Look what the wind blew at the desert??

A SHIP!!

The Storm

The storm sand and sea.

Alkatraz..

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

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

Sooty gull

Landing Gear Down

Hovering......

Alghuna Sunrise

Good morning red sea
photos taken yesterday morning

crab shots

Can you count??

Osprey

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

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

Red Coral

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

Turtle Tracks and Nests

We were lucky to spot them yesterday.

Turtles - Uncensored X-rated

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

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

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

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

Reef Chief Logo

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"

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

The Team

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