In April of 2002, we took our second charter
on the M.V. Chertan, in Milne Bay, PNG. This time, we
booked the entire boat with friends, to ensure there would
be an abundance of space and our choice of itinerary.
I had a mission, which was to capture the flambouyant
cuttlefish that had eluded me in the previous year, despite
opportunities. I was not disappointed. We had a wonderful
encounter with a very active flambo, as Captain Rob calls
them. The trip yielded not only the flambo, but manta
rays, mating nudibranchs with commensal shrimp aboard,
twin frogfish sprinting and angling, agitated cuttlefish,
ghost pipefish in walking crinoids, allied cowries, pygmy
seahorses, giant mantis shrimp with tiny shrimp roommates,
and mandarinfish when we least expected them! There were
also some unusual critters such as pegasus fish, a pair
of inimicus (devilfish), a stick fish, coleman shrimp,
a mimic octopus and a wonderpus.
We had a great trip, and everyone was
able to bring home copious photos. I have tried to narrow
mine down for the web pages, but there are still nearly
300 here. So you may wish to select the "Favorites" category in the gallery search options to narrow it down..
Please enjoy your visit through these
pages. I would love to hear your feedback if you would
like to drop
me a note or sign my guestbook.