Komodo Island lies along the southern edge of the Indonesian Archipelago, meaning it is in the general area where the waters of the Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans mix together. This makes it a place of unique and highly diverse biology. We are here to see Komodo dragons.
We anchored in a protected bay and were surprised to see that the climate is fairly dry. Going eight degrees south of the equator has taken us out of the monsoon belt. It’s hot here, and the dragons live in lightly wooded areas where they hunt deer, wild pigs and buffalo, but this is definitely not rain forest. To the southeast is the Australian Northern Territories, a desert climate.
This island has the largest population of Komodo dragons in the world. It is both a National Park and a World Heritage Site. So dragons we did see.
These ancient reptiles run from 6 to 10 feet long and are carnivorous to the extreme: they will attack and eat other dragons smaller or weaker than themselves, including even their own young. There is no parenting; baby dragons are on their own from the minute they hatch. They live initially on insects before graduating to small mammals.
Although appearing to be slow and lethargic, in short bursts they are as fast as an Olympic sprinter. Their claws and teeth are razor sharp. But they are cold blooded and need a few hours of sun basking in the morning before they are ready to hunt. We did our tours between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM.
Deadly bacteria live on the dragon’s skin and in its saliva that are infectious and, if untreated, fatal to mammals. So all they have to do is get one bite or one rake of the claws on a large animal like a buffalo and it will die six or seven days later. Easy pickings. I am glad I have a telephoto lens.
The rear claws are nothing to mess with either
This was a good day. Now two days at sea; and then we dock at
the first of seven ports of call in Australia: Darwin in the Northern
Territories, HQ of the WWII Coast Watchers.
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