Portrait of a Coral Reef

One big attraction at Barracuda Point on Sipadan Island is an encounter with Giant Bumphead Wrasse. Every morning, the Bumphead Wrasse emerge from their sleepiing areas, gather at the edge of the reef and journey en masse to the nearby shallows to feed. It's an exciting spectacle to behold the first time and never gets boring. A dive here in the early morning typically begins with a descent at the south end of Barracuda Point with thousands of Big Eye Jacks schooling around you and, if the timing is right, an encounter with the massive Bumpheads as they start their march across the reef. Moving farther down the reef edge promises the possibility of another encounter - huge schools of Barracuda gathering at the north end of the reef.

This 240 Megapixel image captures the experience at Barracuda Point in one glorious landscape. Over 2000 images were shot over two weeks, imaging the reef section by section at close range and shooting the Bumpheads and schooling fish in available light. The resulting image reconstructs the Barracuda Point reef and it's community of marine life as faithfully as possible. The image is wider than the zoom window, so you'll have to pan back and forth to see the whole thing. Zoom into the top right, pan toward the left and take a ride with the Bumpheads!