January, 2011. The mighty compression of the exotic travel spring is completed again. All the arrangements, pre arrangements, post arrangements- to go where few travelers have gone before, are set.The first destination is Papua New Guinea. The Go date arrives and I'm over the Pacific surrounded by screaming babies and turbulence.

A Sepik warrior and Asaro Valley Mud Men

Photography Copyright 2011 Jerome Hamlin

          During SoPac I, there was a hint that coelacanths were turning up at the PNG island Provence of New Britain, and also occasionally being sold at the fish markets of southern Bougainville, an island that has become a source of piracy following a violent civil war. The previous fall, a Japanese research vessel from Fukishma Aquarium confirmed coelacanths present off the North coast of Irian Jaya in the vicinity of Biak island- at the east end of the massive island that makes up both Indonesia's Irian Jaya to the East, and the independent state of Papua New Guinea to the West. Off the East end of Papua New Guinea, it's volcanic island provinces dribble down into the Solomons, so a contiguous string of coelacanth colonies might be possible arcing from the Indian Ocean across the top of Australia and into the South Pacific.

Known Coelacanth Colonies and the SoPac II search area.

          I meet Diana in Port Moresby. We have no submarine. We have no R.O.V. We can't dive down far enough to see coelacanths where they live. All we can do is talk to people: fishermen and women in remote places. Have they ever seen it, have they ever caught this strange fish? Do they have a name for it? We show pictures and use a small plastic model. We place emphasis on the epicaudal fin, the small tabular extension at the end of the tail, to distinguish the coelacanth from the many grouper (rock cod) species in the area. We try not to use leading questions that would predispose these friendly people to tell you what they think you want to hear. We try to discount claims involving fresh water river species, as there may be some with similar tails unknown to us. (Although most ancient species of coelacanth were fresh water!)

          The first strong positive identification comes at Muschu island near Wewak on the North coast of PNG.

Muschu fishermen examine coelacanth photos. They claim to know it. One remembers the catch of such a fish years earlier. When the fish was cooked, oil dripped into the fire, bursting into flame. They said the last one was caught three years previously. They fish from a canoe with a hand line.

A Muschu single outrigger fishing canoe with central platform.

          Further East, at the coastal village of Kaup, villagers also claim to know the fish. They call it "Bigmouth," a name also used for groupers. However, they recognize the epicaudal fin, and say one was caught two months earlier. Here they use nets. There are no remains of the fish left at the village.

A fisherman near Kaup studies coelacanth photos and a small plastic model.

           Still further East, Madang proves strangely unproductive. The coelacanth is unknown to fishermen, we interviewed there. At first the area seems ideal.

Coral gardens at Pig Island, Madang.

         The fish market provides a clue. Sold out of coolers, the fish are less than a meter in length. Fishing, it turns out, takes place on a shallow shelf reaching out to sea around the town. The area is too shallow for coelacanths. We would obtain depth charts to help narrow the search. Now it's out to the Eastern island provinces.

Most Inter island transport on the open South Pacific uses wet riding "banana boats." Fuel is very expensive, which often leads to overcrowding with paying passengers on boats with no safety equipment.

          At Rabaul, New Britain, Tuvurvur volcano ejects a wind blown steam cloud. In spite of good potential habitat, the coelacanth was not convincingly recognized here by local fishermen, or known to ex pat Australians...

Fishermen at Au village on the West Coast of New Hanover, New Ireland, do not recognize the coelacanth. This was the most remote place we visited in PNG.

Sunset at the edge of the World, Clem's Place, Tunung Island, New Hanover.

          Remote areas of the Solomon Islands are best reached aboard this venerable, 30 year old, Canadian built De Havilland Twin Otter. These aircraft can land and take off from short grass runways, but not water in this configuration. The pilots use their knowledge of airstrips scattered among the islands to set down in case of emergency. We used this plane to reach Choiseul Province.

Tilted limestone formations mark the coastline in Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands.

At Choiseul, a diver shows two species of Beche de Mere (Sea Cucumber), now under pressure from Japanese delicacy markets,

while Diana, probes the near depths.

          Several fishermen at Choiseul recognize the coelacanth! One claims to have caught one the previous month. Others say years before. An elderly fisherman at one village says they used to find small ones struggling in the reefs and called them a word meaning "Too weak to survive" - an apt name for a juvenile caught in strong currents or waves. In another case, a fisherman's wife fed a piece to their cat, and when the cat survived, they ate the fish. We look for physical remains.

A fish oven. Not much would remain after cooking, eating, dogs, pigs, birds, and ants.

Fish bits on a towel, from a rubbish heap at a hut where a coelacanth was supposedly cooked and eaten. Are any of these from a coelacanth?

     Reminiscent of JLB Smith, we leave reward posters, hoping for future catches to be      reported.

     Watch Video Clips from the SoPac II Expedition HERE!