The beauty and diversity of Raja Ampat, aka 'Underwater Eden'

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Romeo Gacad / AFP - Getty ImagesRock formations are seen in Kabui Bay in Raja Ampat, eastern Indonesia's Papua region, in October 2011.By Ed Flanagan, NBC NewsRAJA AMPAT, Indonesia — Throughout time, explorers have combed the farthest reaches of the world for that one shot of discovering new life.

Dr. Mark Erdmann has taken that shot 89 times.

Since coming to Indonesia in 1992 as a young Ph.D. student from the University of California Berkeley, Dr. Erdmann has been deeply immersed in the exploration and conservation of the underwater worlds of Indonesia and South East Asia, helping to discover 89 species across the region.

His interest in Raja Ampat — an archipelago of over 1,500 small islands in Western Papua — started while living in a small fishing community in South Sulawesi, where his local fishermen neighbors regularly came back from fishing trips speaking of reefs teeming with fish and sharks.Conservation International works with Indonesian children to help them learn how to protect the most diverse underwater region in the world.  NBC News' Richard Engel reports.

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