Manta Kingdom Derawan Islands

By Famega Syavira
Manta rays are the species most large-sized stingrays in the world. Type the largest can grow up to 7 meters with a weight of more than 2 tons. I visited one of the royal manta in Indonesia which lies in waters around the island of Charitable, Derawan Islands, Berau, East Kalimantan.
Photo: Yahoo! / Famega Syavira
Fish with the Latin name of this birostris Manta will manifest themselves at high tide. Tide brings with plankton, which is his favorite food. The sign, which was originally sea water began to clear blue colored turbid due to plankton.
Charitable Island can be reached within an hour away by motor boat from the island Derawan. Shortly after arriving, we saw manta began to arrive and swim just below the water surface. We plunge into the sea, a few hundred feet from the manta. Speedboat should not be too close because it could frighten the animal tame.
I then swam his best to reach the manta. Not the actual swim, because I simply could not and did not know swimming technique. Exactly, trying to move the agency forward. Luckily, manta swam directly towards me.
Dark and sinister figure who makes me pause while he continued to go at me. His form is very large with a wide mouth reminds me of the sharp-tailed rays that can kill humans. In fact, the manta which is not dangerous.
Shortly before we collided, manta contort his body to the bottom. His movements were so graceful like a dancer. He then swerved back toward his coming again. Manta swim fast and I just stared at the departure of the black manta graceful.

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Not only one manta appears, there are some that swim around. This beast is also known to jump into the water. If lucky, manta can appear clustered in large quantities. This place is also a favorite spot of divers because of its beauty. Unfortunately, I can not dive.
Manta is only one of hundreds of fish that live in these waters. There are at least 872 kinds of reef fish that inhabit this region with six different species of dolphins and three types of whales.
Derawan I visited at the invitation of The Nature Conservancy, the nonprofit that works to preserve the marine ecosystem of this island. Currently Berau Aquatic Conservation Area face many threats, such as destruction of coral reefs, sea turtles illegally catching and environmentally unfriendly fishing with poison and bombs.

Photo: Yahoo! / Famega Syavira
In fact, Derawan islands are areas with coral reefs second richest in the world. Extensive coral reefs no less than 66 thousand hectares. Diversity of coral reefs in this region amounted to more than 507 species, can only be defeated by the diversity in Raja Ampat Islands, Papua.
The islands also became the center of the green turtle nesting Chelonia mydas alias. Almost every night there are green turtles in a dark corner of the beach. There is also a hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata or very rare.
Ancient Lake Kakaban Once satisfied playing with manta, we continued our journey to the waters around Kakaban. The island is special because there is adjoining ancient lakes contain salty water. The lake was originally the lagoon has changed shape due to the removal of millions of mainland last year. Sea water and all its contents are caught in the middle to form a unique ecosystem.

Photo: Yahoo! / Famega Syavira
Kakaban inhabited four types of jellyfish which has lost its sting. Jellyfish sting not only exists at two places in the world. Besides Kakaban they can be found in the Republic of Palau, one of the countries in the Pacific Islands.
Jellyfish meets the lake like cendol. Aurelia aurita wide saucer-shaped nodes. Cassiopeia ornata swim upside down with tentacles on top. Papua Martigias brown with a total at most. We raced to find Tripedalia cystophora, jellyfish tip of a nail the most rarely found.
The lake has its own system to balance the population in the bottom of the lake there is an anemone jellyfish predator. The size of a finger, white, transparent with tendrils. Just try to hold the jellyfish tendrils, he ate jellyfish with smoked it.
To go to the lake we have to go through dense forest to the timber docks. Stairs continued into the woods, climbed the hill. The lake is behind the small hill. After walking a few hundred yards, up the hill efforts paid off already. The sky and sea so blue. The fresh air blowing from the island green.

Photo: Yahoo! / Famega Syavira
We immediately jump in the water, complete with snorkel and fins. Jellyfish numerous and easily captured. It was like holding a jelly. In other places with this much jellyfish, there are people who would never dare to swim because it will sting.
There are only five of us and the island. Just hear a katydid and the wind that makes a small splashing on the surface of the lake. This silence adds mystery lake that still keeps many secrets that have not been revealed.