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Jack Connick: Forgotten Islands

Stories don’t have a middle or an end any more. They usually have a beginning that never stops beginning.” Steven Spielberg.

Jack Connick, proprietor of Seattle’s Ocean Optical Sales takes us on an illustrated tour of Indonesia’s Forgotten Islands. Also known as the Southeast Moluccas (Maluku Tenggara) these are not a single destination, but rather a 1,000 km long chain of archipelagos stretching from Timor to West Papua on the island of New Guinea. Traveling on board Damai 1, Jack and his party embarked at Ambon and “island hopped” through the area, before disembarking 10 days later at Alor.

Jack describes the fantastic variety of the diving: “The next several days were spent island hopping, diving along colorful walls, reefs, and slopes. Tranquil blue waters loaded with life both small and large — on many dives we saw huge tuna swim by. Visibility was up and down, sometimes a bit murky for photography, but always good diving. Most of these islands and sites see divers only a few times a year — if that. Remote, isolated and “forgotten,” hundreds of miles away from any inhabited places, they aren’t even seen by local fishermen. It was a real adventure to dive, and know we saw places that other divers rarely, if ever, see.”

Banda Sea Sponge. 60mm Nikkor & Nauticam WWL wet lens. ISO 400, F/14 @ 1/250 sec.
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Banda Sea Sponge. 60mm Nikkor & Nauticam WWL wet lens. ISO 400, F/14 @ 1/250 sec.

Gorgonian Fan. Nikon 8-15mm FE lens @ 8mm. ISO 400, f/16 1/100 sec.
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Gorgonian Fan. Nikon 8-15mm FE lens @ 8mm. ISO 400, f/16 1/100 sec.

Tabletop hard coral. Nikon 8-15mm FE lens @ 8. 5 mm. ISO 250, f/18 1/250 sec.
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Tabletop hard coral. Nikon 8-15mm FE lens @ 8. 5 mm. ISO 250, f/18 1/250 sec.

Alor Kid. 60mm Nikkor & Nauticam WWL wet lens. ISO 400, F/14 @ 1/160 sec.
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Alor Kid. 60mm Nikkor & Nauticam WWL wet lens. ISO 400, F/14 @ 1/160 sec.

Banda Island volcano from the fort. Nikon 16-35mm lens. ISO 64, f/8 1/160 sec.
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Banda Island volcano from the fort. Nikon 16-35mm lens. ISO 64, f/8 1/160 sec.

Banda Sponge on Wall. Nikon 16-35mm lens with Sea & Sea focus diopter. ISO 800, f/13 1/100 sec.
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Banda Sponge on Wall. Nikon 16-35mm lens with Sea & Sea focus diopter. ISO 800, f/13 1/100 sec.

Boxer crab (*Lybia tessellata*). Banda Sea, Indonesia. Nauticam Nikon D850, DX mode, 60mm macro lens & +10 SagaDive diopter. "*biologists found that boxer crabs go to great lengths to ensure that they are always in possession of two anemones
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Boxer crab (Lybia tessellata). Banda Sea, Indonesia. Nauticam Nikon D850, DX mode, 60mm macro lens & +10 SagaDive diopter. "*biologists found that boxer crabs go to great lengths to ensure that they are always in possession of two anemones

Coral Crab. D850 in DX mode. 60mm Nikkor with SagaDive +10 diopter ISO 250 f/18 1/100th sec
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Coral Crab. D850 in DX mode. 60mm Nikkor with SagaDive +10 diopter ISO 250 f/18 1/100th sec

Crinoid Shrimp. D850 in DX mode. 60mm Nikkor with SagaDive +10 diopter ISO 125 f/22 1/100th sec
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Crinoid Shrimp. D850 in DX mode. 60mm Nikkor with SagaDive +10 diopter ISO 125 f/22 1/100th sec

Damai 1 liveaboard at Banda Island.16-35mm lens. ISO 3200, f/4 1/125 sec.
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Damai 1 liveaboard at Banda Island.16-35mm lens. ISO 3200, f/4 1/125 sec.

Sea snake, Palau Manuk island. 60mm Nikkor & Nauticam WWL wet lens. ISO 500, F/16 @ 1/160 sec.
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Sea snake, Palau Manuk island. 60mm Nikkor & Nauticam WWL wet lens. ISO 500, F/16 @ 1/160 sec.

Marble Rays at 119'. Sigma 15mm FE. ISO 400, f/11 1/80 sec.
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Marble Rays at 119'. Sigma 15mm FE. ISO 400, f/11 1/80 sec.

Octopus. Palau Manuk island. 60mm Nikkor  ISO 400, F/14 @ 1/80 sec.
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Octopus. Palau Manuk island. 60mm Nikkor ISO 400, F/14 @ 1/80 sec.

Sigma 15mm FE lens. ISO 400 f/14 1/250 sec
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Sigma 15mm FE lens. ISO 400 f/14 1/250 sec

Soft coral. Palau Manuk island. 60mm Nikkor & Nauticam WWL wet lens. ISO 1000, F/16 @ 1/100 sec.
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Soft coral. Palau Manuk island. 60mm Nikkor & Nauticam WWL wet lens. ISO 1000, F/16 @ 1/100 sec.

Sea snake at safety stop, Palau Manuk island. 60mm Nikkor & Nauticam WWL wet lens. ISO 200, F/18 @ 1/100 sec.
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Sea snake at safety stop, Palau Manuk island. 60mm Nikkor & Nauticam WWL wet lens. ISO 200, F/18 @ 1/100 sec.

Soft Coral Cowrie. D850 in DX mode. 60mm Nikkor with SagaDive +10 diopter ISO 200 f/20 1/125th sec
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Soft Coral Cowrie. D850 in DX mode. 60mm Nikkor with SagaDive +10 diopter ISO 200 f/20 1/125th sec

Dive on Banda Sea wall. Sigma 15mm FE. ISO 400, f/14 1/160 sec.
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Dive on Banda Sea wall. Sigma 15mm FE. ISO 400, f/14 1/160 sec.

Gorgonian & Divers. Nikon 16-35mm lens with Sea & Sea focus diopter. ISO 800, f/14 1/125 sec.
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Gorgonian & Divers. Nikon 16-35mm lens with Sea & Sea focus diopter. ISO 800, f/14 1/125 sec.