Dedicated to Preserving the Red Sea

Look what the wind blew at the desert??

2006-05-25T22:49:00.000-07:00

A SHIP!!

The Storm

2006-05-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

The storm sand and sea.

Alkatraz..

2006-05-21T04:25:00.000-07:00

we've been hiding at Shoaiba cove for the past Three days due to bad weather, it actually a beautifull spot as you see in the photos, it's not exactly Alkatraz.

Farasan Expedition

2006-05-21T01:07:00.000-07:00

We left Jeddah at 0600H May 7, 2006 - the start of the red sea expedition. Its major intention is to film coral reefs and underwater creatures and also photograph birds and islands of the red sea to make a movie “Red Sea My Planet” Part 2 and Part 3 in order to raise awareness in the preservation of the beautiful red sea. Among the crew are: Myself – the skipper, the director and photographer of the expedition; Manolis Klimataras as first mate; Aristotle Dadiz as chief engineer and camera assistant, Panagiotis Korianitis as chief engineer too, Hattan, my good friend who volunteered to be in charge of getting some fresh fish; and Abdulrahman Hakeem as my dive buddy. Our first port of destination is Al Lith for refuel. Along the way to Al Lith, we had various stops for dive locations and filmed underwater and took photographs. We visited amazing dive sites, identified many migratory and resident sea birds, dolphin homes, turtle nesting, whale shark and sharks, live coral, animonis, soft coral, many remote reefs and islands. In my way of preserving these areas for marine life - I don't intend to reveal locations of these areas. I hope all of you can appreciate that.

Soon, once we are home we will upload video clips of many amazing underwater videos. And soon after - we will release "Red Sea My Planet Part II"(Final Cut) and "Red Sea My Planet Part III" (Music Video)

Building Nest

2006-05-18T22:36:00.000-07:00

Sooty gull

Landing Gear Down

2006-05-18T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hovering......

Alghuna Sunrise

2006-05-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

Good morning red sea
photos taken yesterday morning

crab shots

2006-05-18T10:29:00.001-07:00

Can you count??

Osprey

2006-05-18T02:50:00.000-07:00

Resident and migrant. Always near water, inland or coastal.
Reefchief scientist Abdullah Alsuhaibani will post more comments on these birds, I was just glad to identify them, i'm just the scout photographer.

Osprey is large raptor and more related to eagles and hawks but feed mainly on live fish which they catch in the shallow waters. It is recorded in almost each island in the southern part of the Red Sea. The osprey population in the Red Sea are more resident with localized migration out side the breeding season. During the breeding season, osprey usually returns to the same nesting site on the offshore island (some times on clevis on the main land) and use the same nest every year. It is been known that osprey mate for life and raise their young together for about six months. Live of this unique bird need to be studied in details in order to conserve them.

Abdullah Alsuhaibani
ReefChief Scientist
(23 May 2006)

Another Day, Another Dollar

2006-05-18T02:28:00.000-07:00

I found treasures of red sea ... the rare red sea gems called "Ageeg"._____________
more scientific reference will follow

Red Coral

2006-05-18T02:19:00.000-07:00

That's why it is called Red Sea.
......................
scientific reference will follow as soon as we are back in Jeddah.

Turtle Tracks and Nests

2006-05-18T02:00:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to spot them yesterday.

Turtles - Uncensored X-rated

2006-05-18T01:22:00.000-07:00

I hope that these photos aren't censored by local authorities... wait till you see the video!

Green Turtles Chelonia mydas
The green turtles are a large turtle with average weight about 120 kg, and reach up to 100 cm long from the head to tail. The green turtles are herbivorous and spend the majority of their lives foraging on shallow seagrass beds. They normally nest in sandy beaches on the offshore island or in some of the remote areas on the main land. They lay about 100 eggs every four years; they might also lay more than ones during the breeding season and about 14 days in between.

Hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata
Hawksbill turtles almost half the size of the green turtles, it weigh 40 kg only and reach up to 70 cm in long. The hawksbill are considered as an endangered species according to the IUCN, the Red Sea known as one of the most important breeding area for this endangered species. Hawksbills inhabit coral reefs where they feed primarily on sponges. These habitat assemblages are widely distributed throughout the Red Sea. In the Red Sea, hawksbills tend to nest diffusely on isolated; remote beaches were they lay about 80 eggs every two years. They are known to make shorter migrations than other species, and may thus in the Red Sea remain closer to their natal beaches. Hawksbills are lighter, and leave a much ‘shallower’ track on the sandy beaches, also they tend to nest close to vegetation and pits might not be visible.

