The Underwater360 team and ADEX Ambassadors are off to Indonesia’s Banda Sea to look for blue whales and hammerhead sharks!
After learning about unheard-of sightings of what scientists think could be aggregations of blue whales in the Banda Sea, UW360 just HAD to go out and investigate. Very little is known about blue whales, though until now they have been thought to be solitary creatures. The Banda Sea might be about to reveal some amazing cetacean secrets!
Last year during October, over just a few days, 24 blue whales were sighted in the Banda Sea. But there is hardly any data on the cetaceans here. Most liveaboards that ply these remote waters are doing three to four dives a day and motoring overnight, so seeing the whales is opportunistic.
This trip will be very different.
From the brand new, luxury liveaboard Samambaia, we will be doing two dives a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. In between we will be cruising, guided by Benjamin Kahn, Director of APEX Environmental (and one of SE Asia’s most eminent cetacean experts, long-term member of two IUCN Commissions) looking for whales to see if we can encounter, not only blues, but maybe even sperm whales and orcas. Over the course of 10-days and over 1000km cruising distance we will learn more about the mysterious lives of these majestic animals, and make a small but valuable contribution to their conservation!
The dives also promise to be some of the best in the world. These reefs host huge aggregations of hammerhead sharks, incredible schools of barracuda, jacks, bumpheads, and crazy, cryptic critters.
The team is amped – and not just about the diving, but also about the opportunity to dive together. Underwater360 is bringing some serious industry heavy-hitters on this once-in-a-lifetime expedition: Senior Editor of Asian Diver and Scuba Diver, Alice Grainger, Photographer and ADEX Ambassador Aaron Wong, Freediving Record Holder and Videographer Pepe Arcos, Freediving Champion and ADEX Ambassador Dada Li, celebrated Photographer Alan Lo, sustainable marine tourism expert Judi Lowe, and Scuba Diver Chineseeditor Connie LoChan.
Watch this space for stories of our encounters and behind-the-scenes updates!