Tom Peyton

By Tom Peyton

It’s tough to picture what it’s like to see a Fishtropolis for the first time. As a Caribbean diver, I had never come across anything similar. The coral structure and density just aren’t found in the Caribbean Sea, especially in shallow water.

Borneo wasn’t my first time seeing huge stretches of healthy coral. Places like Komodo, Raja Ampat, and the Forgotten Islands also have incredible marine life. Still, Borneo’s mix of hard and soft corals was beyond anything I had imagined. It was unlike anywhere else I’ve been lucky enough to explore.

The oldest known Brain Corals?

Hundreds of tabletop corals spread across the reef, making it look like an underwater city. Staghorn and antler corals form a base that stretches for miles in the shallow water. Huge Brain Corals are scattered throughout, some possibly hundreds of years old. The oldest known brain corals are between 900 and 1,000 years old.

The dense foundations of staghorn and tabletop corals painted the shallow water in vibrant shades of terracotta, peach, and soft pink. Just below, massive brain corals and overlapping lettuce-leaf petals added earthy, alien greens and deep browns to the underwater cityscape.

The Lettuce Leaf Coral grew thick and dense, a bit deeper than the rest of the reef. In some spots, the big overlapping petals at 30 to 40 feet were all I could see. It felt like floating through a scene from the movie Dune.

So why call it a Fishtropolis?

If you’ve never seen billions of fish in a shallow reef, it really does feel like New York City. Parrotfish, Damselfish, Butterflyfish, and small blue Triggerfish were everywhere, surrounded by Anthias—the small, brightly colored fish that gather in large groups near the hard corals. The sheer amount of fish reminded me of morning rush-hour traffic during a commute to New York City from Jersey one morning. And much like rush hour, there seemed to be fish lanes of movement throughout the coral city.

I could not believe how many Anthias there were. These little fish moved like snowflakes at night, drifting under a streetlight. Watching hundreds of thousands of them dart through the shallow water was amazing. Sunlight caught their movements, making it look as if someone from the shore was throwing millions of coins into the ocean.

Schooling Bumphead Parrotfish

On this dive, at least 10 turtles moved slowly through the busy Fishtropolis, weaving between the lively Damsels and the flashes of Anthias groups. Even better, 20 big Bumphead Parrotfish swam just a few feet in front of my dive buddy Luigi, who owns the Arenui, and me. We hid behind two large brain corals so we wouldn’t scare these amazing creatures.

Time seemed to slow down as we floated through the busy, healthy community of marine life. For me, it felt like an underwater opera. I didn’t know whether to cry for joy or just be amazed at how much life our planet can create when it’s left alone. Nature’s creativity was so huge it felt like I was on another planet in a distant galaxy, far away from Earth.

But this is Earth in its purest form, making beauty beyond anything I could imagine. After these dives, I would come up to the surface and feel a deep sense of gratitude. There was a quiet awe for the beauty of Fishtropolis.

To see more images from Borneo (See link)