Basically all tropical reef/coastal fishes, are present. They are simply to numerous to mention in detail. In terms of numbers we speak over 1000 species. Not all are found on all sites and with guarantee, but most of the time we are able to find for you what you want. Besides clear tropical water with lots of “classical and colorful” reef fishes, North Sulawesi is very good for the so called “muck-diving”, where weird and strange animals are found 9in seemingly uninteresting area’s. Heaven for macro photography.
In June/July 2003, Dr. Lyndon DeVantier and Dr. Emre Turak Have done a coral research in Bunaken National Park. Briefly, their findings were as follows:
In approximately 10 days of diving, they counted ~380 species of hard coral, representing 63 genera and 16 families. They believe that if they had another 2 weeks, this number would probably even out at around 410-420 species. This is a very large number indeed, and very much verifies our position in the center of marine biodiversity.
The most outstanding features they noted in Bunaken were the following:
1) Exceptional within-site richness. The average number of coral species they would count in a single dive was over 100 species. THe maximum number of species they counted on one dive was 221 species on East Mantehage - THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF SPECIES IN A SINGLE DIVE THEY HAVE RECORDED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! The extremely high richness at all sites suggests that the reefs here are very well connected genetically, which is an important thing for recovery after bleaching or other localized damage.
2) Excellent coral health overall. Of all the areas within the coral triangle that they have done these surveys (including - Raja Ampat, Wakatobi, Banda, East Kimbe Bay PNB, Milne Bay PNG, Northern Great Barrier Reef, Sangihe-Talaud and others), Bunaken had the highest average live hard coral cover at 41%. .
3) Full genetic expression of the range of life forms that each individual coral species can adopt. In their words, the range of life forms seen around Bunaken was unrivaled, making this area a coral biologist's dream, not to mention sportdivers and snorklers!
4) Given the above 3 factors and the oceanography of the area, they felt that Bunaken was among the most resilient coral reef areas in the world - an excellent choice for the siting of a marine park.And an excellent choice to experience it with Lumbalumba Diving!
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