Reef sharks, lemon sharks and nurse sharks investigate a gorgonian, where an injured fish must be hiding. Bahamas.

Two goliath groupers (Epinephelus itajara) on the wreck of the Zion, Jupiter, Florida

While shooting video today, I had quite a few moments in which I wished only for a strobe or two.

3D anaglyph (red/cyan) video of a school of Atlantic spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber). Jupiter, Florida. September 11, 2010.

This particular video looks great at 1080p full screen on a 17″ monitor, but suffers greatly when reduced in resolution and viewed as a postage stamp-sized video.

The Eye of Mine underwater housing for GoPro cameras is simple: it’s a stock GoPro housing with a replacement flat port. Although the standard GoPro housing is waterproof and rated to 60 meters, it won’t focus underwater because of its tiny little dome port. Eye of Mine’s simple solution lets you capture sharp images underwater using a GoPro Hero HD camera.

I took an Eye of Mine-housed GoPro Hero HD camera to the Bahamas a few days ago and played with sharks:

Although I’m used to cameras many times the cost of a GoPro, and I was really impressed by the footage I managed to capture. Specifically, I can’t imagine putting any other camera inside a shark’s mouth! (Also, the footage does actually look pretty good.)

Special thanks to Russell Latimer of Eye of Mine for the loaner housing (which is still in relatively good shape, considering the abuse I put it through); to Jim Abernethy, my good friend and shark guide in the Bahamas for 9 years now; to Sterling Zumbrunn for providing third-party camera footage, and to Ultralight Control Systems for providing the AD-GO ball adapter to connect the GoPro housing to my rig.

A spawning aggregation of goliath groupers (Epinephelus itajara) off of Jupiter, Florida, taken just before sunset (hence, the noisy video).

3D video (anaglyph red/cyan) of a moral eel hunting at night in the Maldives. Shot underwater with a custom BS Kinetics underwater housing for dual Sony CX550V camcorders.

If you would rather see a side-by-side format or row interleaved, check out the YouTube version of the video.

If you don’t have anaglyph 3D glasses and want to see the footage, click through for the left eye view. (read more »)

Aerial footage of the whale shark aggregation that takes place each summer off of Isla Mujeres, Mexico. echeng100804_026166

Whale shark poop

A couple weeks ago, I posted images from my first attempt to capture a whale shark silhouette with a sunball behind it. The attempt produced a decent photo.

The following few days presented many more opportunities to go after such a shot. (read more »)

Bonito eggs clumped on human skin

The hundreds of whale sharks that aggregate off of Isla Mujeres each year are here in a massive feeding frenzy. Their food are the eggs of bonito, which are released in huge quantities during spawning events in July and August. During our hours in the water each day with the sharks, our wetsuits act like egg collectors; by the end of the day, we have eggs all over our skin. Nathalie was nice enough to allow us to photograph eggs on her arm. She makes a great skin model.

Whale shark aggregation off of Isla Mujeres

It has been extremely difficult to capture the scale of the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) migration off of Isla Mujeres. Underwater, one can only snap a still photo of 4-5 sharks at the most, and my 11-shark video sequence was the best I could do. From the tuna tower of the boat, hundreds of sharks are visible, but the ones in the distance are hard to make out in a still photo at web resolution.

We’re going up in the air today to try to capture something that really shows the scale of the migration. The sharks are dwindling in number by the day because bonito spawn on the lunar cycle, but hopefully, we will come back with something compelling!

This is an attempt to show the number of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in the water during the aggregation in Isla Mujeres. I only wish it were possible to show the hundreds more around me!

We had in excess of 500 whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) at Isla Mujeres today in perfectly clear skies and mirror-flat water. I am speechless… but not speechless enough to try to upload some video (the internet is fast enough tonight for me to get a few videos online).

