November 01, 2002

A day of orientation and calibration. All the teams were operational for the first time, testing techniques and supporting logistics. Field teams hit the water, and terrestrial groups went ashore on northeast Salawati, 28 kilometers from Sorong. Rod and Emre found some interesting corals on their first dive, but saw several areas of coral damaged by coral bombing and bleaching. Highlights for the marine team included sighting by one of the zodiac drivers of an 8-meter whale shark, which surfaced next to the boat for four minutes. All the divers below were too busy working to notice!

On their first vegetation survey, Wayne and Johanes checklisted more than 100 species of plants. Wayne noted that the vegetation of Salawati was almost identical to that of mainland Papua, which isn't surprising as it is separated only by a narrow, shallow channel - during ice ages a lower sea level meant that the two actually were linked. Based on this we decided to focus more on Batanta, which is separated from the mainland by the 250 meter deep Dampier Straight.

Wayne taking back samples for analysis

The marine resources team had an exciting day, following up reported sightings of a dugong by villagers - the team went back but couldn't find it. These mammals live on sea-grass beds, and are known to cover large distances in search of food.

This morning the Surat Jalam (travel permits) were completed, and a police officer joined the survey for the duration.

The day closed with team review meetings, and a review of available maps to locate working sites for the next two days.