Marine Protected Areas (MPA)

25 – 30 June N6 52.810 E116 50.728 – Kudat Harbour N7 12.540 E117 18.716 – Pulau Banggi The efficient WWF Malaysia machinery was immediately felt when I started getting a series of text messages regarding transport, hotel accommodations and our overall visit to Kudat from Betty of the WWF KK office. Then Sofia Johari, the CEPA […]

16 – 25 June 2009 N4 07.051 E118 37.655   Yogi nagged and nagged me about Sipadan. “I need time underwater!” he says. “Don’t cut short my diving time!” He needed to nag because I have a habit of prioritizing land shoots.  Listening to the demanding husband, I booked us 10 days and 9 nights […]

By Alya B. Honsasan 23 – 25 June  2009 N4 07.051 E118 37.655 I SHOULD have gotten the hint when I did my check-out dive the afternoon I arrived at the Sipadan Mabul Resort (SMART) on Mabul Island, one of the two islands within view of Sipadan. On that relaxed 40-minute dive in Paradise 2 […]

11 – 15 June N4 38.941 E118 39.429 – Sibuan Island Eight years ago, while on a mission to photograph people who lived with the sea for our WWF coffee table book Sulu Sulawesi Seas, we lived with the Bajau Laut for three straight nights in a little houseboat in Pulau Gaya. This experience is […]

11 – 15 June N4 28.812 E118 36.972 – Semporna N4 30.309 E118 37.368 – Bumbum Island N4 38.941 E118 39.429 – Sibuan Island We met the WWF Malaysia Semporna team in their quaint office on stilts at the end of Dragon Inn, by the marina. They were busily preparing several community activities when we […]

11 – 15 June N4 36.021 E118 46.884 – Pulau Bohey Dulang N4 37.586 E118 38.830 – Seaweed farming community N4 44.678 E118 40.712 – Purse Seiner fishing grounds Maybe it was our good vibes and positive aura.  We got lucky this time in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia. On to the second leg of our expedition, […]

30 May – 2 June 2009 N12 54.310 E123 33.956 We have not been back to Donsol in six years, and the many tight, long hugs we received were enough proof that we had left good friends there. It was truly a heart-warming “Welcome Back Home.” But Donsol has changed. It has bloomed. We were […]

11 – 15 May 2009 N11 08.170 E119 39.287 Our pilot was none other than Jewelmer’s boss JB, as Jacques Branellec is fondly called. Upon hearing of approaching bad weather in the coming days, he immediately offered to fly us around the pearl farm and neighboring islands. He had the two back doors of the […]

11 – 15 May 2009 N11 08.170 E119 39.287 When we saw mariculture listed amongst the subjects WWF wished us to document, my first thought was Jewelmer. For many years, we have longed to photograph a pearl farm to see how the famed South Sea Pearls came to be. An organic jewel made by a […]

7 May 2009 N11 11.064 E119 23.431 We first visited the El Nido Town to pay a visit to the dynamic Woman Mayor Leonor Corral. Mayor Corral took the time to give us an overview of her conservation efforts and initiatives and reiterated more than once the value of collaboration with NGOs such as the […]