Stonefish – one of the world's deadliest fish

One of the world’s most poisonous fish. It can kill a human within two hours. “They inhabit shallow waters along the coast. The stonefish is well camouflaged in the ocean, as it is a brownish colour, and often resembles a rock. This is why it is called the Stonefish.” It has thirteen sharp dorsal spines on its back, which each have extremely toxic venom. This was caught the same day I photographed it – in the very waters where weRead more

Plastic waste in the Pacific: Twice the size of the U.S.

This is disgusting, and shows just how primitive we still are. Full article here. A “plastic soup” of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said. The “soup” is actually two linked areas, either side of the islands of Hawaii, known as the Western and Eastern Pacific Garbage Patches. About one-fifth of the junk – which includes everything from footballsRead more

Jakarta floods 2008 – Welcome to the Suck

Well, ironically enough, it’s exactly one year to the day that we experienced flooding last year, and it’s happening again. If you’ve never seen my photos and writing from that experience, you may want to take a look. Starting last night, heavy rains have saturated Jakarta. Since I’m in the north part of the city, only 3km from the ocean, we’re at or below sea level, and even one day of rain can cause flooding. As I look out myRead more

The beast within

Kecak dance, Uluwatu Temple Bali, Indonesia The Kecak dance is especially intense, involving chants, yelling, fire (can’t help but hear Beavis and Butthead say that word), and a hypnotic ambience. The setting for the dance couldn’t be more perfect: atop a cliff 250 feet above the crashing ocean below, with a backdrop of the most dramatic Balinese Hindu temple in Bali. All of this happening as the sun dips below the horizon; one flame extinguished, another is born. It’s allRead more

Jakarta Floods 2007

Wow. What an experience that turned out to be. My last posting was written during the first day of rain when Kelapa Gading (my area in the north side of Jakarta) was flooded but still functioning. Things went quickly downhill from there. That night, torrential rains began falling and continued throughout the night. My wake up call came in the form of my air conditioner shutting off due to the power being cut. My initial reaction to that is toRead more