Sky Explorers

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - Marcia Irving, Vertical Online

The exploration and research team Oceanic Expeditions is using helicopters to advance its objectives in Papua New Guinea.

Located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, Papua New Guinea, or PNG, is one of the most remote and inaccessible places on the globe: a “no man's land” full of mystery and marvel. With more than 600 islands within its national boundaries — which span approximately 750 miles north to south, and 1,250 miles west to east — it has had little or no sustained exploration. Helicopters and marine vessels are the only means of accessing numerous locations within the country, which is replete with vast mountains, thick jungles, small islands and sprawling seas.

PNG is a basically untapped reservoir for new discoveries, and that has proved irresistible to at least one exploratory team, Oceanic Expeditions. Dubbing the Team the “FitzWinians” of the 21st century (in homage to HMS Beagle explorers Robert FitzRoy and Charles Darwin), the members of Oceanic Expeditions facilitate and document exploratory missions to bring awareness of oceanic environments. Their most recent missions in PNG have focused on New Britain and other islands in the Dampier and Vitas straits. And here, in one of the last great unexplored oceanic regions on the planet, Oceanic Expeditions has relied on helicopters to comprehensively explore and film the region's rich natural environments.
 
Founder and Team
John C. Holder founded Oceanic Expeditions in 1993, after several years of adventure travel throughout the planet. He is a marine explorer who has explored and filmed in all tropical and subtropical seas, and in most temperate ones, for the last 35 years. He explained: “I was fortunate to be the only son of a United States Air Force career officer and as such lived all over the planet, (including) in some of these regions, which made my progression into marine exploration inevitable. I was certified in SCUBA diving in 1975 and I never looked back after that.”
As a Member National of The Explorers Club, the Air Force Association, and the U.S. Naval Institute, Holder possesses significant insight into the biological, cultural, geophysical, and historical elements of the Pacific Ocean. His Oceanic Expeditions task force includes George Cummings, who is responsible for video and information services, and Scott “Gutsy” Tuason, a photographer. Generally, each expedition includes scientists such as biologists, geophysicists and cultural anthropologists. However, teams for each expedition are assembled based upon the evolution of the particular expedition profile.
 
 
Headhunter Expeditions
Oceanic Expedition's exploratory missions within New Britain are “Headhunter” expeditions. Silence the alarm bells: “Headhunter” honors the USAAF 80th Fighter Squadron, which, in turn, was named in tribute to the tribal leaders of New Britain who would return downed Allied airmen to friendly lines during World War II (without beheading them).
 
The expeditions are a series of roughly six-week missions that began in 2006 and will extend through 2016 (Oceanic Expeditions recently completed the third expedition in the series). Their intention is to foster marine exploration and discovery in the last great unexplored tropical oceanic region on the planet: the eastern lobe of the Indo-Pacific Coral Triangle, which encompasses the waters of PNG, Indonesia, and the Solomon Islands. The expeditions use advanced technology to seek out aviation and naval wreckage from World War II, and to otherwise explore and record these rich marine environments.

Oceanic Expeditions is using a “Triphibious” approach in its Headhunter expeditions: integrating land, sea and air techniques to maximize its results and unlock the secrets of this magical region. The approach is implemented with teams of effective explorers who use boots and “Crocs” (water shoes), small ocean-going vessels, and helicopters to explore and document. Holder believes that this Triphibious method, which combines three vital perspectives, offers a more balanced way of gathering information than relying upon just one vantage point.

Helicopters provide the most direct access to many regions of PNG, and their vertical capabilities immensely enhance Oceanic Expedition's explorations. According to Holder, images gathered from the air “are invaluable scouting tools which I use to put my team on the sweet spots, such as key areas of reef structure, or when possible, wreckage visible from the air… And hey, the images are just plain beautiful.”

The only helicopter operator in West New Britain Province, PNG is Niugini Helicopter, and Oceanic Expeditions has been chartering its Bell 206L4 LongRanger since 2006. The majority of Niugini Helicopter's work is commercial or utility related (oil and gas, logging, etc.). Oceanic Expeditions is the only organization active in this type of exploration in the region, and its use of helicopters for oceanic exploration is revolutionary.

When conducting work for Oceanic Expeditions, Niugini Helicopter must frequently stage fuel at Gloucester Station, especially when scouting beyond West New Britain. For overwater flight, the company must equip the LongRanger with flotation devices. According to Holder, Niugini has made an extra effort to meet Oceanic Expeditions' needs.

Conservation at its Core
The primary objective of the Headhunter expeditions is “sustained resource protection.” Oceanic Expeditions works hand-in-hand with local communities and institutions to provide an educational base and promote conservation of the pristine regions they explore. “Conservation is truly at the core of OE's mission goals,” said Holder.

PNG is considered the “emerald jewel of Indo-Pacific biodiversity.” Although it accounts for less than 0.5 percent of the earth's land surface, it contains 5 to 9 percent of the globe's biodiversity – which is as much as the United States or Australia. The majority of New Guinea's biota is exclusive to the island. Yet, uncontrolled habitat devastation as a result of logging and agricultural settlement have introduced rapidly multiplying foreign species, which are creating severe hazards to numerous local species, ecosystems and the human population that depends on them.

For Oceanic Expeditions' team, it is especially gratifying to know that the discoveries made possible by the Headhunter expeditions will focus world attention on the environmental concerns of this region. And, hopefully, this attention will garner needed support for true and effective conservation efforts for the seas, islands, and peoples of the area. Oceanic Expeditions plans to return to West New Britain in 2010 for Headhunter expedition No. 4, and to employ helicopters as in prior expeditions for scouting and imaging purposes.

For more information about Oceanic Expeditions, see http://www.oceanicexpeditions.org/. John C. Holder Photos

Email This Article To A Friend - Print This Article

Related Articles :
No Related Content Found

Submit Your Comment

Your Name :
Your E-mail :
Comment :
 

 

Current Comments