Underwater Photo Of The Day
 

Have remarkable shots from the undersea, show us here!

Just came across this series of excellent UW photos of a guy free diving with whales:

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/m...d_1571238i.jpg


http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/m...n_1571230i.jpg
Looks Photoshopped but suspect it is not!


http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/m...g_1571239i.jpg


http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/m...s_1571237i.jpg


All these photos and still more at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/ear...erm-whale.html

HMS Ontario found in 2008 in 500 ft. of water was launched in 1780. Thanks to the cool, dark, low oxygen of the depths of Lake Ontario, it is in a remarkable state of preservation.

http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465...1433-40866.jpg
From: http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/tag/hms-ontario/

http://www.shipwreckworld.com/media/...ollbowstem.jpg http://www.shipwreckworld.com/media/...t-stern_03.jpg
From: http://www.shipwreckworld.com/articles/gallery/41/118

More information at:
http://www.shipwreckworld.com/articl...n-lake-ontario


http://www.dats.co.za/axe/HMS_Ontari...08ontario2.JPG
Artist's rendering of the vessel in better days. Lots more great images at:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/view...p?f=81&t=13751


Want to have a look, here you go ...




Reminds me of the wrecks of the Scourge and Hamilton largely intact in 300 ft. off St. Catherines, Ontario. That is until Jacque Cousteau amputated one of the masts by accidentally hitting it with his diving saucer. Plimsoll lines, fresh water, cutting ice with copper sheathing (actually the wood hull above it) and hitting irreplaceable cultural resources by poor dive sub stickmanship. The things you learn in the Great Lakes.

http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/wp-c...dines_4sfw.jpg
From: http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/sard...aculous-things





It's all about sardines, seriously. The next time you pop a tin of sardines or more accurately in this case, South African Pilchards, you may see them in a new light? These massive bait balls are chased by dolphins, sharks, whales and squadrons of gannets. The dolphins are thought to trigger the feeding behaviors captured on film at times.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album04/baitball.jpg
From: http://marinesci.ukzn.ac.za/


More about the sardine run and dynamics at:
http://marinesci.ukzn.ac.za/biology/...rdine-run.html


http://marinesci.ukzn.ac.za/Biology/...tories/sst.jpg
From: http://marinesci.ukzn.ac.za/
Migrations often follow temperature gradients. It is thought sardine runs start when nearshore temperatures drop below 21 C. With climate change this trigger and migration have become more problematical. Runs are becoming less frequent it is said.





http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/wp-c...dines_5sfw.jpg
From: http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/sard...aculous-things
The bubble geyser of dive bombing gannets are memorable to see. In the first clip you can see an advancing front of gannets swimming underwater sideways like a large school of humpbacks into prey.


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sardine
 

They are really amazing to watch, every year around July they would come past Durban, some of the schools would be huge, easily half a mile long some years, you could easily spot them because of the birds. When the sardines were running the beaches were normally closed for swimming for the month they were around and the shark nets lifted although we still used to surf if they were not too close. Sometimes millions of them would come right up to the shore and everyone would go crazy and grab washing baskets, nets and anything else that they could use to catch them with and go into the water and get them.It was great because when they did come in the bigger fish came in after them so surf fishing was really fun due to the sizes of some of the larger fish you would catch right of the beach.

Greg

Beautiful, dynamic place you come from Greg. Lots of great images from SA, above, on and beneath the water!

"PALM BEACH -- Two South Florida divers had a close encounter few would believe. They came face to face with a shark that had a plastic ring around its neck.

John Dickinson and Chip Garber not only saw it, they have proof. They videotaped it.

They were with a group that was diving on a wreck off Palm Beach called "The Princess Ann" when they noticed a nurse shark lying lifeless on the bottom of the ocean.

"We thought the shark was dead, however after pulling her tail she began to swim away," Dickinson said.

They noticed the shark had a large Frisbee-like ring around its neck that prevented it from eating.

They decided to make a brave move. Garber was able to approach the shark from behind, grab the ring and remove it.

"You can tell in the video that the shark had lost a lot of weight. Hopefully the shark will begin eating again and live a long healthy life," Dickinson said."
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/mar/...rk-palm-beach/

Waiting for calm water or conversely wind waiting? Why not check out the dozens of other videos at:

http://vimeo.com/user256908/videos





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"A selection of HD Underwater Video clips filmed during Liquid Media Videography courses from around various dive sites, Chumpon Pinnacles, Southwest Pinnacles, Sail Rock, White Rock, Twin Peaks, Japanese Gardens, Ao Leuk, King Kong Rock and many more.

