Raja Empat Islands, Papua, Indonesia (December 2004 - January 2005) on the M/V Bidadari

The Raja Empat Islands are located off the western tip of New Guinea in Eastern Indonesia. The name means "Four Rajahs" (or "Four Kings"). We were on the Bidadari, run by the redoubtable Mark Heighes. (I doubted him again and again, but he was always right.)

Recent Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA) surveys* carried out by Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy revealed that these islands have the highest known levels of coral reef biodiversity in the world. There are more than 1,074 species of fish and nearly 500 species of scleractinian corals, approximately 75% of all the known species in the world. The region also escaped most of the effects of the global coral bleaching episode in 1998. Anthropogenic (human-caused) damage is also very limited. Remote and relatively unpopulated, Raja Empat's reefs are relatively pristine compared to other parts of Indonesia. Cyanide and blast fishing have been introduced, however, and the near total absence of sharks on most dives suggests heavy pressure from fishermen serving the lucrative market for shark fins.

The area is visually stunning above water as well, particularly the eroded karst limestone islands southwest of Misool and in the Waigeo island group to the northwest. (See topside images below.)

The Indian Ocean tsunami disaster took place half way through this trip. Listening to daily shortwave broadcasts from BBC and the Australian Broadcasting System, we were stunned as the casualty estimates steadily mounted, but the full scale of the tragedy only became clear after we returned to Bali and regained access to newspapers and other reports.

* The REA survey reports can be downloaded from the TNC's Southeast Asia Center for Marine Protected Areas (SEACMPA)

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All images and other material Copyright © 2005 by Robert Delfs