Authors: Indra Cahya Wardhana (IPB) & Noverica Widjojo (WWF-Indonesia)

After traveling for approximately 1.5 days on the Seven Seas ship, today (3/11) at around 08.00 WIT, we arrived in the waters between Wetar Island and Liran Island. After enjoying the delicacy of breakfast, the participants from each team, immediately moved quickly to prepare all kinds of needs that would be used for today's activities.

However, after the Land Team left for the mainland and the Sea Team was getting ready, we received surprising news from the ship's crew that made the Sea Team somewhat hesitant to dive. Not long after the ship dropped anchor in one of Indonesia's waters directly adjacent to Timor Leste, Captain Wahyu received information via radio from the staff of the Marine Transportation Agency (Dishub) on the mainland about the discovery of saltwater crocodiles around the waters that morning. Some of the Seven Seas crew also saw one crocodile swimming near the ship. As Sea Team Leader, Estra prioritized the safety aspect and decided not to allow our team to go diving at that time until conditions in the waters were declared safe by Dishub Laut staff on land. Similar to estuarine crocodiles, saltwater crocodiles are also dangerous animals to watch out for as they are known to be predators of humans. It is estimated that the type of saltwater crocodile that lives in these waters is the same as the type of saltwater crocodile that lives in the waters of Papua and Northern Australia.

After waiting for a while, the Sea Team finally got the 'green light' to dive at the three locations agreed upon the night before. Still, safety was paramount on this expedition. If in the middle of a dive anything of a dangerous nature is found - such as a saltwater crocodile - then without further ado, the Sea Team must immediately abandon anything underwater - including the transect - and immediately return to the speedboat, until it is safe to dive again.

The Sea Team, consisting of Indra and Begin (IPB); Ubun (WCS); Tiela (WWF-Indonesia); and Jefri, a dive instructor from Seven Seas, immediately boarded the speedboat and set off to the first dive point. During today's dive, the Sea Team couldn't stop marveling at the underwater beauty around Wetar Island. We found tons of marine life such as Blackfin Sharks, Whitefin Sharks, Hawksbill Turtles, Flower Trigger fish, and Napoleon fish. The condition of the coral reefs, which are dense and colorful, is enough to astonish us.

Despite the fear of saltwater crocodiles, today's dive not only went smoothly and safely, but also successfully met the target observation objectives on Wetar Island. There were no sightings of saltwater crocodiles at any of the Marine Team's dive sites.