Mobulars and Murexes

When you dive in a submarine all the time you can forget that going beyond 150 ft is still considered real diving. You don’t get wet for starters. Conventional diving limits are around 130 ft for the recreational diver. Beyond that diving gets technical, and experience is key to a safe dive. I learned a while ago to respect such diving after an experience I had with what is called nitrogen narcosis. Basically it is when you have a buildup of nitrogen in your system from the extreme pressures, and you become stupid, paranoid, and unable to preform basic tasks without extreme difficulty. It is a condition that is common at depth, and only can be avoided by experience and caution. I have never experienced anything like it, as it completely disables your mind, as opposed to your body. I don’t mind not being able to not move a bodily appendage, but when you can’t even think straight, things get scary.
So with all this in mind the captain, the other sub pilot and myself headed off this trip to dive a new seamount we found a few trips ago while diving in the submarine. The top of the seamount is 170 ft, and is full of all kinds of life. Everything from tiny seashells new to science, to a giant 14 ft ragged tooth shark who’s curiosity we seemed to spark. With the build of a great white and the apparent temperament of a grazing bull, it is an awesome creature to observe cautiously. The Captain got some great shots of the encounter, the first of its kind on Cocos island with a diver. In the submarine most encounters with this shark are extremely docile. We have seen them down near the 300 m mark though, and they seem to be a different animal all together. Swimming fast and with a purpose, they look more like a voracious hunter.
This trip was able to produce a bit of good footage as well. Cocos Island is inundated constantly with long lines that get caught on the reefs around the island. Cleaning these lines up is time consuming and often difficult work. Some good shots of this process were captured that help show how bad this problem is for the reef environment. These are stories that are seldom shown or given much consideration. It is the part of being “environmentally friendly” that gets left behind. Its easy to say “don’t do that”. But to stop, walk back a few steps and pick up that piece of trash is different. It shows more insight into the solution than into the problem.
The deep scuba dives this trip also helped produce two specimens of Murex shells. Currently there is only one of this particular species available to science. We found one specimen at around 150 ft, and another juvenile specimen at 170 ft. It is really amazing how much we don't know is out there. The pictures here are of Mobular rays at around 200 m / 650 ft. They are extremely elegant creatures and seem to glide along effortlessly at these extreme depths.