If you are planning a dive trip to Koh Tao, this is just some of what you might see, this HD Underwater Video footage has been filmed on Underwater Videography Training Courses and internships with Liquid Media.

Filmed by Alan Tansey

Music by Alexander Blu
www.liquidmedia.co.th
or check out our facebook fan page for the latest in video news from Koh tao."



and another one posted by Paula B.

http://www.letsgodigital.org/html/re...ark-attack.jpg

Shark with teething pain?
Strobe didn't work so found a willing elasmobranch to shake it?
Getting into tiburon dentistry and wanted some closeup bite shots?
Shark was jealous of attention a friend was getting and so fixed the situation?

Story at:
http://www.letsgodigital.org/html/re...rk-diving.html

Hope he doesn't swallow it, will play hell pooping out the xenon tube & batteries.

http://s3.media.squarespace.com/prod...02406-0020.jpg
Photographed in 60 ft. of water near Breakers Reef off Palm Beach, FL.
From: http://www.thelivingsea.com/underwat...alligator.html



Continued at: http://fksa.org/showthread.php?p=45209#post45209

.

http://images.rottentomatoes.com/ima.../hpo/10565.jpg http://www.filmposters.it/imgposter/.../grandblue.jpg http://www.motionpictureart.com/stor...oviePoster.jpg http://images.universodivx.net/imgup...es/2325511.jpg

The Big Blue or Le Grand Bleu directed by Luc Bisson, released in 1988 has captured the fascination of free divers and the public at large for sometime. It starred Jean Reno, Jean-Marc Barr, Rosanna Arquette, Griffin Dunne. It has become a cult film of sorts for free divers. There is an interesting role reversal in the film with Jacques Mayol playing the cool, dialed in dude with Enzo Maiorca as a less substantial character. In reality, the two were not that close and Enzo may have been the more down to earth character with Mayol being more "out there." Both are deservedly well recognized for their accomplishments in the world of diving. Jacque Mayol even lived in Ft. Lauderdale, FL for a time and competed offshore of the city back in the day. Some might think the plot is a bit "sappy" at points but the rich visuals in diverse locations, great sound track and excellent cine set the movie apart. It is a diving classic.



A compilation of some segments from the movie and excerpts.

This is what Yahoo Movies has to say about it:

"A visionary epic of obsession and beauty about Jacques Mayol, the handsome diver who is so at home in the water that he seems only half-human. Jacques' best friends are a family of playful porpoises and Enzo Molinari, his swaggering Italian diving rival. Jacques and Enzo grew up together in the Mediterranean, and remain lifelong friends despite a fierce battle for the top prize in the world free diving championships, where divers compete to see who can descend to the furthest depths of the sea with no equipment other than their own courage and determination. But when the dreamer Jacques falls in love with the beautiful Johanna, he finds himself torn between the damsel and the deep blue sea."

http://famousfrenchfilms.files.wordp...gmka_17311.jpg
Not sure but Enzo may be sporting a fluid filled mask with corrective contacts to remove the need to use air to equalize his mask on descent.
http://famousfrenchfilms.wordpress.c...c-besson-1988/


You can checkout the complete script of the movie, something I've not done before at:
http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/thebigblue.html

The movie was shot at least 22 locations including:

Greece
Le Grand Bleu Bar, Amorgos, Small Cyclades, Greece
Manganari Island, Greece
Agia Anna, Amorgos, Small Cyclades, Greece
Amorgos, Small Cyclades, Greece
Kalotaritissa Bay, Amorgos, Cyclades, Greece (stranded ship)
Small Cyclades, Greece
Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA (many jumping dolphin sequences, including final shot)
Taormina, Messina, Sicily, Italy (Diving Scenes)
Alpes-Maritimes, France
Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Bahamas
Corsica, France
France
French Riviera, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Italy
Marineland, Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes, France (Aquarium)
Peru
St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
U.S. Virgin Islands
New York City, New York, USA
Paris, France
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095250/locations

