Objective Atlantide brought together several diving teams in April to solve a naturalist underwater investigation. For this 2023 season, it was in Padre Burgos, on the island of Leyte, in the southeast of the Philippines, that the teams settled in for the week. Estelle Lefébure and Jarry also joined in on the fun!
Nine pairs of divers participated in this adventure based on curiosity and observation. This mock investigation staged the disappearance of a naturalist crook asking for help. To find him, each duo received a series of clues and riddles to solve. Each day, new pieces were presented to them in two forms: a submersible board listing several species to spot and photograph during the daily dive and an email containing a riddle to solve to advance in the investigation and discover the coordinates of the missing crook.
Two teams won this 2023 edition: The Neighbors, Pauline Thomas and Émilie Royer racked their brains and solved the riddles by email, allowing them to discover the desired coordinates. The team The Sea People, composed of Karine Cheufra and Marine Lacourie, brought back the most images of the requested species during the dives.
Abundance of life underwater
To best play this scenario, the teams were in Padre Burgos, a small village located on the island of Leyte, in the southern Philippines. This is the third year this investigation has taken place in the Philippine archipelago (Cabilao on the island of Bohol in 2018, Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro in 2019).
This very remote part of the island is completely shielded from mass tourism and the divers were often alone on the sites. Despite a recent typhoon that destroyed some corals, notably soft corals, participants discovered exceptional underwater landscapes offering a great variety of fixed fauna with many healthy hard corals, a few beautiful soft corals, an abundance of anemones, magnificent gorgonians, sponges… Some spots were extremely fish-rich with the presence of damselfish, various butterfly fish, frogfish, scorpionfish, or even banded sea kraits, as well as a string of colorful nudibranchs. Turtles accompanied divers on most sites!
Even before the investigation and tank immersions began, participants had the opportunity to go snorkeling to swim with whale sharks, which were present every day in a small bay in the region!
A perfect pair!
Two celebrities, seasoned divers, also took part in this underwater investigation: Estelle Lefébure, model and actress, co-founder of the association Spero Mare, and Jarry, comedian and actor, a great lover of the ocean depths. Both were struck by the beauty of the underwater scenery in this bay.
Estelle was not expecting such diversity: “I observed species that I never imagined existed! It’s extraordinary, when you dive in such sites you realize that you’re nothing, and that we must protect them at all costs, it makes you humble. I learned a lot of things! That was the purpose of the trip, to be able to discover, learn, and share.”
Jarry highlighted the incredible species he observed: “Each dive was for me the discovery of a new planet. I saw corals worthy of appearing in Avatar. Such corals are rare in reality! And how beautiful it is, this abundance! Padre Burgos is, admittedly, far, 2 days’ travel, but we got used to it quite quickly, we were cut off from the world… It’s a passage to offer oneself once in a lifetime! However, it should be noted that it is primarily a diving destination. »
A successfully run investigation
Every day, the amateur divers – now trainee investigators – received a list of species to photograph, grouped by themes (the stinging or dangerous species, damselfish, seahorses and syngnathids, clownfish with their anemones…). They were spread across three large traditional boats called banka, perfectly equipped to accommodate divers and all their equipment.
Four days of diving were thus organized, in very varied sites: coral gardens, drop-offs, drift dives, coral heads… Each team was accompanied by a local dive master. Most of the guides got into the game and helped their group find certain species, particularly the smaller ones, sometimes difficult to spot at first glance.
Back at the hotel, the teams isolated themselves to select the photos to submit and work on the riddles received by email. Some, very diligent, stayed in their room all afternoon, others preferred to work by the sea or alongside other teams. All could ask for help from biologists Patrick Louisy, Mélanie Sergent, and Sylvie Louisy, who could guide them, as some species could be difficult to identify.
In their free time, some took advantage to explore the surroundings, the village of Padre Burgos, the nearby hill and its view of the bay… others stayed at the hotel to discuss their findings of the day over a drink. Die-hard divers, meanwhile, embarked on a few night dives or snorkeling excursions to enjoy the muck dives in front of the hotels.
Marine, one of the winners this season, delighted with this victory, gained a lot from this experience: “With my partner, we came to participate and have fun but we really got into the game! It wasn’t all smooth sailing underwater, we dove seriously with the board but that didn’t stop us from enjoying each dive. I especially learned to look at my immersions differently, she adds, instead of saying “it’s a yellow fish, a red one, a blue one” I can now identify many species! Normally, when someone showed me a nudibranch, I didn’t really pay attention, but today, for the first time in my life, I was thrilled about animals measuring less than 2 cm!. »
Discovery before investigation
For our two celebrities, the investigation was mainly a way to explore in detail the beauty of these Philippine depths: “I mainly came to discover species, explains Jarry, I would have liked to learn more about how they live, reproduce, what they eat, do they defend their territory, are they supportive, independent, do they live as a family… Having more information on what I was seeing, to better understand… I missed that a bit ». Before adding with his usual humor: « Regarding the riddles, I am against any form of denunciation, I had to find someone I didn’t know, I didn’t want to denounce them, I refuse to. But to be totally honest, I’m especially bad at games and since I don’t like to lose, I’d rather not try!”
Estelle admits that “towards the end we mainly enjoyed what we saw during the dives. But we still continued to complete the list. I have always had this attitude while diving, to look at the smallest, to observe, to stop at the corals, gorgonians, anemones… I regret not having studied the local species before coming as I am more familiar with the Caribbean, much less with the Pacific. »
Both appreciated this submerged interlude, finding themselves simply as divers among divers, united around the same passion, as Jarry summarizes: « If you are a diver, you are a defender of nature so you are part of my family! »
Underwater ambassadors
Alongside the underwater investigation, Daniel Méouchy, creator of Objective Atlantide, launched The Underwater Ambassadors of the Philippines. Several celebrities, journalists, actors, former beauty queens… honorary members of Objective Atlantide, are now invited to share on their social networks the discovery of the underwater landscape in the Philippines, through diving or snorkeling, in order to convey to their circle of influence a better understanding of local marine life and thus encourage them to protect this environment.
opening image © Marc Bravo – Aerodroner