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Pom Pom Island — Macro Diving in Malaysia Text and Photos by Elisabeth Lauwerys

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Pom Pom Island — Macro Diving in Malaysia Text and photos by Elisabeth Lauwerys 35 X-RAY MAG : 74 : 2016 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Pom Pom Tropical seascape and islands around Pom Pom Island, Malaysia Blessed with some of the rich- divers by the thousands to explore the est waters in the world, Borneo’s steep, deep walls surrounding the island. Meanwhile, only a few in-the-know macro Pom Pom Island offers some photographers are diving the rich, sloping, truly memorable macro diving. rubble reefs around Pom Pom. Their reward If you want prolonged, up-close is jaw-dropping encounters with numerous encounters with some crazy species of nudibranchs and other rarely encountered macro life. macro critters and the chance I have been on the Pom Pom carou- to photograph the tiniest nudi- sel for the last four years and have just branchs in the world, Pulau Pom returned from another great trip. This time, Pom, in remote Sabah, is the my spotter and macro-enthusiast buddy, Ah Long, took me to a new site he recent- place to go! ly discovered. The secret site, dubbed Macromania, was said to have revealed Pom Pom has become increasingly known an astounding number of rare and spec- as a macro dive destination over the last tacular macro life including what some few years. The area is especially famous for consider the “Holy Grail” of nudibranchs— its beautiful beaches and the abundance the Melibe colemani. of green turtles. Its more famous neighbour, Equipped with my two stacked macro Sea turtle in the blue around Pom Pom Island, Malaysia Pulau Sipadan, has long been attracting wet lenses, I was eager to start photo- PREVIOUS PAGE: Emperor shrimp on a Nembrotha mileri nudibranch at Macromania Chromodoris willani nudibranch at Macromania 36 X-RAY MAG : 74 : 2016 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Pom Pom graphing the 3mm to 1cm long nudi- shots, and were happy to have been be teeming with life! Equipped with my branchs Ah Long assured me we would rewarded for our endeavours. If you rig and a Nauticam SMC macro diop- encounter on this dive site. Indeed, it are a macro critter fan, this dive site is ter, I went on the first dive. proved to be a macro-lover’s paradise! definitely a must. It is all about the small However, I soon realized I needed Just short boat trip from the resort, stuff here. another wet lens to be able to close the gentle slope stretches from a shal- the distance. In between dives, I low plateau at 5m to beyond 45m. Macro wet lenses stacked the Inon +8 on top. Then, all I The site, comprised predominantly of Pom Pom Island’s sea turtles are great needed to do was get close to my sub- rubble, is home to some extraordinary to photograph, but the real challenge jects and zoom in as much as I could nudibranchs, with new ones being was shooting the small critters in the to create a superb magnified image. found on a regular basis. area. My Sony RX100IV camera is great But it proved easier said than done, Our dive group spent a minimum for wide-angle, but to get close-ups as some nudibranchs moved surpris- of 70 minutes on each dive at a of the tiniest nudibranchs and shrimps, ingly fast, shrimps jumped around the maximum depth of 24m before being I found I needed to add wet lenses rubble and hydroids with Doto nudi- chased to the surface by our exceed- (which can be added or removed branchs swayed in the current. It takes ingly irritated dive computers. There underwater). patience, understanding of light, posi- was just too much to shoot in too little Macro photography gives a totally tioning, composition, and of course, time. Besides all the nudibranchs found, different perspective of the world of luck to get THE shot. we also were able to spend some time the smallest reef life—a world often On each dive, I spent countless long with a tiger shrimp! unseen by divers. For those who take minutes waiting for the right moment to Giddy with anticipation, we headed their time and train their eyes, those press the shutter button. back to the resort to check out our boring patches of rubble can prove to CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The “Holy Grail” of nudibranchs—Melibe colemani, at Pom Pom Island; Cleaner shrimp on soft coral; Phylodesmium nudibranch at Macromania 37 X-RAY MAG : 74 : 2016 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Doto nudibranch on hydroid (left); Dendronotus nudibranch travel at Macromania (below) Pom Pom How to get there Oceans Below Underwater There are daily flights from Kuala Video Productions on Koh Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu to Tawau. Tao. Since