Still more about the shoot locations at: http://www.movie-locations.com/movie...l#.VUJII96IaxI



http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q-PuSGjFHv...f08f406d_o.jpg
The wreck of the Olympia on Amorgos used as a location in the film for a remarkable free diving salvage effort by Enzo.
http://www.artificialowl.net/2008/09...r-town-of.html

http://cache.virtualtourist.com/15/4...gos_Island.jpg
Another view of Amorgos Island
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/



https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=9&v=jO2M3mr1KEM
A 1 1/2 hour documentary on the making of the movie (in French).


http://al7mi.com/jejufreedive/images...0302mayol2.jpg
Bisson, Barr and Mayol
More about Jacque Mayol at:
http://al7mi.com/jejufreedive/dt.htm


http://www.dvdpascher.net/screen/dvd/10/10318_big.jpg



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http://www.fksa.org/albums/album504/...n_Aqueon_s.jpg
A series of modified images of a girl riding an Aqueon on the wreck of the Sapona in Bimini, Bahamas.


This post grew so large that I converted it into an article at:
http://fksa.org/showthread.php?p=45445#post45445


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album504/...0195.thumb.jpg

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An underwater literary classic and for early free divers too.

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/ANTIBES_s.jpg
A postcard view of an old fortification on the quay at Antibes. Likely before Gilpatric's time but it captures a sense of the place I think.
From: http://www.leuchtturm-welt.net/HTML/...AL/ANTIBES.JPG


It was the 1930's in post WW I Europe, France was rebuilding and about to descend into another tumult. Guy Gilpatric, an American, not in Paris but in Antibes on the Côte d'Azur, proceeded to explore a new realm, free diving. Equipment was crude and participants were few. Guy, an acknowledged author wrote some introductory pieces to the sport of "goggling" in his regular contributions to the "Saturday Evening Post." His musings eventually amassed into a book, "The Complete Goggler" first published in 1934. Skin Diver Magazine way back in 1957 published an expanded version of the book with "new" images of the sport and a forward by James Dugan. I received a copy of the later in 1975 as a discard from a very kind librarian at my alma mater, Ft. Lauderdale High School. She was probably impressed by the number of times I had checked it out in my years there. I subsequently found and bought copies for some of my close diving buddies. Since that time the book has become a fairly scare and valuable collectors item. Excerpts from the text follow.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/gg_12.jpg
The cover page of the book showing Guy in his element


"The Complete Goggler, Being the First and Only Exhaustive Treatise on the Art of Goggle Fishing That most Noble and Excellent Sport Perfected and Popularized by Guy Gilpatric in the Mediterranean Sea Though Long Practiced Elsewhere by Other Benighted Sava"


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/gg_4.jpg
As a teenager, this impressed me probably as much as anything in the book. Free diving without fins or proper mask and spearing without any means of propulsion other than a well coordinated kick, stroke and thrust. I was intrigued by the feet first entry and timing of the exhalation of air to reduce buoyancy. Weight, we don't need no stink'n weights!? I had quit spearfishing before this time but could still appreciate an arcane art when I saw it.



http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/gg_10.jpg
It was a new time for a very old, new activity. As with kitesurfing, innovation was rampant in the secluded areas in which the discipline was practiced. Here is a nifty speargun AND compressed air breathing apparatus. Wonder how SCUBA diving would have suffered if developments continued directly along these lines?



http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/gg_16.jpg
The goggles. The only ones you could equalize were the ones with the squeeze bulbs shown at the bottom from Japan. Ama divers had developed this provision long in the past to my knowledge and yet Guy wasn't all that crazy about them. Here's what he had to say about mask squeeze "At depths exceeding twenty feet, you will notice that your goggle rims cut into you uncomfortably and that your eyes within them feel as though they were being sucked out. Down around forty feet, this "suction" may deform your eyeballs, hinder your vision and cause you to miss your fish." He left out that part about acute headaches and perhaps losing your vision in extremes and with regular repetition! I want the ones with exposed aluminum rims, who needs soft rubber? I think my eyes would start to be squeezed out around 5 ft and 40 ft.? Amazing, core divers back in the day.



http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/gg_14.jpg
Some more home crafted gear. I was so taken by this that I made a similar side mounted knife carrier as a teen using a steak knife, kids!



http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/gg_5.jpg
The weapon of choice. Note no surgical or other drive bands, just a handle. He did use rubber bands for retaining the point cable. Just needed bigger rubber bands, soon. The detachable point with keyway is well conceived. It isn't so far different in concept from some contemporary points.


