Unveiled Images

by Maurine Shimlock and Burt Jones

Jellyfish and reflection in one of Misool’s Jellyfish Lakes

It is the middle of the summer and the peak of the travel season but for Raja Ampat and the rest of the BHS; it’s the “off season”.  Consequently we haven’t been receiving the amount of content we normally expect during the BHS’s prime diving months, October-April.  So we thought this would be an ideal time to share a few images from our latest Raja adventure.

Diver above the arch at the Four Kings divesite (Misool)

The objective is for the BHS site to provide a location where travelers from all over the world can share their images/videos and adventures in the region.  We’ve been fortunate to travel there more than most and, since we administer the site (and wrote the guidebooks), we make it a policy to keep our personal visibility on the site to a minimum.  After all it’s not about us, it’s about you!

Wobbegong-“Both Ends”, actually two animals laying head to tail! (Saonek Jetty-Dampier Strait)

Reef “Still Life” with Seastar and colonial Tunicates (“My Reef”-Penemu)

So what do we do with our images?  Maurine writes articles, where some of the images are seen, and we also have agents who market them worldwide.  Additionally, whenever we return from any trip, we always post a selection of our favorites on our Secret Sea Visions Facebook page.  (And we invite you to visit that page for previously posted images.)  Otherwise they are seldom ever viewed by the general public.  Occasionally we use one of our images to illustrate a BHS Science/Conservation or Regional post but normally they never appear on the site.

Fusiliers stream over sheltering Damselfish (“Melissa’s Garden”-Penemu)

Surgeonfish gets the “twice over” at a cleaning station (“Wedding Cake”-Misool)

So breaking policy we would like to share a few more images that have never been seen anywhere from our last journey earlier this year.  In February we hosted back-to-back trips to Raja but with (by design) different itineraries.  Of course we visited a lot of the “popular” Raja sites but also dived areas “off the beaten” track that most liveaboards never visit.  Enjoy and share!

Coral Trout at Misool’s “Tank Rock”

Schooling Barracuda (Saonek Jetty-Dampier Strait)

Picturesque Dragonets (“Wruzwarez Slope”- Batanta)

Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock are the creators of Secret Sea Visions and the co-creators and present administrators of this website.  They are professional photojournalists who specialize in the tropical marine environment.  Additionally they host “scuba safaris” to the world’s best diving destinations and work as sustainable marine tourism consultants for Conservation International.