Video - Free Diving Interior Of The Sea Emperor
 

I headed out to dive the Sea Emperor on the new 42 ft. boat just placed into operation by Parrot Island Scuba.


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1378178125


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1378178125
Dropping on the Sea Emperor aka the Aqua Zoo. They used to feed sharks and grouper on this wreck and I imagine had a good turnout at times.


The Sea Emperor is a 171 ft. by 45 ft. hopper dredge formerly operated by Great Lakes Dredge & Dock and was conveyed for use as an artificial reef as a part of a fine for reef damage during a dredging project. It was sunk in 1991 with about 1,600 tons of culverts on the deck. Unfortunately, the vessel turned turtle one last time on the way to the bottom. As a result, the barge is bottom up and all the culverts are piled along the east side of the wreck. The bottom is about 72 ft. with the top of the wreck approaching 50 ft..


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1378178128
Around the bow of the barge. I took a pair of Hero 3 cameras setup with Polar Pro Plastic Red filters secured on a Quikpod Monopod for perspective.






VIDEO





http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1378178135



http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1378178126
I just noticed clear passage through the baffled borrow compartments in the barge. You can run much of the length of the vessel below decks with light from the slots in the hull to guide you by.



http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1378179235
Todd Essick came on the dive. He is well known worldwide for his unique underwater nude studies. You can see some of his imagery at http://www.essickphoto.com/



http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1378178163
I ran across this turtle three times on the wreck.



http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1378178127
The wreck is close to the United Caribbean, another nice wreck in fairly shallow water.


https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...33728784_n.jpg
Back onboard


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Heading back in past the Hillsboro Lighthouse.

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I don't know why but the video on Vimeo keeps freezing on me. I uploaded one to youtube as well.





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I dove on the Sea Emperor on Sunday with South Florida Diving Headquarters and tried some different processing on the still images.


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416402058
Rigging up to hit the wreck.


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416368213


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416368208
There was a good sized school of spadefish who would shallow up a bit in regulator exhaust at times improving the shooting conditions.


Here is a short video clip of running with and through the school of spadefish.


I have quite a lot of interesting video and may put something together covering several dives.


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416368214


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416368218


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416368219


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416368219


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416368220


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416368229


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416368228


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416368230


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416368229


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416368232


http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1416401503
Heading over to board the Aqua View


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