Thank you Guy for your contribution to free diving. I understand Skin Diver eventually gave copies of the book away with subscriptions and even threw some away sad to say given the lack of interest at the time. The book was said to be in the library onboard Cousteau's Calypso and in Hemingway's library. Got mine fortunately and it actually influenced my perspective on free diving growing up along with other books like Robert Marx's "Always Another Adventure" (e.g. Big Anthony striding around at depth on the bottom off Little Tobago on a breath). More about the book and author here.



http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/cover_s. jpg


Guy was a prolific writer, with several successful works to his credit. One even made it to the big screen staring Humphrey Bogart and his normal screen foils of the time.

http://cinemadecatherine.ifrance.com...OIRUSSIEAF.jpg http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...7L._SS500_.jpg

In its French and English incarnations. He also wrote a number of episodes for various TV series.

Guy's gone but not forgotten. Thanks for the inspired work!


.

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/techno...t_side_600.jpg

Shades of Hydro-Lab, the old habitat once located in 60 ft. of water near Bell Channel off Freeport, Grand Bahama in the early 1970's. Just learned of this new habitat tonight. Strange the things you miss hearing about when you go on land.

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/1...e13672_med.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NE...EEMO9_md8.html

"The Aquarius is the only undersea laboratory dedicated to marine science operating in the world. Owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and managed by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW), Aquarius operates 4.5 kilometers offshore of Key Largo, Florida. The underwater laboratory is deployed next to deep coral reefs, 20 meters beneath the surface. Aquarius provides life support systems that allow scientists to live and work underwater, in reasonably comfortable living quarters, with sophisticated research capabilities."


An article about the habitat at:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ng.../fulltext.html


http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/techno...quar04_600.jpg



A guided video tour of the habitat

More at:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/techno.../aquarius.html


http://i.techrepublic.com.com/gallery/159588.jpg
http://content.techrepublic.com.com/...11-159587.html


http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories.../aquarius4.jpg
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories...rundersea.html

http://www.freedivecentral.com/fotos...3_2CfRiRSR.jpg
Niki on her record dive in the Bahamas
http://www.freedivecentral.com/f-gal...num_atleta=423


Niki Roderrick does a CNF (constant weight, no fins) training dive on the buoy about 8 miles off Ft. Lauderdale in the video clip below. Note when she enters into the sink phase, stops swimming and allows her negative buoyancy at that depth continue her descent expending less energy and air. She is preparing for the Mediterranean Freediving World Cup hosted in Kalamata, Greece. Niki recently set yet another New Zealand depth record in this discipline at 49 m in Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas. A record of 55 m was captured by Natalia Molchanova of Russia placing Niki at second place Worldwide! Niki is with http://www.freedivinginstructors.com/





http://www.freediving-club.gr/index_...image11601.jpg
http://www.freediving-club.gr/index_files/Page327.htm


The World Cup is described "the Mediterranean Meeting will be upgraded to a World Cup for 2010 and will include both an individual and a team event (teams will be national teams of 3) and will again include all 3 depth disciplines. During the event we will also have a static competition.

It will again be a 15 day event starting on Monday June 7th and finishing on Sunday June 20th with one week of training and one week of competition in all depth disciplines with Ranking and World Record status. Sled diving will also be available and we will also be able to organise record attempts during the training week and possibly during the competition week."



A video overview of this year's Mediterranean Freediving World Cup in Kalamata, Greece.


The website highlights sled diving in the no limits division. I tried a shallow dive with a sled in the Red Sea last year and brought a GoPro camera along to capture what went on. It is a pretty interesting video even for a dip in the shallow end of the pool.



