Underwater Photo Of The Day

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

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National Geographic has an article on Artificial Reefs this month including our own Vandenberg.

"Relics to Reefs
Why fish can't resist sunken ships, tanks, and subway cars.
By Stephen Harrigan
Photograph by David Doubilet

It took just over two minutes for the missile-tracking ship General Hoyt S. Vandenberg to sink to the bottom of the ocean. On a clear morning in May 2009, seven miles off Key West, a series of hollow booms erupted from inside the vessel’s hull, where 46 explosive charges had been buried deep below the waterline. The sharp smell of gunpowder drifted on the breeze, and an obscuring veil of black smoke began to rise, but for a long moment the ship didn’t seem to register the shock. She just hung there level in the water, 523 feet long, a rusting, decommissioned hulk with two useless radar dishes that towered above the ocean surface.

Then, as news helicopters circled above and thousands of onlookers watched from boats idling beyond the blast zone, the Vandenberg slowly hitched downward into the Atlantic, remaining perfectly horizontal until finally the bow dropped and the stern rose, leaving nothing but a roiling tract of white water. "There'll be fish living on that wreck this afternoon!" declared Joe Weatherby, the man who had spearheaded the massive project to sink the Vandenberg and turn it, over time, into an artificial reef that would lure divers and fishermen to Key West."

Continued at:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/20.../harrigan-text


There is also an intriguing time-lapse video shot from the deck of the Vandenberg when it was sunk at:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/vi...-reefs&catID=1


More images from the photographer at:
http://www.daviddoubilet.com/
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Herbert Nitsch has uploaded a video diary from a free diving visit to Palau. He provides some impressive dropoff imagery in the clip.


"Palau 2010 Part I is the first episode of a 5 part video diary series, which I hope you'll enjoy. The clips were filmed during my recent stay in Palau (Micronesia), a beautiful archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. We travelled around the islands on the liveaboard Ocean Hunter III. The footage was filmed with Canon EOS 5D MarkII and a Subal housing.
The music is from the album Funkungfusion. Great stuff! I love the album and strongly recommend it. The song in part I is 'The Lie-in King' by The Irresistible Force"

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Just came across a collection of large higher resolution images of various artificial reefs in the world.



The Oriskany, a decommissioned aircraft carrier, was towed 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, Wednesday, May 17, 2006, to form an artificial reef.



A different view of the Vandenberg off the Customs House in Key West.



A view to the north to Key West over the resting place of the Vandenberg.



Sending tanks to sea as reefs in the Gulf of Thailand.



Subway cars to reefs from New York off Delaware. This reminds me of an early AR effort in the early 1960's with street cars in California.



Not sure what sort of charges they used to scuttle the frigate HMNZS Wellington off New Zealand but they do look impressive!



The initial sinking of the Spiegel Grove off Key Largo in 2002.


There are quite a few more artificial reef images in this collection:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/27U6KB...-world/100042/


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Neil Watson and Guy Harvey dive the Sapona south of Bimini.

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The Miracle of Life is one of the newer wrecks to be dropped off this section of coast. It was acquired and sunk in large measure due to the efforts of Dixie Divers http://dixiediver.com/ of Deerfield Beach, FL.. This is a large and very complete dive shop. The most complete in this area in my estimation. I went out and free dove the wreck within a couple of hours of its sinking. Imagine trying to breathhold dive on a small wreck in moderately strong current in brown poor visibility of about 30 ft.?! It was a challenge finding it and then deciding which way to turn to see the front of the vessel. Anyway, the following video was shot in exceptional blue water visibility well in excess of 100 ft.!




More about the history of acquiring and sinking this wreck. It is costly and time consuming proposition. They pulled it off however.
http://www.dixiediver.com/Miracle%20...0Shipwreck.htm



Note: don't attempt scooter free diving without adequate pro training and careful experience development for the special area of free diving. It isn't that hard to get killed otherwise!

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I started working on this yesterday afternoon, shark closeups. By strange coincidence Anthony Serich had his own unfortunate closeup shark experience off Riveira Beach yesterday. I wish him the best in recovery. http://fksa.org/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=10635


Anyway, on to the the caribbean reef sharks:










I think these may all be females, males are less common anyway. You can see the male love bites on two of these, tough love! Also, the heartbreak of remoras strikes again. You should see these shark suckers in the Red Sea, talk about piling on.


Here is a video of a single scooter free diving drop on the same trip off Port Lucaya, GBI at the Pygmy Caves. There were a few sharks in the area. I was curious to see how they would react to the noise, electric field, etc. of the scooter. They largely seemed to ignore it unless I turned away from them or came too close. They would turn and follow if I steered away and would try to evade if I came in too close.



