sharing your fantastic photos!

elgatoloco - 3-18-2006 at 11:38 AM

http://www.kenbondy.com/photo.htm

Ken, WOW! The wife and I just got done checking out all your photos. The eye shot of the Baja gray whale, did you just stick your camera down in the water off the boat? Great view! The face on shot of the dolphin in Cozumel is a rare one and a great perspective. How was it being underwater with the humpbacks? Barb wants to know if the silvertip shark is dangerous? The nautilus photo, do you recall how deep you were to see that? The nudibranch is an amazing animal and we did not know there were so many variations. We were particulary interested in the Red Sea shots, we leave next Thursday for that part of the world and we will get a chance to do some diving there.

Thanks again for letting us view your fantastic photography. If your day job doesn't work out you have a fall back, for sure!

Matt & Barb

Cardon - 3-18-2006 at 01:54 PM

Ken, You have a nice web site with great photos -both wet and dry.
Thanks so much for sharing. Craig

Ken Bondy - 3-18-2006 at 05:28 PM

All of you have made my day! Mil gracias for the flattering comments.

elgatoloco, I'll try to answer your questions:

1) Yes, that's exactly how I got the eyeball shot of the gray whale. It was in San Ignacio lagoon and I just hung over the edge of the panga and fired away with a Nikonos V, 15mm lens, no strobe. It was a low batting average endeavor, mostly I got just water or a few square feet of whale skin, but a few frames worked.

2) Being underwater with humpbacks was incredible, life-changing. That was from the Silverbanks area north of the Dominican Republic, one of the few places that, under strict control, you are allowed to get in the water with them.

3) Silvertips are not considered dangerous, the few times I have seen them they have been pretty spooky. That photo was from a location in PNG where they are regularly seen. You sit still on the reef and hope one comes close. I think they are the most beautiful species of shark I have seen.

4) The nautilus photo was made at about 60 fsw but that is misleading. As a regular feature on the boat I was on, a baited trap is dropped down to about 800 fsw at the edge of a reef known to have a big nautilus population, and left overnight. The next morning it comes up with usually 4-6 nautilus (nautili??). The photographers have their way with them for awhile at 40-80fsw, and then wave them goodbye to wobble down to 800 fsw again. I am told, by reliable sources, that because of their unique chambered architecture, the huge change in pressure does them no harm. They are occasionally seen naturally at 80-100fsw so they don't spend all their time at great depths. Some have been marked and individuals have been trapped and photographed on numerous occasions.

Have a great time in the Red Sea!

++Ken++

[Edited on 3-19-2006 by Ken Bondy]

[Edited on 3-19-2006 by Ken Bondy]

that top picture...

eetdrt88 - 3-19-2006 at 07:24 AM

is one of the most unbelivable photos I have ever laid my eyes on,great work Ken.......what a world they have down there in the sea:O:O

The squarecircle - 3-19-2006 at 02:20 PM

Greetings Ken; >>>> Maestro ----Clutter away, I say! >>>> Fantastico e mil gracias. sq.

Pompano - 3-19-2006 at 02:23 PM

Si, como no? Send us some more photos of your diving trip!

Ken Bondy - 3-19-2006 at 05:50 PM

OK anybody in the mood for shrimp?

Ken Bondy - 3-19-2006 at 05:52 PM

Another:

Ken Bondy - 3-19-2006 at 05:53 PM

And another:

Diver - 3-19-2006 at 06:07 PM

OK, enough !
Your photos are so good, truley amazing, I can't stand it !

How much to take me with you next time ?? :biggrin:

Pompano - 3-19-2006 at 07:14 PM

Ken..what is a fair underwater camera these days? I still have my cheap old Minota...the yellow floating one about twice the size of a pack of cigarettes. Bought that in 1979 or so for not much money. I think $90...and, of course, it did not take very sharp pictures, either. Or could I just improvise and put a ziplock on my digital?;)

My use would be strictly for snorkeling around Bahia de Concepcion. Still some seacritters out there to enjoy.

