In November of 2002, we traveled to the
Solomon Islands for the third time, again with Chris Newbert
and Deda Wilms. With the depressed economy, the Bilikiki
was only half full (10 guests), and the guests were outnumbered
by the crew. With so few of us, it was a fun and intimate
trip.
I had two completely new cameras for this
trip, and left my familiar RS at home. The new systems
included an F100 in a Subal housing which I'd acquired
a month before the trip, and a Subeye camera which arrived
a week before the trip. I had some concern about bringing
unfamiliar equipment, but I knew I'd be well supported
on the trip. As it turned out, I had few equipment problems,
and both systems worked wonderfully. The advantage of
having both systems was that I was able to have a wide
angle setup as well as a macro setup always available.
This meant that I was able to shoot more wide angle than
usual.
The marine life highlight of the trip
was probably the blue ringed octopus on a thrill filled
dusk dive. I also had alot of fun shooting coral hermit
crabs and soft coral crabs. There were fewer nudibranchs
and ghost pipefish
than our previous trip, but many, many more huge nesting
titan and peach faced triggerfish! Mobula rays, huge
schools
of jacks and barracuda, pygmy seahorses, battling lionfish,
eagle and blue spotted rays, gray whaler and silvertip
sharks,
and a
wonderful tiny red dragonet all rounded out the experience.
I'm ready to go back!
Please enjoy your visit through this gallery.
As always, I would love to hear your feedback if you would
like to drop
me a note or sign my guestbook.