Funday at Matabuan

A healthy coral reef at Matabuan.

On Sundays, we normally take a day off from conservation work and go FUNdiving :-) I remember when we went to Matabuan as our fun day trip. The ride to Matabuan was rather rough as a storm has just hit. Thus, when we went down for a dive, the visibility was not as great. However, undeniably, the coral reef is so much more diverse and healthier compared to Pom Pom Island. Good job done by Sabah Parks (Mantabuan is in Tun Sakaran Park, and has a marine police presence.)

A green turtle swimming into the blue.

Divers showing off their flying kicks and back flips.

Other than admiring the beauty of the coral reef, one of the most memorial part of the dive in Matabuan was 

when we found a patch of sand at depth about 8 meters. What is more fun than to take off our fins and do flips and flying kicks? We spent a good time defying gravity and although we consumed a lot of our air, it was still unforgettable.

Lunch at Matabuan Island.

Hunger took over after that dive and so we had lunch on the island. We found a good spot with lots of shade, placed a tarp on the sand and settled down. We had some good discussion about what we saw during the dive and played a game of charades. After much laughter, it was time to head back to Pom Pom. Fun day to Matabuan was definitely a day we would never trade for any other days. The dive site, the company of these volunteers, the food, the view and everything else on top of that.

If you want to help with any marine conservation activity, please check our website http://tracc.org or email info@tracc-borneo.org

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More Marine conservation projects

Reef conservation would not be possible without generous financial support from

GEF /SGP for Malaysia who are helping our community activities and coralreefcare.com who generously provided materials to build the new reefs.

If visits to Tracc are not possible then please help with financial support and follow their projects on Facebook.

Ten facts to know about becoming a marine biologist

Dive surveys

Ten facts you need to overcome to plan a career as a marine biologist. 
Start with more info - if you are still at school or pre U or working on a career change then a marine science course will help test your desires before you spend 3-4 years at Uni or college.

Becoming a marine biologist is fantastic in many ways but it is a hard choice.  Jobs are few.  From 10 people with PhD degrees only 1 will be working in their chosen field by the time they are 40 years old. Many more will work in the dive tourism industry.

Most marine biologists are part-time, they have careers in other fields. Sometimes teaching, sometimes aquaculture, sometimes fisheries, sometimes in aquariums. Not many get to be "Marine Biologists". The smartest people can work in Universities doing experiments, a few lucky people (like me) make marine biology part of another career (tourism management) and get to spend some days each month in the field.  To succeed you need brains, hardwork, determination and luck (IMHO).

1 Not all your work will be glamourous,  autopsy on turtles killed by plastic (conservation), measuring and gutting fish (fisheries) or working with sick, dying fish (aquaculture) will test your gag reflex and resolve.

Measuring sharks

2 It is not well paid and the career prospects are low. Jobs are hard to find - start as an intern.  Biotechnology is a much better career choice or Fisheries or Aquaculture.

3 Lots of time is spent in the office writing reports, blogs or social media and lots more time is spent in meetings.

4 Studying, saving or simply managing any part of the planet is frustratingly slow, from species which need protection today to ecosystems that are changing slowly because of global climate change.

5 The weather is not always kind,  a beach survey in January at low tide (= dawn) anywhere in the world is hard but cold places have more jobs than warm places so chances are it will be snowing.

6 Do you get seasick?  Some of the best marine biologists avoid boats because of this. There are shore based jobs out there but there is more competition for jobs where you get to go home every day :-)

Pre dawn light on a rocky shore survey

7 Do you hate bugs?  From jellyfish and stonefish to mosquitos and ants there is always something trying to bite, sting or eat you.

8 Life on a tropical beach for months at a time when diving every day is hard on your body.  You need a strong immune system and a willingness to eat all the fruit and vegetables possible.  Finding enough protein as a vegetarian is extra hard so carnivores suffer less from infuriating illnesses.

9 Do you love study and reading.  The ocean is the underexplored 70% of the planet and we learn new things all the time.  Study and reading are part of the process.

10 Does a foreign culture excite you.  There are more jobs scattered around the world but to survive the culture shock you need to be able to accept hardship because chances are; that where-ever you get to work doesn't have familiar fast food or supermarkets.

Underwater work

If this has not put you off - the benefits to being a marine biologist are many.  Read what Natalie says about her Internship.

Read the 10 best reasons for studying marine science here.

or the 10 best ways to become a marine biologist here.
or How to get a job in Marine Conservation.

good luck

Lifting heavy objects - There are days when diving is just another job. 

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First impressions of changes to Pom Pom reefs.

TRACC has just moved back to Pom Pom Island and the first batch of volunteers move from Kudat to Pom Pom on the 11th May.  The camp development team has been hard at work building kitchens, cleaning everything, digging wells, installing electricity, putting up tents and sneaking in a little dive at the end of the day.

