This spring I joined Mike Gerken for the 4th annual North Carolina Shark and Wreck Shootout in Morehead City, NC. We were blessed with fantastic weather for photographing sharks and shipwrecks. The picture above is a sand tiger shark that was leaving the wreck of the Aeolus as I was entering. We met head-on in the darkness. There can be more than 2 dozen sharks on this wreck. The site allows close up encounters of sharks while inside the wreck as seen below.
These sharks are actually quite docile despite their looks. They can be quite curious at times and will cautiously approach divers if not threatened. Sometimes they like to sneak up from behind! Mike has removed fishing lures from their mouths on occasion. I like my fingers on my hands so I'll stick to taking pictures.
Olympus Dive Center is a great organization and provides fantastic trips out to see many of the wrecks in NC. They have 2 spacious boats. The picture below is the smaller Midnight Express. I was on the Olympus this year. There is space for multiple cameras as well as benches inside that are great for sleeping on the way to dive sites.
We had beautiful blue water for dives on the U352, Papoose, and the Shurz. The visibility was 100' for all 3 dives. These pictures below are not edited for color or clarity. Visibility on the Carib Sea and Atlas was not as good and the water was green. The submarine was stunning. It is no longer possible to enter the sub which is probably good.
The wreck of the Papoose was fantastic. The wreck is upside down at 105'. Thousands of fish fill the inside of the wreck, making navigation tricky at times. As I entered from the side of the wreck I was surrounded by hundreds of fish.
Inside the wreck is thrilling. It was difficult to find my buddy through all the fish. At times like this It's good to remember that you are below 100 feet inside a shipwreck.
The picture below was looking up the anchor line at the stern. I was well into deco but I really didn't want to go up yet. Can't wait for the next dive in NC!
I especially wanted to find and photograph a batfish as I had never seen one before. I spent a late afternoon searching the shallow waters off the pier at the Fort Young Hotel. Near the end of the dive, a shortnose batfish came along in the sand and allowed close up shots without leaving.
There are impressive geographic reef formations in Dominica. The shot below is from Scott's Head Point. The shallow reef splits open to deeper water and allows exploration of a dramatic overhanging wall covered in coral and sea fans.
Dominica is a volcanic island and has multiple hot springs above and below the water. The photo below is from a site called Champaign. Hot gases escaping from below the seabed provide a warm bubble bath at the end of a great dive.
I felt somewhat guilty as the two cuttlefish continued. They were turning pale and their texture became smooth.
A wrestling match followed with more rapid color changes. The male's skin changed to show more bristles.
When it was over, they both appeared to be blushing with a brilliant bright red display.
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This was my daughters first encounter with Hawaiian sea turtles. Righteous! Clear blue water and no waves this week helped to keep everything calm and relaxing. The humpbacks were in town too. We could hear them on our dives in Lanai and Molokai.
I took my son Michael diving on his 16th birthday to see the Cathedrals in Lanai. Too bad he ate ribs for breakfast but it helped to encourage the wildlife below. Lahaina Divers did a great job with these trips. Once a week they schedule a trip to Molokai to see hammerhead sharks. The dive is for advanced divers and requires a "live" drop off at the site.
There were 3 scalloped hammerheads that day but they were quite shy and didn't approach the divers. I wasn't able to get many pictures but it was still great to see them from about 40-50 feet away.
The picture above was from 6:45 am our first morning. We were enjoying coffee and getting ready to make our first entrance into the 72 degree, vividly blue water when this shark breached and gave us a spectacular welcome. Down below the surface there were 5 sharks circling the cages as we made our first encounters with these large swimming predators. The sharks were more curious than ferocious and often circled the cages with interest. It was very easy to establish eye contact at close range.
The surface cages allowed close observation of white sharks in action. They have incredible speed and are exceedingly well camouflaged for their environment. The grey color on their dorsal side keeps the sharks hidden until they are very close. These sharks are very crafty and can easily sneak up from any angle. Photographing them requires some vigilance as they seem to work in teams to catch you off guard. It's best not to hang too far out of the cage!
The most breath taking experience on this trip occurred at the surface. The picture below was from the first morning in a surface cage on the starboard side. This shark was incredibly strong and relentless. It was truly memorable to witness an animal this large from only 10 feet way.
The picture below is courtesy of Nicole Young. As you can see, the sharks can get quite close. By the way, that's me in the corner with the camera. Some of the photos were taken with a 15mm fisheye to allow close working distances.
I will be posting video from this trip sometime in the near future. These animals are very graceful and athletic. Video captures their movement in a way that is hard to see by still photography alone.
Last week I returned to Truk Lagoon for another adventure on the Truk Odyssey. I was treated to a private tour of the San Francisco Maru with Captain James as we explored cargo holds 1 and 2 as well as three Japanese tanks on the forward deck. It was just as exciting as my first dive there in 2007. This time we started at the bow and circled the 3 inch bow gun before entering hold #1. See the video frame below. The barrel of the gun was covered with colorfully encrusted coral.
Cargo hold #1 was full of stacked hemispherical land mines as seen below. Their wooden dividers are visibly rotten making these explosives somewhat precarious. I would not want to knock them over.
As we moved forward, a dark passageway lead to hold #2. At 180 feet deep multiple 800 kg bombs appeared in the darkness. Their wooden boxes were quickly disintegrating on the silty bottom.
We ascended to the first deck above to find 2 old Isuzu trucks facing forward in the darkness. The space around these vehicles was quite cramped and I needed to back against the wall to capture a wide angle image.
Ascending out of hold #2 the first of three light Japanese type 95 tanks became visible on the port side. Two more tanks were scattered on the starboard side precariously close to falling off the deck and down to the sand more than 220 feet below.
We circled the 2 starboard tanks before returning to the bow gun and then rose to the top of the king mast at 100 feet to perform a deep stop. Overall, we spent 18 minutes at the bottom before ascending to 12 feet to complete our 22 minute decompression obligation. 50% oxygen helped speed our decompression at the bar beneath the Odyssey. The dive went very smoothly with ample time to explore the front section of the ship. My thanks to Captain James for a great dive!
I added a blog page to help share pictures and information from dive trips. Please feel free to comment or share pictures, links, galleries, etc.
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