Wendy and I at ‘Our Beloved Seas‘ have been pushing the boundaries of the Bird’s Head Seascape for years.  Whilst many people have enjoyed trips to Raja Ampat, we have made dedicated north and south Raja Ampat trips, and charters to explore Triton Bay.  We now plan to revisit Cenderawasih Bay and the surrounding area, one of our favourite regions in the Bird’s Head.  We first visited in 2013, and at that time several of the endemic fishes, such as Maurine’s Demoiselle, hadn’t even been named.  We will be looking for these and several other fishes found nowhere else on earth during our second charter.  We will of course also spend time with Cenderawasih’s famous whale sharks that aggregate around baggans each morning.  The first trip will venture into the Pacific, 100 nautical miles north of Manokwari, to visit the very rarely dived Mapia Island.  The few divers that have explored this region have reported giant groupers, stunning reefs and bountiful fish.  Both these trips are sure to offer unique experiences, plus Richard will be giving marine life lectures during the trip, explaining the biology behind the special endemic creatures we are seeing.  Have a read of Richard’s article about the biology of Cenderawasih bay below.