While we have been working for a year in Kudat at the Tipof Borneo, all the Pom Pom reefs planted in 2012, 13 & 14 have been growing.  Our crate and bottle reefs are doing well, the cement from the biscuits are smothered by coral growth and there has been lots of natural settlement.

The cement biscuit is completely covered
 by the rapid growth of this Millepora (fire coral)

The fish life is now amazing, On today's dive we saw dog tooth tuna, 4 species of Trevally, a school of 60 long fin banner fish, 2 red snappers, 25 black snappers, uncountable red tooth triggers, The list goes on. Suffice to say that it is obvious that when we do scientific surveys of numbers we will find an amazing increase in fish numbers, diversity and size,
 Plus the reliable turtles - 7 were visible at one time and we saw 11-12 during a 1h dive.

Oh Boy its good to be back.  :-)

growth of corals on biscuits in the nursery

More info about learning to dive or volunteering to help save the ocean with TRACC in Malaysia - Turtle Snorkellers - Divers 

A nice branching coral.

Diving the N. Tip of Pom Pom island

The north tip of Pom Pom island (Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia) is a wall dive with the best wall starting at 30m. The reef crest at the north end of the Pom Pom reef wall has a large flat plateau The current splits at this point and there is a choice to swim either W around the N tip wall or East around the Fleavie wall.

The boat ties to the mooring and we kit up. Quick check of the current direction and last minute gear checks and we are off.

Backwards roll dive entry into 3-4m of water next to a large mushroom shaped bommie and a large area covered with bottle reefs planted by TRACC. The reef slope is covered with rubble and macrolife such as nudibranchs and frogfish can be found. Our dive is to go deep, so we pass rapidly across this shallow dive site down to 20m. A quick ok and then we curve off to the left and down a gully. The visibility is awesome at least 40 and maybe 50m and the wall looms up some way in front. The currrent has started to pick up and there are increasing numbers of small schooling fish. Big black coral bushes (“I must remember to ask the TRACC scientists why black !!! coral is actually red or white or green”) and a school of bannerfish mark mark the end of the gulley. I learn later that in 2012 when TRACC first surveyed the island of Pom pom, there were 3 of these schooling bannerfish. Now they are impossible to count. Everything is so approachable, the current is quite strong and all the fish are facing the current looking for food and ignoring the divers. A shoal of bait fish swims past and the big fish follow, 2 giant trevally, a small group of no idea (rainbow runners – id later from the photos) and a larger school of the bluefin trevally. I stop on the corner of the wall and try to get a good photo of the red tooth triggers when the school of big eye trevally swims past. Not worried by the 4 or was it 5 species of trevally, the small fish suddenly scatter. Swimming along the wall is a huge dogtooth tuna. It glides past a few metres away and then all the small fish return. Beep Beep, all to soon the computer says go up and then the best part of the dive started.

As we slowly ascend cross the plateau we see one or two then 5 or more, green turtles resting. Each bommie has at least one large female turtle and in the water column, a male is cruising looking for action. The females are not timid, they generally ignore divers, one female lifts off slowly and the nearest male cruises alongside. I learn later that mating was finished a few weeks ago, but the males are still searching for a willing partner. The cameras are clicking and I can see my buddy gesturing for me to swim into the right place to get that fantastic picture of me and a turtle drifting across the reef.

We gradually ascend to 9m and the seabed is a flat gentle slope of broken rubble. There clearly was a great reef here once but the blast fishing has decimated the fragile coral and it looks like the gravel when a road is being built. The vis is definitely 40m and I can see rubble in all directions, flat and featureless. But ahead past the dive master is a cloud of small fish. I look closer and they are living on a bottle reef. It is made from a ring of glass bottles embedded in cement and then the centre of the ring was plastic bottles. The whole structure is covered with coral and spomges and only a few bottle tops can still be seen. The fish definitely like it - there is a sabre tooth blenny hidden in the neck of lots of bottles and many many small fish. It is easy to see that the artificial reefs built by TRACC volunteers are making a huge difference to reef recovery..

Floating up into the shallows, there are more TRACC reefs, the ribbon reef snakes across the reef crest and is a highway for butterfly fish, blue devil damsels, anthias and many others. With successful artificial reefs like these I am fired up and will definitely be making reefs this afternoon.

Paradise

When you find that one place to call paradise, that one view which tops all others, and that one moment where you feel at peace and one with the world - Calling it beautiful, doesn't do it justice. We've overused the word. Just like the word 'stunning'... 'breath-taking' and 'special'. So I will try to, right now - do Pulau Pom Pom justice.

The Jetty at Pulau Pom Pom

The turquoise water laps the white fine sand religiously, and creates a serene anthem paired with the rustle of the inland palm trees and whistle of the wind. The prevailing wind is fresh and cool; and it brings hints of salt as to never let its visitors forget that they are just meters away from a shimering, glorious coastline.