then, she has From Tawau, continue the journey by created the dive indus- a one-hour mini-bus drive to Semporna try’s first professional-level town. Speedboat transfer is from the video training course; Semporna jetty to Pom Pom Island. The won numerous underwa- boat ride takes about 45 minutes. ter video competitions; worked with the BBC and Many thanks to Celebes Beach Resort other production houses; and Andy Chong for the numer- created a new look for ous stays over the past few years. the PADI promotional A big thank you to Nurul Yazid and videos; and has recently dive guides Ah Long Yong and Axu started making the transi- Kokkonen for showing me the tiniest tion from video to still pho- macro life on the reefs over and over tography. She continues again. See: Celebescuba.com. to teach budding under- water videographers and Thailand-based Elisabeth Lauwerys has travel the world in pursuit of the most cameras and housings. To learn more long been passionate about exploring spectacular and diverse diving environ- about the author’s work, check out: the marine depths. In 2004, she opened ments—all the while, equipped with her Oceansbelow.net. Chromodoris leopardus nudibranch at Macromania (left); The jetty at Pom Pom Island (above) 38 X-RAY MAG : 74 : 2016 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO NASA recommended that expecially women travelling alone hail taxis by phone rather than flag- ging one down on the street fact file and then checking the cab driver’s license upon entry, Malaysia as there have been recent violent incidents against for- RIGHT: Global map eigners by local taxi drivers. with location of Malaysia For more detailed informa- BELOW: Location of Pom tion, check with your state Pom Island, Mabul Island department for the latest and Pulau Rawa on SOURCES: U.S. CIA WORLD FACTBOOK, XE.COM, updates on security issues map of Malaysia TRAVEL.STATE.GOV, POMPOMISLAND.COM, in Malaysia. PANDA.ORG History Great Britain established of Vietnam. Coastline: 4,675 km. launched the new Health Contact VIETNAM colonies and protectorates in the Terrain: coastal plains that rise to Bumiputra Economic PHILIPPINES your state’s Gulf of area of current Malaysia during hills and mountains. Lowest point: Empowerment Program THAILAND SPRATLY health advisory Thailand ISLANDS Sulu the late 18th and 19th centuries. Indian Ocean 0m. Highest point: (BEEP), policies that Sea for updates on Japan occupied these areas from Gunung Kinabalu 4,100m. Note: favor and advance the Kudat warnings and 1942 to 1945. The British-ruled ter- Malaysia lies in a strategic loca- economic condition of Kota appropriate Baharu Kota ritories on the Malay Peninsula tion along the Strait of Malacca ethnic Malays. Pulau Kinabalu Sandakan innoculations Pinang Kuala Gunung formed the Federation of Malaya and the southern end of the Terengganu Pulau Labuan Kinabalu for travelers. In George South China Sea Lahad Datu in 1948. In 1957, it became inde- South China Sea. Climate Malaysia Town Taiping BRUNEI Sabah Malaysia, there is pendent. When the former British enjoys a tropical climate Ipoh Tawau Pom an intermediate Miri Pom colonies of Singapore and the Economy Malaysia, a middle- with high tempera- Lumut KUALA degree of risk for Strait of Kuantan Mabul East Malaysian states of Sabah income country, has transformed tures and humidity year Malacca LUMPUR food or water- Bintulu and Sarawak on the north- itself since 70’s from a producer round. There is an annu- Klang Seremban borne diseases Celebes Port Dickson ern coast of Borneo joined the of raw materials into an emerg- al southwest monsoon Rawa Sibu Sarawak such as bacterial Melaka Johor Kuching Federation in 1963, Malaysia was ing multi-sector economy. Under from April to October, Bahru BORNEO Sea diarrhea, mosqui- formed. The new nation faced current Prime Minister Najib, and a northeast mon- to-borne diseases SINGAPORE faced challenges in its first sev- Malaysia is attempting to achieve soon from October to such as dengue INDONESIA eral years including a Communist high-income status by 2020 and February. Natural haz- Equator INDONESIA fever, and water insurgency, Singapore’s seces- to move farther up the value- zards include flooding, contact disease sion from the Federation in added production chain by landslides and forest fires such as leptospi- 1965, Indonesian confrontation, attracting investments in Islamic 0.7%, non-citizens 8.2% (2010 est.) for stays less than 90 days. Note: rosis. The highly pathogenic H5N1 and Philippine claims to Sabah. finance, high technology indus- Environmental issues Religions: Muslim (official) 61.3%, There are strict laws against drug avian influenza was identified in However, Malaysia was success- tries, biotechnology, and services.
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