Famous photographer tickled by Brunei's 'friendly' undersea life

By James Kon

William Tan holds up one of his photos that was published in Scuba Divers AustralAsia. - JAMES KON
Photos taken by William Tan show a 'Shrimp Goby' (left) and a 'Bornella Nudibranch' (right) in the waters of Brunei.

The Sultanate's untouched coral reefs and diverse marine life can rival those of other famed diving hotspots in the region like Malaysia and around Indonesia, according to William Tan, a famous Singaporean underwater photographer who recently went on a four-day diving expedition in the waters of Brunei Darussalam.

On his impressions of his first-time diving in Brunei waters, William told the Weekend Bulletin: "The fishes and creatures in the waters here are not afraid of people and it provided (great) opportunities to take pictures.

"In other famous diving sites (in other regions), the fishes would quickly swim away if they saw humans.

"Some of the marine life found in the waters of Brunei are rare ... (It would be) hard to find (them) in other countries."

The 47-year-old, who is also a professional violinist, has travelled around the world in his quest to photograph and document unique marine life. Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, Taiwan and Solomon Island are just some of his previous diving destinations.

William has been taking underwater photos since 1995, and his masterworks have been featured in popular magazines such as Scuba Divers AustralAsia, Asia Divers, Easy Dive and Sport Diving.

"I never would have imagined to find so many different diving sites here in Brunei," he said, adding that he had come across an old oilrig, shipwrecks, coral reefs and sandy corals during his diving expedition.

With the assistance of Oceanic Quest, William and his friends were able to dive three times a day for the past four days. He was pleased to have captured stunning photos of the rare marine life in the Sultanate.

Oceanic Quest, which is one of the top diving companies in the region, did a fantastic job looking after the safety of all divers involved in this trip, he added. "They did their job professionally."

William expressed his hope that Brunei would become a hot spot for divers from around the region.

However, in order to build Brunei's underwater eco-tourism, William stressed that more publicity was needed. He recalled that after he was commission to take photos and to publish a book for a village in Sulawesi island, tourists from all over began to descend on the village.

William also hoped that the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam would take steps to protect the delicate marine life from pollution and overfishing.

By establishing a marine park in Brunei, the visits of tourists would be strictly controlled, and revenue from such a park could be used for conservation activities or measures, he said.