Jellies

Cut this short video from some surface footage we shot over at "BFW." We had unusually good visibility this day, with the exception of the first 6 feet of water column that was populated by millions of comb jellies!

Jelly Attack! from Green Diver on Vimeo.

Wall diving in New England

As the season winds down, we have been booking trips through Cape Ann Divers to get out to Halfway Rock and BFW as much as we can in order to finish documenting these places before winter. Finally mother nature was on our side and we were pleased to observe incredible visibility at these sites. I was able to shoot Chuck Marrone against some impressive backdrops allowing for more perspective than I've ever previously been able to attain at these locations. If you haven't seen these places first hand, the pictures only represent tiny pieces of these colossal underwater structures.

Chuck at about 70' heading down at Halfway Rock.

Chuck running a reference line at BFW

BFW Trailer

I just cut together this short on BFW. As I accumulate more footage I will do an extended cut. Enjoy!

BFW Trailer from Green Diver on Vimeo.

BFW

     Big Fantastic Wall, Big Fancy Wall, Big Effing Wall - whatever floats your boat...so to speak. Located a mile or so away from Halfway Rock, BFW has become a favorite dive spot of mine. A submerged plateau of granite, the major appeal of this location is the geological structure itself. Beginning at 35', There is a bright and pretty area of sea plants small fish and jellies. After swimming a little way you reach the wall. It looks like to end of the earth. A perfectly chiseled cliff that drops off into blackness. It is an absolute delight jumping off this cliff (as any well adjusted diver would do). After stepping into oblivion, you descend another 70' straight down into the darkness. It is spooky and wonderful down there. Not too much abounds in terms of sea life, but it will take me a long time to get bored by this massive structure.

In a continued effort to document this place, I offer these pictures. These weren't easy to acquire photographically speaking. Capturing something this size, putting it into perspective and shooting it under very poor lighting and visibility requires some major camera tweaking. These were all shot on very high ISO and I needed to done some work in post to desaturate them, the best way to see the contrast. In any case, enough said. Enjoy.

Chuck Marrone finds the edge of the world

Chuck jumps off the cliff.

Looking north at about 60'

Looking north at a murkier 100'

Looking up at Chuck's reference line

    

Halfway Rock & BFW

curious sculpin checks out his reflection

       We recently had a low-key day on the Cape Ann Divers small boat, with myself, Chuck Marrone, Todd Daniels, and Phil Bowers onboard. We did some impressive wall diving at Halfway Rock and "BFW" (Big Fantastic Wall). Halfway Rock has been reliably awesome this year. There is frequently stellar visibility here while other spots nearby are dark and muddy. Schools of pollack frequent the area along with beds of palmate sponges, sculpin, sea cucumbers, as well as many other critters that call this rock home. These amazing technicolor photos are quite true to life here. Just add light and divers are treated to explosive color and impressive sea life. These are fantastic locations.  Soon I will post some of the video work we have been doing at these dive sites. But for now, enjoy the photos.

Palmate sponge on pink granite

colorful tunicates covering boulder

blood stars, sponges and tunicates

Wreck of the Patriot

Last month we had the pleasure of going out to the Wreck of the Patriot in Stellwagen Bank. You couldn't ask for a better day, the water was flat-calm, no current, and there was 50+ feet of visibility. On the ride out with Cape Ann Divers, we saw a humpback whale, a minke whale, seals, and plenty of sea birds. Underwater there were dozens of sculpin, nudibranchs, and an enormous (pictured) torpedo ray. Please enjoy the following photos and embedded video Chuck and I shot. It should also be noted that 2 experienced fishermen lost their lives here and divers should treat this site with nothing but respect for them and their families.

Diver exploring the upper rigging of the wreck

Hardly a "wreck", the boat is almost entirely intact.

The infamous torpedo ray...

Torpedo ray with boat for perspective.

The Wreck of the Patriot from Green Diver on Vimeo.

Some midsummer pictures.

      With the season in full steam and we are starting to accumulate some decent pictures and video from our recent adventures with Cape Ann Divers. We dove the Salvages, the Haight, the Poling, Halfway Rock, Neverfail Ledge, and Boohoo Ledge just to name a few. So far, the vis has been good and the weather only skunked us once. Since this is a photo blog and I'm not in the mood to write anything exciting, please enjoy the following pictures!

