Going out on deck this morning at 6.30am I could hear the continuous low pitched drone of small diesel engines, and watched as nearly forty bangan’s chugged back to the bay after their night’s fishing activity. They were spread out across a wide front, their brightly painted colours softened by the early morning light and the crew squatting on the deck sorting their catch as they made their way in.

These local bangan’s largely use lift nets or hook and line and do not target the reefs, so have minimal impact on the reef ecology of the park. Lou has already mentioned some of the more harmful fishing methods employed in these waters, but I thought I would briefly mention a bit more about the problems of policing the cyanide and dynamite fishermen.

Firstly the huge sea area of the park (120,000ha) makes patrolling very difficult, especially as there are currently only two boats allocated for this purpose. Secondly there is a very real risk of encountering violence when apprehending these criminals, as they often carry guns, thirdly it is often impossible to collect the fines imposed and fourthly cyanide fishing is so profitable to the fisherman that there is simply no disincentive to stop, thus countermeasures are largely ineffective. Despite facing so many obstacles and having limited resources I was extremely impressed by the breadth and depth of programs Jos and Peter have initiated in the Park and the achievements they have made to date, particularly in their focus area of marine conservation. The fact that both have a background (Phd’s) in ‘fisheries management’ gives them an additional 'practical point of view' and consideration for the economic needs of the local communities as a component of their conservation efforts. Both speak Indonesian well, know the workings of local politics and are sensitive the local way of life. Their unique skills coupled with the funding and resources of  TNC enable them implement programs that would not be possible with the current inadequate government allocation of US$15,000 per annum for management of the park.

Anyway, back to today and our exploration of the terrestrial part of Komodo National Park. This morning we left for the island of Komodo after first being joined by our Indonesian interpreter Wensislaus and our guide Jusuf who works as a ranger in Komodo National Park; a position he has held for 17 years. Wensislaus and I turned out to have some common acquaintances; a film crew from ‘Natural History NZ’, a New Zealand film company who employed Wensislaus as an interpreter two years ago during a documentary they were filming on the Komodo dragons…it’s a small world!

The Komodo swallowing a pig ... whole.

The short passage to Komodo was calm and relaxing, in complete contrast to the exhilarating trip across yesterday driving the tender! That was a fast, bucking ride trying to stay in the wake of the boat in front while being pushed from side to side by the strong currents of the strait, buffeted by wind and spray and launching off the occasional bigger wave. This morning, under a washed out blue sky STARSHIP cut cleanly through the smooth blue water…so calm that in the background, just discernible beyond the splashing of the bow wave, I could hear the constant whisper-quiet hiss of small bubbles popping like champagne freshly poured into a glass.

The islands we were passing by were arid with peaks highly sculpted by erosion, scorched by the fierce sun and with little vegetation other than dry yellow grasses and a narrow green band of mangroves along the shoreline. On arriving at Komodo we anchored in the bay fronting the KNP Ranger station to have lunch, then Michael, James and the first group went ashore to view the ‘dragons', guided by Jusuf and Wensislaus. Trevor, Monika, Lasse and I were not going ashore until 3pm, but in the meantime had an interesting interlude on the aft deck chatting with some of the local carvers from Kampung Komodo, (Komodo village).

These guys were talented artisans, and the carved wooden dragons they showed us were very lifelike representations of the real thing…in fact in between talking we couldn’t resist buying some of their carvings!

Mid afternoon Lasse and myself went ashore to meet our guide Oji, a friendly and knowledgeable young Indonesian guy who had been working in the park for six years and had eyes like a hawk! It was nice walking through the bush with just the three of us, Oji pointing out a multitude of interesting things along the way from small tree geckos to a variety of birds and interesting plants and trees, and ably answering all the questions we fired at him. He introduced us to the Tamarind fruit, a large seed with pleasantly tart sticky flesh, and showed us the tracks of komodo dragons in the dusty ground; their tail leaving diagonal drag marks between their over-size footprints. We also saw some of the animals the dragons prey on, wild pigs, and small Rusa deer, at first freezing at the sight of us, then crashing away through the thick layer of dry leaves and tangled undergrowth. The terrain we were walking through was typical of Komodo; known as savanna it is mostly tall dry grasses, low scrub and scattered trees such as Lontar palm, Strangling fig, Tamarinds and Prickly pear. As it is currently the dry season here, the land was quite arid, although the valley we had dropped into was more vegetated than the ridges above us.

A Dragon on the warpath.

We saw our first dragon after walking for about 50 minutes, sheltering from the heat of the afternoon in a dry riverbed. Around 2.5m long and bulky to go with it, he was an impressive sight. His thick, finely scaled skin was a dull grey-brown and he had a powerful looking neck, strong tail and an air of indifference to the puny humans watching him! His muscular forelimbs and back legs ended in large spread feet armed with an impressive set of 5cm-long curved claws, and his powerful jaws looked easily capable of dealing with a pig or a deer. We hunkered down a couple of metres away enjoying the sensation of being so close to such a large creature in his own domain, and taking the occasional photo. Eventually he started moving up out of the riverbed, largely ignoring our presence and walking right past us, body high off the ground, tongue flickering out to taste the air and tail swinging like some modern-day dinosaur. Lasse and I accompanied him for a while, then moved off to look at another big male dragon that Oji had located; this one older and looking a bit the worse for wear, but equally as impressive. After we had had our fill of observing these fascinating and unique reptiles (and nearly run out of film!) we started back for the dock, again pausing along the way to look at other interesting wildlife including an Orb-web spider as big as my hand!

We arrived back at the beach to the strange sight of several wild pigs rooting around for crabs along the shoreline; apparently they also dig up the nests of marine turtles in search of their eggs ... as do the Komodo dragons.

Once back on STARSHIP we caught up with the rest of the crew who had also had a good day; they had seen a couple of large dragons feeding and fighting over a pig carcass and got some great photos! It has certainly been an unforgettable afternoon for all of us in one of the special places on this planet, and I am looking forward to more new sights and experiences tomorrow!

Adios until then, Dave