The vast expanse of crystal water acts as a mirror of the sky - both are clear, and untouched by the modernisation that has crept into most crevices of the world. It's so rare to see a sight un-obstructed by the perpendicular and parallel lines, even the jetty, built to be strong, safe and stable is unlike its mechanical and symmetrical brothers in industrialized parts of the world. It's made from a pale driftwood known for it's natural kinks and so called 'imperfections', which to some eyes - make it perfect. The wood is smooth, and worn... it feels like it has a history. The whole island does.

A starfish just meters from the Jetty

Under the warm water, the mood is more playful. The bubbles from fluttering fins, vivid colours from the reef and the exquisite wildlife make the water the type of light hearted environment which couples perfectly with the peace and tranquillity that saturates the beach and resort.

I will be sad to leave this paradise, it's one of those humble sanctuaries which words simply cannot describe.

Laura Wood
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Anything for the Turtles

As the title hints, we are willing to do anything for the turtles, including walking around in the early hours of the morning, in the rain, freezing our butts off and lifting heavy termite-infested, centipede-housing logs.

The beach at Pom Pom is continuously plagued by lots of pieces of drift wood. This is a problem because when the turtles come up the sand to try and nest, the bits of wood obstruct their paths, resulting in the turtles not being able to lay their eggs.

Macho Women conquering all the logs

Therefore our task was to pick up the pieces of wood and make piles all along our side of the beach, in order for them to be burned later. We chose the most ideal day to do this: rainy and cold. In a sense this was good because we didn't get even more burnt in the process.

On various occassions Steve pointed out old turtle nests which are about 50cm x 50 cm circles in the sand. It was weird to think that only six months ago little baby turtles crawled out of their eggs shells buried in these nests and cautiously made their way to the sea. It made us think about what those turtles are doing now. Did they even survive or were they devoured by bigger creatures along the way?

We all ended up with cuts and bites on our arms and legs and exhausted, but we were pleased by the fact that we will be making a difference by hopefully enabling more turtles to come onto the beach and nest.

Enjoying some marshmallows

In total it took us two hours to make twentyone piles of wood and we took advantage of our hard work the following evening by making smores around several bonfires. Laura and Em thankfully had each brought a bag of marshmallows which we devoured under a sky full of twinkling stars. The sweet smell soon attracted the dive instructors from the resort and we gladly shared our sugary delights with them.

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The Thunder Storm

The first night on Pom Pom Island, everything seemed to be alright. However that is until we decided to hit the sack. Previously during the  day we had set up three tents and put a giant blue canvas over all.   The other 2 tents were pitched but we wanted to go snorkelling so we left the canvas till later.  Well with the excitment of the day, later never happened so Steve's tent and Jackie and Emily's tent were not protected by the giant canvas. This meant that they were more vulnerable to rain, should it occur. Since we weren't in monsoon season though, we didn't think that, that would be a problem. Little did we know, not finishing the tent construction was a big mistake...

The damp towels drying on the giant canvas which
covered all the tents.

In the middle of our slumber - around 2am - the heavens opened, leading to a tremendous downpour of rain onto our tents. Wind, thunder and lightning worked together to create one of the scariest nights of our lives. The canvas on top of 3 of our tents soared into the air - separating our tents and itself by 6 feet. Water gushed through the open mosquito nets, forcing those awake to get up and close the windows; fighting against the moving sides of the tent. During this commotion, the canvas-less tent belonging to Jackie and Emily was drowning in water; the very target of mother nature's rage. The tent looked like it was going to take off at any moment with the girls inside, regardless of the fact that Steve had pinned down the tent with extra pegs. The opening of the tent was flapping wet against the girls, leaving them trapped inside with no way out. Whilst Emily was really upset and panicking, Jackie was soothing herself with the help of her ipod, constantly telling Emily "chin up"; hiding her own fear.

Just in time, Steve decided to walk to the girls' tent and get them out before collapsing it. With people awake, the girls were taken in to two of the other tents with open arms. The only funny part, arguably, was Emily shouting "I HAVE NO PANTS ON!" whilst frantically running through the rain in front of Steve. Ironically, it wasn't because she couldn't find anything to wear down below - she had a sarong in her hand. Silly girl.

The next morning I awoke to find 8 other faces staring back at me from outside the tent. "Oh look, Louise is FINALLY awake!" The word 'finally' didn't refer to the fact that I had overslept or slept for a long period of time, but to the fact that I was awake for the first time since the night before. I had slept through one of the worst torrential rainstorms ever seen on the island, and still managed to sleep like a baby :)
 Although it seemed exciting, the 3 tents under the canvas remained dry and while J & Em tent looked like a disaster zone, very little was actually wet underneath the canvas.

An hours work in the sunshine and all the tents were pitched under the giant canvas and ready for anything. 

By: Louise Arild, ft. Naomi Hudson

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