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There once was a competition, to create "Underwater House Pictures" via imagination and Photoshop. This is some of what they came up with ...


http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures...er---31269.jpg



http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures...rb---31270.jpg




http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures...ty---31259.jpg




http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures...ch---31273.jpg




http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures...own--31262.jpg



http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures...rs---31267.jpg




http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures...me---31271.jpg




More at: http://www.freakingnews.com/Underwat...----1578-0.asp

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http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine...600328_400.jpg
http://img.timeinc.net/

Yesterday would have been Jacques Yves Cousteau's 100th birthday. He brought a unique and stimulating look at the oceans to many worldwide in ways they might have never seen. More about the man and his times at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques-Yves_Cousteau


CONTINUED with old videos from 1943 forward, photos and information at: http://fksa.org/showthread.php?p=45698#post45698



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Mermaid free diver, Linden Wolbert makes 17 mph with tail, swims with sharks.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/...92_634x392.jpg


Swimming with sharks seems straight forward enough but hauling butt, er tail at 17 mph?! Read it in the Daily Mail, so it must be true, uh right? Integrity of the press and all.


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/...12_634x422.jpg


Complete story and more photos at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worl...stom-tail.html


and a video:



"Mermaid in Grand Bahama

Grand Bahama Island! Mermaid Linden pulled out her passport and swam to none other than UNEXSO, the world-famous Underwater Explorer’s Society, for a very special photo shoot. Aboard UNEXSO’s Explorer II boat, Underwater Photographer Matthew Addison donned his scuba unit and impressive camera rig. Chief Safety Diver and UNEXSO Shark Feeder extraordinaire Cristina Zenato zipped up her wetsuit, and Mermaid Linden dived into the clear, warm waters for an encounter like no other: Swimming with Caribbean Reef Sharks in Bahamian seas!"
Complete article at: http://www.fourthelement.com/adventu...en_wolbert.php

and another clip with a bit more color. Sort of Jacques Cousteau silver divers go gold lame:



She even has a mermaid for hire website, http://www.mermaidsinmotion.com/

(as the sound track goes "able to stay underwater without oxygen?" Time to get a new script writer!)


Here's another intriguing one, in the water with a greek fellow instead of sharks.

Todd Essick wanted to try something different from sports photography for the wire services. So, he took a diving course, bought the first of tons of UW camera gear and set out to capture some new and varied compositions. He focuses on model compositions both clothed and nude, underwater often with sealife.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/...D331103sml.jpg
This was shot off Nassau a few years ago


All photos by Todd Essick

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/...D331110sml.jpg
The logistics in such shoots can be overwhelming as unexpected animal interactions with costumes can be at times. That is one core water woman, seems to be containing things fairly well considering she's holding her breath, is at least 20 ft. beneath the surface and a shark is tangled in her outfit banging up against her trying to get out. The shark may have been attracted by glittering small sequins attached to the netting. Great model and athlete. Just noticed a rope tether holding her down to the wreck. We can see what was going on but without a mask, shark tangled from behind, she wouldn't be able to see exactly what was going on. All this plus secured underwater by her ankle, what an athlete and strong constitution! More about the shark issues during this shoot at: http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=4304


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/kriNUS1.jpg
The challenges of shooting free diving models, absent regulator exhaust, with natural expressions and poses, largely blind with all the varied light and conditions underwater are immense.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/MermaidsSmile.jpg
Todd and his skilled models/water women pull it off though.


http://www.601100100.pl/lib/wp-conte...frau_003_b.jpg
Some of Todd's more recent work at Neptune Memorial Reef off Miami, FL


http://www.601100100.pl/lib/wp-conte...idhof_0031.jpg


http://www.601100100.pl/lib/wp-conte...frau_001_b.jpg

Above photos from http://www.601100100.pl/pl/newsy/czy...istnieja_.html


All photos by Todd Essick


Todd created a collection of his work in book form with many intriguing underwater photographs. It can be a good gift for water people or folks with an appreciation of unusual, well crafted images.

http://www.essickphoto.com/images/fu...en/bookcov.jpg

Copies are available at: http://www.essickphoto.com/sub4.html


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album468/te_1.sized.jpg
Todd Essick at DEMA 2009


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Summer weather seems to be here finally bringing a fair amount of rain and little useable wind. Had to happen sooner or later. So, between short bouts of thermal winds on to other things, like diving. Headed down to the Keys for some wreck scooter free diving (may put together a video on that) and a quick reef dive with my good friend Capt. Slate at Atlantis Dive Shop.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/Grotto_1.jpg
Scootered into a grotto awash with minnows, and what should I see?




http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/Lurking.jpg
A lurker, belting out opera? Or, was he getting a dental job from a neon gobi?




http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/Lurker_2_001.jpg
Any guesses as to what this big fella is? PC or the original name will do. I can recall when these were pretty common down that way and docile as big dumb dogs. Then butthead poachers took them out along with the tame loups. Here's an idea, a poacher spearfishing contest!? That is with the poachers being taken for prizes. Seems fair.




http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/Grotto.jpg
Motoring out the far side of the cave and up




http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/Keys_Sunset.jpg
The obligatory Keys sunset, another great day!