Click through for 3D version of the video, plus a bonus video of Heidi Connal swimming with a “botella” (bottle) — a whale shark that is vertical in the water gulping water without moving (well, it rotates, but it stays in the same place). (read more »)

A whale shark (Rhincodon typus) feeds in a bonito spawning event off of Isla Mujeres, Mexico

There’s no other way to put it: our first day of photographing the whale shark aggregation off of Isla Mujeres, Mexico, was absolutely epic. Within an hour of leaving port, we found a group of over 300 whale sharks, all feeding constantly on the huge concentration of fish eggs in the water. I’m exhausted now and don’t have time to process and video (I’ve been shooting both 2D video with the Canon 5D Mark II and 3D video with my custom rig), but I can at least present a few photos (for now — more later, including 3D, slow-motion whale shark feeding!). (read more »)

Indonesia at the same time one of the most biodiverse ocean environments on the planet and the world’s largest shark fishery. Shark Savers is working with Misool Eco Resort, Conservation International’s Indonesia Marine Program, WildAid, and other NGOs and eco-tourism companies on a new initiative to convince the Raja Ampat government to prohibit all fishing of sharks, mantas, and mobulas.

This is not a “feel good” petition. The petition is one piece of a comprehensive initiative to show the Raja Ampat Fisheries and Tourism Depts. that sharks, mantas and mobulas are very valuable to their local economy – ALIVE! Sign the petition now — we need your support.

Spread the word!

Note — I wanted to post an image of a shark photographed in Indonesia, but I realize that I’ve pretty much NEVER SEEN A SHARK in Indonesia. If this partnership of conservation groups can help to get a new marine park set up, maybe that will change…

Stargazer, Lembeh Strait, Indonesia, originally uploaded by echeng.

A skull-like stargazer (Uranoscopus chinensis) lies in ambush, waiting for passing fish to feed upon. echeng100303_0252273.

More photos at my Lembeh Strait set.

I had to put this together for a submission to a production company, so I thought I’d post it here. Despite all the time I’ve spent in the water with sharks, I’ve only had bull shark encounters a handful of times. I was once rammed by one in mid-water, which was very exciting, but most of my encounters have involved me holding my breath trying to get close to them.

The exceptions were encounters at Beqa Lagoon in Fiji, and at Walker’s Cay in the Bahamas, which were prolonged and close. This footage is all from Walker’s Cay, where the water can get quite murky when stirred up. It was shot in 2006 with a Sony Z1u HDV camcorder in a Light & Motion Bluefin underwater housing and was one of the first times I took a video camera into the water.

Over/under image of a juvenile sperm whale in Dominica (Physeter macrocephalus)

We have finished our 6 days on the water here in Dominica, and will be headed home later on today. Our last day was probably a rather typical winter day with the whales here in Dominica, which is to say that we weren’t dropped into a social group within an hour of leaving dock (as we have been on previous days!). We went around the south part of the island into unprotected waters and watched whales from the surface, but were not really able to work with them successfully.

Tony and I were interviewed for local TV last night, and I stressed that Dominica’s healthy reefs and clear water will probably not be seen by underwater photographers (other than the cruise ship happy-snappy people) until the transportation problem here is fixed. American Eagle has strict limits on baggage, and leaving here requires an overnight in San Juan. It takes me longer to get to and from Dominica than it does for me to get to Bali, and even if it were possible to get dive gear and camera rig here via indirect international check-in, it might be impossible to get the gear out.

It has been an incredible adventure, and I will certainly be back one day! [see all photos at Flickr] (read more »)

Andrew Armour and Scar, his sperm whale buddy

I can’t tell you how lucky I feel to have met Scar, a 10-year old male sperm whale in Dominica. Andrew Armour has befriended Scar and has known Scar since he was a newborn calf.

Here are two photos of Andrew interacting with Scar. (read more »)

A sperm whale calf in Dominica.. Photo taken under permit.

Day 5: yet another fantastic day on the water! We spent most of the day swimming with whales, and all of us have aching muscles. Scar came around for a bit but didn’t seem to want to play. Although we saw groups of up to 8 sperm whales at once, only smaller groups (2-3) seemed to be socializing at the surface. We spent a lot of time with a calf, who let us hang out with him for about twenty minutes.

It’s getting harder and harder to choose images to post because there are just too many! I know — it’s a tough problem to have. :)

As always, all of the photos I’ve posted can be found on Flickr. (read more »)

Sperm whale social group (Physeter macrocephalus)

We saw fewer whales today and spent most of the day looking for whales that might tolerate a human presence in the water. A cute little calf (we’re told it’s Enigma’s baby) was accompanied by up to 12 larger sperm whales, but none of us were able to capture all 13 in one frame. (read more »)