The Salvages. There is a large (gray?) seal in the foreground. I wish there was something to put him into perspective. Lot of seals and birds this day. Downwind of the island was not the place to be...

This is from my favorite snorkeling spot in East Gloucester. I don't know how, but it always looks like the tropics here. Blue water with stellar vis. 

Another from East Gloucester. A baby cunner coming out of his home to look at his reflection in my camera. 

A friendly and curious rock gunnel.

Sea star close up. The orange spot is the value for its water circulatory system.

Atlantic Wolfish in Cape Ann

        We met this lady offshore while diving with Cape Ann Divers a couple of weeks ago. A rare find (though I can't take credit for finding her) not to mention my first REAL LIFE wolfish sighting. OH Boy! I couldn't stop thinking about this magnificent fish. What's not pictured is a debris field of pulverized shells that were in front of the wolfish home (a broken pipe.)  In other words, anyone who was unlucky enough to be a passerby in this particular location.

After snapping a few pictures she became a little bit agitated and began to show off her artillery (pictured below). At that point I let her be and returned to the boat overjoyed, and happy to still have all my fingers...

 
Well folks, the season is in full swing. I'll do my best to start posting on a regular basis. In the mean time, enjoy the wolfish. A face that only a mother, or a fish-nerd could love...

Saturday Night Ledge

      Here's our short film on "Saturday Night Ledge," located offshore of Gloucester, Massachusetts. This video was shot over the course of 5 days during September-November 2011. Despite frozen head and hands, sea-sickness, and a touch of narcosis, we had a blast making this one. This is truly a magical place.

Thanks to Cape Ann Divers, Captain Steve, and Dave for getting us there and back so many times in one piece.

Shot on a Canon T2i with natural light (or lack thereof)...

Above Cape Ann

Last fall, my buddy Mike Abelson took me up in his Skylane RG to get some aerial shots of Cape Ann. We were able to quickly and easily identify some of the best dive sites around the island. It was a hazy, but beautiful day, and it's always a blast riding in the front seat of a small plane (not to mention hanging out the window, camera in hand). In any case, this video that I finally cut together offers a unique perspective of some of our favorite dive sites. Enjoy!

Some more from the archives

         The Green Diver crew has been tirelessly preparing for the new dive season: gear inspection, maintenance, improvements, and some more camera equipment. We'll probably hit the water in May sometime and have some new content shortly after. In the mean time, I'll continue to post some more stuff from last year as I come across it...

A fierce friend at The Salvages. He kept trying to get his reflection in my camera housing.

Rock covered in tunicates at the Salvages

Star tunicate, pretty but invasive.

Saturday Night Ledge and Burnham Rock 2

        In a continued effort to shoot as much SNL video as possible before the end of the season, we booked another Cape Ann Divers charter to take us out. We were blessed with another flat day, unusual for mid October. With only 3 of us on the boat, we got to spread out and relax before the dives. Conditions underwater were not as nice as the surface. It was another foreboding, murky day at the base of the mooring line. While Chuck was grappling with an unruly, tangled wreck reel and a slowly leaking drysuit, I swam around the general area taking pictures. Alas, we never even made it to the trench. Although generally not difficult to find, our own minor problems and nitrogen induced confusion hampered our less than perfect navigational skills. This proved to be a mixed blessing as I was able to take my time and get some nice pictures to incorporate into the video.        
         At Burnham, the current was up and sweeping through the trench. It was strange because we really didn't feel the current until we hit the bottom. I swam through the trench a little bit and took some more pictures. While we were down there, Chuck seemed reluctant to move away from the mooring line. I realized when we were back on the boat that he had suffered a catastrophic drysuit zipper fail. When Chuck got out of his suit we were all shamefully amused when he emptied about 2 gallons of 55 degree water out of his legs. Funny when it's not you... So Chuck didn't have the best day in the world, and we didn't really get much video done. However, as always, it was a good day because there were no major issues and everyone returned to the boat safely.   

Sleeping anemones

Spiny sun star

Stalked tunicate

Cunner by the mooring line

Spiny sun star

The camera strobe illuminates the hidden color that is everywhere down there. I will paste this image to the forehead of the next person that tells me "there's nothing to see while diving in New England"