Photos by Rick Iossi

(A repost from the Photo of the Day from 2008)

FINALLY made it back out to the Tenneco platforms after almost 4 1/2 years. Big thanks to Goldcoast SCUBA Divers and their real active diver meetup group for arranging this long overdue trip!

We went out with Capt. Mark and Mateo on the Sea Experience II out of Bahia Mar in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. A great operation with friendly capable staff.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album523/boat_GOPR0006.jpg
Capt. Mark cons the Sea Experience II while some of the Meetup group including Tom on the starboard with the rest of the guys aft, hang out on the way to the platforms.


We were concerned NAVY operations including ships from other nations in some "mysterious" maneuvers in the area might have barred our access to the platforms. Luck was with us though and operations in that particular area had been suspended for a while.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album523/mask.jpg
Time to hit the water. Shot only video with two GoPro HD cameras, one equiped with an Eyeofmine.com UW corrective flat port housing to improve image quality. This auto shot was done using the corrective port, some difference! So, did several still shot captures from some of the video clips. It looks like you need a lot of light and good viz. for such clear results with the corrective housing. All of the underwater shots are captures from the eyeofmine.com housed GoPro HD camera while the topside shots were from an ordinary GoPro HD housed camera.


Seas were very calm with building side shore thermal winds but the squalls building them were still far inland. Even better there was no current for the first dive and just a little for the second. The top of the platform we were tied to came up to around 60 ft. with the bottom at 110 ft.. Visibility was limited to where you really couldn't quite see the top of the tower from the surface. This complicates drops for scooter free diving. Got some useable video anyway.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album523/Sun_surface.jpg
John Blake of Scuba Outfitters had brought some diving student over from Naples to checkout the platform. Heading down.

Met Piotr all the way over from France with his family for holiday. He has been diving all over, it was fun to swap diving stories.

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album523/Deck.jpg
Running off the edge of the upper platform deck to drop over the side towards the bottom. Lots of life on the platforms, fish love the place.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album523/below_decks.jpg
Running across below decks. It is an interesting artificial reef and the only platform sunk off South Florida at present.



Here's a short cllp of a scooter free dive into the mid deck area of the platform. As always, you can get killed doing this so take proper training, use appropriate gear and procedures for scooter free diving. This was shot with the regular GoPro housing with out corrective port.




Here is another processed video showing descent, ascent and bottom traverse beneath the platform at 110 ft. on a breathhold dive.






http://www.fksa.org/albums/album523/Surface_sun.jpg
Coming back up the side of the platform towards old Sol portrayed in classic GoPro underwater fashion.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album523/dock_GOPR0085.jpg
Back to the dock. Looking forward to heading out on the Sea Experience again and hopefully one of these days catching the Tenneco Platforms in about 100 viz. in blue water for a reshoot!

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Can't seem to get your camera mount to stay put? Why not try one of these?

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._1203421_n.jpg

It has been designed for special service by http://eyeofmine.com/ to mount a GoPro camera with their corrective flat port for underwater use. It is a shark dorsel fin camera mount!?

This is what EyeofMine.com has to say about it:

SHARKS!!
We designed a shark mount for Discovery Channel that goes on the top fin of a shark. The footage will be shown THIS SUNDAY on Shark Week at 10pm (pacific time). Name of the show is INTO THE SHARK BITE.
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/shark-week/tv-shows.html

Shark fin POV footage is supposed to be around the 10 minute mark into the show. We have not seen the footage but expect it to be the first time ever seeing a shark's point of view in 1080p HD glory. Sometime in the near future an improved shark mount will go on a great white. Just looking for somebody to put it on. Any volunteers? :)


It actually starts at around 7:29 and you can see the complete video online at:
http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/shar...hark-bite.html


Just watching the free diver attempt to mount the thing on several sharks actively engaged in a spirited feeding behavior is almost more entertaining than the actual fin footage.


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He managed to clamp the camera on to one.


