Alfred Russel Wallace came to this region in 1856. One of the many exploratory journeys he did was going through The Passage between Waigeo and Gam islands. I imagine he was led to this area by local guides.

It’s a fascinating passage, winding, not very wide, just over a kilometre in length. What is noteworthy is that the currents flowing through this passage are not only sweeping but change direction twice a day. More like a tidal river. You can see the current forming whirlpools in the water.

The sides are densely forested limestone cliffs that fall to the Ocean and on its fringes are mangroves. An interesting marriage of soft corals, marine life and mangroves.

The waters are full of nutrients which flow through the channel, drawn in by the tides.

Many fish and types of coral can be found here and Pygmy seahorses would be a really exciting sighting.

Another special performer is Archer fish. They squirt water onto insects they see on low lying mangroves to catch them. They are part of the Toxotes genus which is Greek for an archer. They knock them off the branches and gobble them up!

Apparently it took Alfred weeks to go through in his sailing boat. You can understand how the water, insects and everything above were of interest to him too. In our shorter passage we saw a fish eagle, an imperial pigeon and Blyth’s Hornbill.