wild SPS corals, Marshall Islands

[klondike4001]

Worked for me, thanks for the vid!

[ziyaadb]

worked me me

Awesome video. thanks. Reallly amazing down there

[Cabj1970]

I think that we are all living a fantasy thru you. I am sure that I can speak for a lot of us trying to understand how great it would be to walk out of her house to collect and view real life situation in a coral reef. See we have to go to a coral store or a trade show to purchase and if we really want to experience goto Aquarium exhibit.

How you ever did a experiment and put some of your corals on a reef and record the growth rate 6 months on a reef flats. Also for those acros on low tide is blowing me away. When I frag my acros I panic because my stuff is out of water for 10 minutes. Those acros look like they are out for few hours. Wow, mother nature.


I am sure many people say you are blessed and keep those photo's coming.

I am sure many people say you are blessed.

[oceanview76]

Absolutely fantastic and inspirational. I'm subscribed and applied. I showed my wife the thread on our commute home and she said she'd love to go. Every time my phone rings, I'm hoping it's Human Resources trying to schedule an interview... Fingers crossed.

[007Bond]

oceanview76---Good for you, good luck!

[r-balljunkie]

Originally Posted by SDKID

the first pick in set 3 is very cool there's a fish hiding inside that blue tip acro it didn't see at first but in all your pic if you look closer a second time you would find something new u didn't see the first time.

Yes, I'm going to post some more videos that elaborate more on how close reef corals and fish interact, especially the smaller fish. In some of the videos, you can see a single coral can cover an area like an open field, with schools of fish darting in and out of the single coral formation.

Its impossible to tell whats going on in the middle of such formations. I'm sure more than we will ever know.

Originally Posted by ziyaadb

awesome pics as usual r ball, thank you

Z, ur most welcome. I hope they’re getting better.

Originally Posted by labiris

Awesome
I envy you.
more pics

envy? Meh, its give and take. I'm sure you hit up the starbucks drive thru sometime in the last few months, ordered a half caff double macchiato or a frappaccino, while texting someone..: > )

Originally Posted by ormet

Awesome thread, thanks for sharing.
War Rashad!

O, not a problem. Looks like Rashad didn’t have the mojo with him. Those standing elbows are vicious. That’s almost not defensible.

Originally Posted by ballenreef

Simply breathe taking! I can only hope to one day live where I am able to scuba/snorkle about any day I desire. Truely inspirational! Thank you for sharing with all of us!

The time will come, I won’t have this lifestyle. I'm truly appreciative of this experience, and will miss it when I'm gone.

Originally Posted by kawicivic

I'm in the same boat. I am actually a rampage fan strictly due to his entertainment value. I know those two don't get along at all. I am torn because of all of the bad blood surrounding the fight. I am not sure who did what to who. It should defintely lead to fighting with heart which always makes a good show.

Bringing it back on topic now (well kinda) - you talked about a lobo mountain in another thread one time. Do you have any pics of these lobos? That's why it's still kind of off topic- Lps pic request!

It’s really hard to get a picture of something so massive, as the colors quickly get washed out, and it will be a mass of blue only.. I don’t have a James Cameron budget to afford such lighting (frigging football field in size, several stories tall). Since I’m getting more handy with the video’s now, ill try to post a vid or two when I get a chance.

Pictures don’t give you a representation on the size and scale of it.

Originally Posted by mkbtank

That last pic with the acros out of water is just awesome.

Yes, makes you rethink a lot of things when you see it firsthand

Originally Posted by slapshot

Nope link took me to your account. I could not find the video

??

Originally Posted by Boboli

Cool Stuff!
Now I know I hate your life, oops I mean my life !
You are one lucky dude!
Keep up the great pic posts.
Thanks

You’re welcome.
Give and take my friend. I haven’t sat down at a restaurant, have someone bring me my food in some time. It’s the little things you miss

Originally Posted by 007Bond

Nice video! New camera? Looks high def. Thanks for sharing your dives.---Rick

Nope. Same camera, olympus xz-1. like ive stated, this camera can do much much more than i know, a bit of a learning curve for me. I got the light attachment in. I have a Sola 600 dive light that can be used as a video light as well.

Did some reading up, and figured out how to set the white balance to shoot videos. Have to say, wow what a difference, huh?

Originally Posted by klondike4001

Worked for me, thanks for the vid!