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The view from the sharks dorsel fin, running towards the videographer


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A video clip of a short drop scooter free diving on Theo's Wreck. Formerly known as the MV Logna, the vessel was sunk in 110 ft. of water on her side off Lucaya Beach and not so far from the dropoff. We were taken to the wreck and a lot of other interesting places by Grand Bahama Scuba, http://www.grandbahamascuba.com/





More about the wreck at: http://www.shipwreckexpo.com/tsgrand...shipwrecks.htm

As always, be sure to take proper training and use appropriate procedures and safeguards to try to improve the safety of scooter free diving. You can be seriously injured or killed doing this!


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Ever wonder what you might do if you fell in? World Champion free diver Herbert Nitsch shows us one option in this video. Herbert holds the current world record in No Limits discipline at the depth of 214 meters (~702 feet) per AIDA. They don't say if that was in some particularly deep plumbing or not.

"Herbert Nitsch was in Japan for the 2010 Freediving World Championship in Okinawa. He didn't take part though. Here's a little insight to how he was spending his time."

http://watches.infoniac.com/uimg/ind...ert-nitsch.jpg
There are some interesting watch ads involving free diving. Now if they can wire in a digital Nipponese loo we'll have it all covered!

Chuck Patterson of kiting, big wave and SUP fame posted some underwater shots from a recent standup session off San Diego, CA. Not sure if he had thrown marsh mellows on the water or not, some fish love them, but this is what showed up ...


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Adds new meaning to the term "well fed."


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Chuck says it was a young seven foot long great white swimming about 200 ft. off the beach. Looks like he has some GoPro wide angle distortion going there. Wouldn't it have been great if he had a corrective lens for these, we hope, rare shots?





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Chuck after a live interview on CBS.



More photos at Chucks facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=...&id=1486357124

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How to catch this one during particularly good visibility and above dry suit weather?




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Still photos from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Oriskany_(CV-34)


http://deepdowndive.com/images/Oriskany-design.JPG
http://deepdowndive.com/uss_oriskany_reef.htm


More about the artificial reef off the Panhandle at:
http://www.divemightyo.com/

Some photos from a 211 m (692 ft.) rebreather dive in the Red Sea by Sasha Aquadao.


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Back up


More photos at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...00001245122334

If you haven't hugged or kissed a deserving tiburon today (no tongue, lest you lose it!), here are some excerpts from Sharkwater ...

" Book 'em Danno: Klepto Manta Mugs Cameraman
From: IntoTheDrinkTV | September 09, 2010 | 243,627 views

What began as another exhilarating manta ray night dive off Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on an August evening in 2010, quickly turned into the theft of the century. Cameraman Travis Matteson was capturing footage for the scuba diving travel television show "Into the Drink" aboard the Kona Aggressor II. Suddenly, one of the manta's giant wings hooked his light system, and darted off with the nearly $10,000 worth of photo gear. Underwater videographer Johnny Reidt caught the entire theft on camera, and the manta, carrying the stolen photo rig, captured some amazing footage of the nighttime reef. Remarkably, the camera rig was found completely intact after an eight-minute run by the manta, just yards from the dive boat. Case closed."

Thanks to Marc for telling me about this!

Scooter free diving around an unnamed wreck off Abu Galawa in the Red Sea along the Egyptian coast with FII. We did a liveaboard free diving trip with Martin Stepanek last year. It was a great trip, this wreck has the most massive accumulation of coral of any wreck that I recall seeing before. It has been there since the 1950's I understand. Shot with GoPro WIDE camera.

http://www.sfgate.com/blogs/images/s...opy750x500.jpg
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/...y?cat=806&o=40

"...The Whale...

If you read a recent front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around as she was thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same. May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you. And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude. I pass this on to you, my friends, in the same spirit."


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http://www.facebook.com/rick.iossi#!...5606709&ref=nf

Golden cownose rays as far as the eye can see or put another way, skating through group sex? Looks like Photoshopping but understand it is not, this is they way they skated by. Cownose? Who hung that name on this guys?


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"Golden Ray photos of amazing mass migration

By Nick Allen
Published: 4:00PM BST 24 Jun 2008

Looking like giant leaves floating in the sea thousands of Golden Rays are seen here gathering off the coast of Mexico.