Ken Bondy - 3-19-2006 at 08:39 PM

Pompano

I would not recommend putting your digital in a ziplock. Take a look at http://www.ikelite.com, they make good, relatively inexpensive housings for most all of the popular point-and-shoot digital cameras now on the market. Alternatively, if you can live with film, you can buy an excellent Nikonos V underwater camera now on eBay for very little dinero. They were at one time the workhorse of underwater photography, Nikon made several outstanding underwater lenses for them (35mm, 20mm, 15mm). Excellent quality, but of course film not digital. Hope this helps,

++Ken++

Sallysouth - 3-19-2006 at 09:05 PM

Wow! Amazing pics Ken! I wonder if I will be able to actually eat shrimp after seeing those photos.Truely beautiful photography! Thank you!!!

Pompano - 3-20-2006 at 06:32 AM

Look at those superb photos!

Ken, muchas gracias for the helpful info on the Nikonos V and various housings. Hopefully, I will find one for the Nikon D50 I just bought. I will also check eBay for the older Nikonos V . I don't mind using film at all. I still use my trusty old Canon AE1 on hunting/fishing trips. Just kidding about the baggy thing, although years ago I did exactly that with an old 8mm movie camera..I filmed us snorkeling for rock scallops, chocolates, yellows, and other menu items at Santa Barbera Cove in Conception Bay, a real treat.

Ken Bondy - 3-20-2006 at 07:23 AM

Pompano

Ikelite makes a housing for the D50, see

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/2dslr_dttl70.html

++Ken++

elgatoloco - 3-21-2006 at 09:39 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ken Bondy
All of you have made my day! Mil gracias for the flattering comments.

elgatoloco, I'll try to answer your questions:

1) Yes, that's exactly how I got the eyeball shot of the gray whale. It was in San Ignacio lagoon and I just hung over the edge of the panga and fired away with a Nikonos V, 15mm lens, no strobe. It was a low batting average endeavor, mostly I got just water or a few square feet of whale skin, but a few frames worked.

2) Being underwater with humpbacks was incredible, life-changing. That was from the Silverbanks area north of the Dominican Republic, one of the few places that, under strict control, you are allowed to get in the water with them.

3) Silvertips are not considered dangerous, the few times I have seen them they have been pretty spooky. That photo was from a location in PNG where they are regularly seen. You sit still on the reef and hope one comes close. I think they are the most beautiful species of shark I have seen.

4) The nautilus photo was made at about 60 fsw but that is misleading. As a regular feature on the boat I was on, a baited trap is dropped down to about 800 fsw at the edge of a reef known to have a big nautilus population, and left overnight. The next morning it comes up with usually 4-6 nautilus (nautili??). The photographers have their way with them for awhile at 40-80fsw, and then wave them goodbye to wobble down to 800 fsw again. I am told, by reliable sources, that because of their unique chambered architecture, the huge change in pressure does them no harm. They are occasionally seen naturally at 80-100fsw so they don't spend all their time at great depths. Some have been marked and individuals have been trapped and photographed on numerous occasions.

Have a great time in the Red Sea!

++Ken++

[Edited on 3-19-2006 by Ken Bondy]

[Edited on 3-19-2006 by Ken Bondy]


Thanks for the answers and for all the great shots. We are very much looking forward to diving the Red Sea. We are drawn to Egypt because we hear it's just like Baja (desert/ocean interface) without the Tecate and Tequila. :biggrin:

March 29th we will be on the beach right next to the Libyan border watching live.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/2006/index.html

Ken Bondy - 3-21-2006 at 10:34 AM

elgatoloco

I absolutely LOVED Egypt when I did my trip to the Red Sea (1992). Our group stayed in Cairo for a few days before and after the dive trip. We were bussed to and from Cairo and Sharm al Sheikh, which was great because we got to see a lot of the Sinai Peninsula. Plus you go UNDER the Suez Canal, passing from one continent (Africa) to another (Asia). Cairo was awesome, big crazy noisy city. Don't miss the Giza pyramids, the Antiquities Museum (of course), and the Khan al Khalili marketplace. You will love it. The desert/ocean interface is similar to Baja but the Sinai desert is much more barren, IMHO, than the Baja desert. Have a great time.

++Ken++