Abdullah Alsuhaibany
ReefChief Scientist
(23 May 2006)

Marine Scientist onboard

2006-05-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

Brief on Marine Scientist Abdullah Alsuhaibany
Environmental scientist with a master of science in Marine Environmental Protection, University of North Wales -----presently working for the Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA) Also the official environmental scientist and member of Reef Chief Environmental Organization - (NGO)
He joined our expedition between may 13th and May 16th. Yesterday or so -- he boarded the Golden shadow. Many thanks to Abdulla for sharing his knowledge and experience with our Reef Chief Mission..

He sends this message to his son and daughter:
“hi Omran and Lein. I miss you all and I will see you soon. Say hi to your mom.”

Abdulla

Reef Chief Meets Golden Shadow

2006-05-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Reef Chief and Golden Shadow (Living Oceans Foundation) rendezvoused by Sasso Island at 0900H. We were pleased to meet Capt. Phil - the Program Coordinator and Principal Investigator and Dr. Annlise - Project Science Leader and also Principal Investigator who took us on a special tour on their amazing state of the art expedition vessel with 40 officers, scientists and crew. Take my word for it the Capt. Ian Sabet is not sleep at the wheel. for more info -- you can check their website at www.livingoceansfoundation.org and follow the red sea expedition.

more paintings

2006-05-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

Here some paintings I painted during this expedition inspired by the photos attached, I call it White Water.

Reef Chief Logo

2006-05-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

About reefchief logo: I painted this in 2004, inspired by the red sea during my expedition to the nort red sea, I call it Cyclon.

Whale Shark I call "SPOT"

2006-05-15T23:04:00.000-07:00

Spot in 2004 by Tarek Taher - first photo
Spot in 2006 photo by Manolis on our 2nd day 8th May

The Team

2006-05-15T15:28:00.000-07:00

Names acccording to order shown:
Tarek Taher - skipper; diver; photographer
Manolis Klimataras - first mate
Hattan Al Shareef - "fisherman's friend"
Aristotle Dadiz - chief engineer; camera asst.
Panagiotis Korianitis - chief engineer too
Abdulrahman Hakeem - dive buddy

"ISLAND"

2006-05-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

"Welcome to barbados............ have a nice day!" :)

"Snow Bird"

2006-05-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not... this is RED SEA.

The Crab

2006-05-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

Ooops -- slipped ... again!

Getting Ready

2006-05-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

Tarek Taher, Abdulrahman Hakeem, and Panagiotis Korianitis

Pink-backed Pelican Pelecanus rufescens

2006-05-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

This species is a resident in the southern part of the Red Sea. It was recorded in almost all the way from Jeddah to Farasan Island. The Pink-backed Pelican usually nests on top of tall mangroves Avicennia marina, occasionally Rhizopora mucronata, or lower bushes and exceptionally on the ground. The nesting season is during winter, sometime as early a November, lasting up to March. The major breeding colony ever recorded was in Farasan archipelago.

Brown Noddy Anous stolidus

2006-05-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

The Brown Noddy is a summer visitor to the Red Sea, it just like the other species of terns which comes to breed on the offshore islands. It is widespread at the southern Part of the Red Sea, and usually on well vegetated or rocky islands and offshore.

Sooty Gull Larus hemprichii

2006-05-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

This species is endemic to the seas around Arabian Peninsula and it is widely distributed and most common gull in the Red Sea Islands and coasts, with distinctive brown and white plumage. Sooty gull are common scavenger on beaches, around fisherman and ships, in harbours on rubbish-tips, but it will also catch fish from the sea surface in flight or whilst swimming. It nests on islands from June to September, in a bare scrape, occasionally decorated with dry seaweeds and broken shills.

8th Day

2006-05-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

that's what happens when you sleep on the wheel!!
tt

more snapshots

2006-05-13T01:11:00.000-07:00

Okk i'm back, this is our 7th day of our expedition, we covered over 500nm in the farasan banks, we r now at farasan alkabir, our past 7 days were amazing, we made so many under water video, filmed birds, sharks baracudas, coral reefs, dolphins, and more, for now i leave you with photos of the following sea birds which i took over the past few days , which are : Red-Billed tropic bird, Brown Booby,Masked Booby, Sooty gull, White eyed Gull, Little tern, Brown noody, Pink Packed Pelican. Some of these species are not very common in other part of the world and few people have the chance to see them. We are delighted to share this information with you and enjoying the putty of the Red Sea life. tomorrow night our reef chief scienist Abdullah Alsuhaibani will post scientific information about those birds migration routes, habitats, breeding, and more.

Step by step we will cover every thing we saw, patience is a vertue.
Good nite
Tarek Taher

7th day of expedition

2006-05-12T23:57:00.000-07:00

After 2 months of preparation, we were able to leave as scheduled 7th May 2006 at 0600H reef chief home in Obhur, Jeddah. So much has happened... i'm sure i'll find time soon to sit and make blogs. we already covered lots of nice videos and photos along our way... like this photo.

Our Next Expedition

2006-04-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

We will be leaving for our next expedition on May 7, 2006.