Marine Conservation at the Most Challenging Dive Site Around Lombok!
“The Magnet” in South-East Lombok, is a pinnacle in the open sea. It rises from a depth of about 80m and can be reached in approximately 25 minutes from the mainland. The pinnacle lies in an area amidst strong currents and it’s constantly battered by waves and big surge. Due to its location the trip to the dive site can already be quite spectacular.
Apart from the prevailing currents, the surge can reach down to a depth of over 20 meters. Diving here, the sighting of school of hammerhead sharks, barracudas, tunas, and other pelagic life is quite realistic. Apart from mantas and eagle rays, also mola mola have occasionally been sighted there. Due to the existing rough conditions at “The Magnet” we recommend diving here only to the more experienced diver!
In the beginning of 2007 the local government decided to build a light tower on the protruding pinnacle, in order to make the boat traffic in the area more save and manageable. As the seas are quite rough in the area, unfortunately one of the construction barges had to drop it’s load, so it could make it back to save harbor.
Now, in April 2008, were joined by 10 instructors from Gili Trawangan to do an initial assessment and cleanup of the damage. After descending to around 40 meters at the north wall, we made our way around to the east side of the pinnacle and found around 1 – 2 tons of sand and cement bags, as well as building iron scattered amongst the bottom. The bottom time and the necessary equipment being the problem, we brought up a mere 50 kilos of debris, but still we were quite successful in planning our next steps, as now the situation is clear. We will now fit a barge with the necessary equipment, such as double tanks compressor, nets and lift bags, etc., as well as a number of ambitious divers, and hopefully over the next few months we’ll get “The Magnet” cleaned up.
As starting in May, up until September, it is the season for the hammerhead sharks, and our efforts may be hampered and delayed until the end of the year, as during this season the sea in South East Lombok is at its roughest. Also most of our friends who want to help will be busy during this time of year, all work in the diving industry and the mentioned time is also the high season on Lombok, this project will be fairly long term. If you are an experienced diver, or a person interested in marine conservation, we’ll be happy to hear from you with your comments and suggestions at dive@divezone-lombok.com
About the Author
Living, enjoying live and diving on Lombok, Indonesia for more than 6 years!
http://www.divezone-lombok.com
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