By the way, don't attempt scooter free diving without proper training and skill development. Otherwise it is a pretty easy way to get killed.


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"We are taking a small group and heading out in search of the elusive and rare oceanic whitetip shark around the deep water drop offs near Cat Island in the Bahamas. This is a land based, off the beaten path adventure. The trip package includes 6 days of diving, transfers to and from airport, and our stay at the dive lodge during our time on Cat Island. Each morning we will head out in search of the sharks and return in the evenings back to the island. We are limiting this trip to six guests so if you interested in joining us, let us know. This is both a snorkel and scuba diving adventure, so scuba gear is needed. This trip is a guaranteed sell out so reserve your spot early!
Visit - http://www.sharkdivermag.com for details"

We were looking forward to checking oceanic white tips out during a free diving trip to the Red Sea a while back. Unfortunately, they weren't around that time. It is strange to see these sharks in the nearby Bahamas.


They are apparently quite wide spread but I have yet to see one off Florida.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_whitetip_shark

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"Grant Hogan breaks the US Men's Constant Weight No Fins National Record with a dive to 65m/213 feet!"

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A nice composite image of a former U-Boat sunk off North Carolina prepared by David Doubilet and Hal Silverman for National Geographic.

This is what The Mail has to say about it:

"The graveyard of the Atlantic: U-boats at the bottom of the ocean

By Live Reporter

These ghostly images, taken off the coast of North Carolina, show the first Nazi contribution to a region known by divers as 'the graveyard of the Atlantic'.

The panorama is made up of 33 individual images, all painstakingly aligned from 70ft underwater by dive photographers David Doubilet and Hal Silverman.

It reveals how U-352, the first U-boat sunk by the U.S., has become an artificial reef, home to a plethora of marine life.
The decay of U-352's aft section has exposed the stern torpedo tube. Type VIIC U-boats had five 21in torpedo tubes, four in the bow and one at the stern. It took four attempts to get the right conditions for the photo shoot

The decay of U-352's aft section has exposed the stern torpedo tube. Type VIIC U-boats had five 21in torpedo tubes, four in the bow and one at the stern. It took four attempts to get the right conditions for the photo shoot
The remains of the conning tower jut out from the hull. Underwater photographers David Doubilet and Hal Silverman shot the images in the mosaic with a Nikon D3 camera and a Seacam underwater housing

The remains of the conning tower jut out from the hull. Underwater photographers David Doubilet and Hal Silverman shot the images in the mosaic with a Nikon D3 camera and a Seacam underwater housing
The wreck is just one of several along the eastern seaboard of the U.S.. Many ships, including naval craft and cargo vessels, are deliberately sunk to create artificial reefs - as are more unusual objects such as trains and tanks

The wreck is just one of several along the eastern seaboard of the U.S.. Many ships, including naval craft and cargo vessels, are deliberately sunk to create artificial reefs - as are more unusual objects such as trains and tanks

On April 7, 1942, commanded by Kapitanleutnant Hellmut Rathke, U-352, a Type VIIC U-boat, departed the French port of St Nazaire on its second Atlantic patrol. It took four weeks to cross the ocean, and was one of the first U-boats to attack shipping off the east coast of the U.S.

None of its raids were successful, however, and on May 9, desperate for a victory, Rathke fired on a Coast Guard vessel, the cutter USS Icarus. His torpedoes missed and having detected his position via sonar, the Icarus engaged with depth charges and then surface guns. U-352 sank about 25 miles off the North Carolina coast, where it remains today.

The 220ft vessel came to rest in one piece, listing heavily to starboard. Its position in coastal Gulf Stream waters, only 110ft deep, has made it a popular dive spot - though would-be explorers must share the wreck with thousands of bait fish, not to mention barracuda and tiger sharks.

The outer hull has decayed to reveal the skeletal remains of the pressurised inner hull, but many notable features remain, including the conning tower and torpedo tubes.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/mosl...#ixzz1OdnBAXbs "

More from Wetpixel:

"Photographers David Doubilet and Hal Silverman have had a composite of thirty-three images showing the full hull of the German World War II U-boat, U352, published in the UK Daily Mail. The submarine was sunk off North Carolina on 9 May 1942, and was the first U-boat to be sunk by US forces. The images were all shot with Nikon D3 cameras in Seacam housings. The wreck sits at 110 feet (34 meters) and the pictures show the extent to which it has been colonized to provide a home for marine life over the past 67 years.
http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/david...image-of-u352/

The National Geographic article which carried this image appears at:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/20.../harrigan-text

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