Raja Ampat, Alive and Well

We received a letter from a long-time Undercurrent correspondent who did not enjoy many dives in Raja Ampat. She attributed it to mining, so after we read her report, we asked an expert. Here is what the two had to say.

Hi Ben,

Wanted to let you know about a HUGE problem in Raja Ampat.

The nickel and copper mining by PT Nurham, PT Kawei Sejahtera Mining, PT Anugerah Surya Pratama, PT Mulia Raymond Perkasa have contributed to a vast amount of runoff and reef destruction.

The north area is closed. Our recent trip in February 2026 was our 6th time to the area, and we are so disappointed that the government has allowed this once pristine area to be destroyed.

In a nutshell, the visibility on most sites is no more than 30 feet. After this depth, you encounter a murky, dark "horror movie" type atmosphere, which the light has trouble penetrating. This has caused the death of many of the deeper corals. It was very strange to see the deep-water fish in 15 feet or shallower. My guess is that the food sources at the lower depths are gone. Even Misool has been affected. The once beautiful "Magic Mountain" is murky.

It seems to be a very sensitive subject with the local population. We were on a liveaboard whose explanation was "we were just experiencing some bad visibility for the last 2 weeks."

It is so bad that we decided to cancel our future trips to Raja and Halmahera as well.

A long-time Undercurrent reader

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We contacted Dr. Mark Erdmann, a coral reef ecologist, who, for 35 years, has been studying Raja Ampat's reefs and working with local communities to protect their reefs from destructive practices. He is Executive Director of ReShark, the Shark Conservation Director for Rewild, and was the Vice President of Asia-Pacific Marine Programs at Conservation International for 20 years. Here is his response:

I have no idea what this person is talking about, and it just goes to show how people can create their own narratives based on misinformation. To be clear:

1) The mines in Raja Ampat, save for Gag Island (which is nowhere near any diving), have been shut down. The President actually shut them down last year in July, and it was a major victory for the power of viral outcry of Indonesian citizens. It is something to be celebrated.

2) There is an ongoing big issue with a few very angry/corrupt villagers from Selpele village who want to reopen the mines, and they have shut Kawe/Aljui/Wofoh/Wayag to tourism. This is a major issue that we are trying to address right now, but to be very clear -- the area is not "closed by the government to cover up the mining damage" -- this is nonsense. It is closed due to a very serious internal fight between the adat leaders of the Kawe people, with 90 percent of the people pro-tourism and a small but vocal and violent minority pro-mining.

I'm hopeful this will be settled soon, but it is an ongoing issue. I can tell you, though, that the amount of damage done to the reefs by the mine that is now closed in Kawe is minimal -- impossible even to see it once you get 500m outside of the bay.

3) The "pristine area" is not destroyed at all! No idea what this woman is talking about. Raja, as you know, has periods of extreme murk -- which sounds like she experienced. Deep corals are not dead! There was, of course, bleaching in late 2024/early 2025 that was part of the world's largest global bleaching event (with 87 percent of the world's reefs affected), and the eastern Dampier Strait in particular was badly hit. And there was coral death. There is active recovery happening, though -- I'm here with Nat Geo and David Doubilet and getting some amazing stuff.

Raja is a very dynamic place in terms of visibility. Some days it is dark and brooding and murky, other times it's clear and bright. Most of the time, it has lots of plankton. Our trip has been surrounded by Omura's whales, big oceanic mantas, and schools of devil rays feeding all about our boat, and Manta Sandy has averaged 8-10 mantas on the couple of dives we've done there. Gorgeous corals around Penemu/Fam. Super fishy dives on Cape Kri. To be sure, I can see the coral death that happened from the bleaching, but that is now recovering slowly. The fish are still in great shape.

This woman's imagination got the better of her, and she created a narrative based on partial information that she clearly believes herself.

Mark