Doug Seifert's iconic pic of Rusi and our Bulls - do click for (amazing) detail!
Filmed entirely on yesterday's dive.
Kidding! :)
We have a camera in the water on every single
Shark dive, this principally in order to verify our basic
presence/absence data but also, in order to document any unusual behavior.
As insiders know, I usually go walkabout, mostly with
Rusi but also solo in order to venture closer to the action but also, in order to record general developments withing the
SRMR via a cursory transect, meaning that I also keep tabs on the many
Fishes, some of which are highly unusual.
I trust you know your Sharks (do you?) - so here's something about the short Fish segment:
- 08:04: Scalefin Basslet, Pseudanthias squamipinnis. This is actually the only clip that is not from Shark Reef. It is the signature Fish residing on top of the bommies within Beqa Lagoon.
- 08:10: Squarespot Basslet, Pseudanthias pleurotaeniae. This just goes to show that given the necessary dedication, even the smallest Fish can be trained. I went back several times to play back the same jingle to the same individual Fish and one day - bingo!
- 08:28ff: Garden Eels, the usually very shy deep-water orange-and-white Splendid, Gorgasia preclara amid the common Spotted, Herteroconger hassi, from the sand patch in front of the 25m feed.
- 08:45: Large-toothed Cardinalfish, Cheilodipterus macrodon, mouth-breeding an egg cluster
- 8:58: Gray Sandtilefish, Hoplolatilus cuniculus, a shy, deep-water Fish that can be rarely seen on the deep slope to Beqa Channel.
- 09:05: Yellownose Shrimpgobies, Stonogobiops xanthorhinica, with Randall's Snapping Shrimp Alpheus randalli.
- 09:13:possibly Flagtail Shrimpgoby, Amblyeleotris cf yanoi - if so, a huge range extension from its type location within the Coral Triangle proper; if not, a new species.
- 09:17: Blue-and-Yellow Fusilier, Caesio teres.
- 09:2: Panther Flounder, Bothus pantherinus, more uncommon than the rather ubiquitous and very similar Bothus mancus.
- 09:25: Elliptical Shrimpgoby, Amblyeleotris ellipse, a range extension from its previously only reported location in Samoa.
- 09:30: Dragonet, likely Morrison's, Synchiropus morrisoni.
- 09:40: Sharksucker on Sharksucker, Echeneis naucrates, see this paper by Juerg.
- 11:15ff Giant Trevally, Caranx ignobilis prey on Sharksuckers, Echeneis naucrates. Never recorded before, this is natural predation in an unnatural setting.
Obviously the video is what it is.
My videography is principally utilitarian and this is my second-ever edit in FCP, so there.
As I want to be able to grab screen shots with minimal motion blur, I've
chosen to forgo a more cinematic look in favor of sharpness, and film in 720/50p over-cranked
to 60 - but Vimeo requires compression to 30fps that comes at a loss to
the original crispiness.
The edit is for our booth at DEMA and has the sole purpose of showcasing
alot of Sharks, and for this reason I've indulged in a succession of long sequences that will basically only appeal to real Shark freaks - meaning hopefully you! But it gives a reliable impression of what you can expect to see on our dive, albeit from a different perspective owing to our rigid
safety protocols.
Enjoy!