The spectacular scene was captured as the magnificent creatures made one of their biannual mass migrations to more agreeable waters. Gliding silently beneath the waves they turned vast areas of blue water to gold off the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Sandra Critelli, an amateur photographer, stumbled across the phenomenon while looking for whale sharks. She said: "It was an unreal image, very difficult to describe. The surface of the water was covered by warm and different shades of gold and looked like a bed of autumn leaves gently moved by the wind. "It's hard to say exactly how many there were but in the range of a few thousand. "We were surrounded by them without seeing the edge of the school and we could see many under the water surface too. "I feel very fortunate I was there in the right place at the right time to experienced nature at his best."


Measuring up to 7ft (2.1 metres) from wing-tip to wing-tip, Golden rays are also more prosaically known as cow nose rays. They have long, pointed pectoral fins that separate into two lobes in front of their high-domed heads and give them a cow-like appearance. Despite having poisonous stingers they are known to be shy and non-threatening when in large schools. The population in the Gulf of Mexico migrates, in schools of as many as 10,000, clockwise from western Florida to the Yucatan."


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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/ear...migration.html

"I'm melting ..." Well, it does look like it!



Diving into an H2S layer in a cenote. Thanks to Roman for passing this along!

http://www.underwatersculpture.com/p...irst_Image.jpg
From: http://www.underwatersculpture.com/


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The location in the Yucatan


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"Revealed: Amazing new artificial reef in Mexico made from sculptures of real people

By Richard James
Last updated at 7:13 PM on 11th October 2010


These astonishing images show an extraordinary new artificial reef off the east coast of Mexico made entirely from human statues.

The underwater installation has been created by British artist Jason de Caires Taylor who used real people to create the 'life casts' made from materials which encourage coral to grow.

It is hoped the new sculptures will produce a coral reef system and attract a variety of aquatic creatures to the Cancun and Isla Mujeres National Marine Park.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz12Z7liAnQ "

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"MUSA Museo Subacuático de Arte

In 2009 the first steps of a monumental underwater museum called MUSA (Museo Subacuático de Arte) were formed in the waters surrounding Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Punta Nizuc. The project founded by Jaime Gonzalez Cano of The National Marine Park, Roberto Diaz of The Cancun Nautical Association and Jason deCaires Taylor, will consist of over 400 permanent life-size sculptures, becoming one of the largest and most ambitious underwater artificial attractions in the world.

The Museum aiming to demonstrate the interaction between art and environmental science forms a complex reef structure for marine life to colonise and inhabit. Each of the sculptures is made from specialized materials used to promote coral life, with the total installations occupying an area of over 420sq metres of barren sea bed and weighing over 180 tons. The Cancun Marine Park is one of the most visited stretches of water in the world with over 750,000 visitors each year, placing immense pressure on its resources. The location of the sculptures will promote the recovery of the natural reefs, relieving pressure on them by drawing visitors away.

To date the underwater museum comprises of 4 installations; La Jardinera de la Esperanza, Coleccionista de los Sueños, Hombre en Llamas and The Silent Evolution all by Jason deCaires Taylor. The Silent Evolution. His most ambitious work to date, is a collection of over 400 life-size figurative works forming a timeline of the changes both visually and socially in humans over the past centuries. For more information see The Silent Evolution (pdf).

The third stage of the museum commencing in 2011 will involve commissioning local and international artists to contribute further sculptural installations and host special underwater cultural events celebrating the Arts and Science."

http://www.underwatersculpture.com/p...udes01wtmk.jpg
From: http://www.underwatersculpture.com/





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A look along Palancar and Santa Rosa Reefs off Cozumel, Mexico.

When I first saw this I thought it was off South Africa. No a lot closer to home in Baja.




As long as were at it with billfish, lets have a look at some sailfish ...

A quick free diving drop into a grotto filled with horse eye jack in Eden Rock, George Town, Grand Cayman on Christmas Eve 2010. The noise in the background is from a large cruise ship moving into to anchor with a what may be a badly worn cutlass bearing, messed up prop or something.


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A still shot my wife nailed as I moved out of the hole pushing jacks in front of me.

Just came across some outstanding underwater whale shots on the Hawaiian Defender Facebook page. These were shot by http://www.danielbotelho.com/ .


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More photos and information about these whales and their plight at:
http://www.facebook.com/oceandefende...d=328919879652


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Put your GoPro where no one has gone before (we hope!).