Originally Posted by ziyaadb

worked me me

Awesome video. thanks. Reallly amazing down there

Originally Posted by Cabj1970

I think that we are all living a fantasy thru you. I am sure that I can speak for a lot of us trying to understand how great it would be to walk out of her house to collect and view real life situation in a coral reef. See we have to go to a coral store or a trade show to purchase and if we really want to experience goto Aquarium exhibit.
How you ever did a experiment and put some of your corals on a reef and record the growth rate 6 months on a reef flats. Also for those acros on low tide is blowing me away. When I frag my acros I panic because my stuff is out of water for 10 minutes. Those acros look like they are out for few hours. Wow, mother nature.

I am sure many people say you are blessed and keep those photo's coming.

I am sure many people say you are blessed.

Nah, no experiments. Just tooling around having fun. There’s such a variety of corals, I wouldn’t know where to start to stage and gage growth. Corals that grow on the lagoon side and this close to shore are the easier more prolific (hardier) variety. There’s too many factors involved to do something like this.

Yes, corals and clams exposed at low tides are interesting, indeed.

Originally Posted by oceanview76

Absolutely fantastic and inspirational. I'm subscribed and applied. I showed my wife the thread on our commute home and she said she'd love to go. Every time my phone rings, I'm hoping it's Human Resources trying to schedule an interview... Fingers crossed.

Originally Posted by 007Bond

oceanview76---Good for you, good luck!

Oceanview, the HR process is weird out here. Please keep this in mind.

Ill shoot you a PM to give you the run down. Most of us out here aren’t doing exactly what we did in the states, so a bit of flex and imagination is needed looking at jobs. We are in dire need for a structural engineer, and another mechanical engineer with strong airside experience.





I was hoping to put off an update until I got back from Pohnpei, leaving in a couple of days……….got excited that I actually shot some video worth posting. Sorry for the ridiculous sizing of the videos. I’ve been working feverishly on finding a program that can reduce the file sizes.
Youtube is the simple answer, but we can’t have simplicity here, we have to overcomplicate things (no Youtube access at work, no high speed at home, sigh)
I'm shooting in HD, so that’s part of the problem. I figured out the white balance thing, got a good light….wallllaaa. betta videos. These first sets are an easy walk in dive. It’s the second closest ship wreck to me.

These videos are from a basic walk in dive around 40'-50' of water, so basic there’s was a couple of eleven year old kids on the dive with us.

They em start early out here.

I'm so used to doing ‘technical’ and deep wreck dives on the weekends; you forget how beautiful and fun a simple walk in dive can be.

For those of you with the patience, or have a speedy connection, enjoy the remaining videos.

Ill put a little narrative before each one, let you know what to look for and caveat the fact....

these are my first real attempts at shooting underwater video...please bare with me and if you have some tips for me, by all means...im all ears!

Enjoy.




Recap of previous video, around the bow of the wreck, then i swim upside down to show the underside and the corals that grow in the absence of direct light, including some monticaps. lots of non-light needing corals i.e. sun corals attached.

#2 Video

cruising dow the side of the top rail of the wreck. its amazing the coral coverage you get on some of these wrecks. note all the damsels darting in and out of the corals.




#3 video

Top deck of the wreck. notice the ninja dissapear moves by the fish, and the blue damsels and the neon blue tinge to the lower fin area




#4 Video

onto a nearby coral head. notice the lettuce looking corals the dominate, and flowing nature of the lobo formations
notice the change in elevation, going from top to bottom.




#5 Video

zoomed back to give you the scale of how large a single coral formation can get.

cardinals anyone?




#6 Video

clownfish and bubble tips in the corals . its kinda like double protection.

as you can see the single stripe clown variety is the most dominant here.
ocean side, clowns get HUGE. easily the size of a mans hand.




#7 Video

Anemone with skunk clowns. i really want to catch me a couple, but meh, tend to leave them alone. look at the size of the tabling acro. believe it or not, they get much much bigger




#8 Video
Peek a boo with the fish, plate/fungia corals anyone?

[rehab]

Man it is so nice, thanks for sharing those awesome vids.

[rehab]

Was that a black tang I see at the end of the last vid?

[oceanview76]

Originally Posted by 007Bond

oceanview76---Good for you, good luck!

-Thank you very much. I can't imagine a nicer way to eject from the rat race in the Northeast.

[oceanview76]

Quote:
Originally Posted by r-balljunkie-->
"Oceanview, the HR process is weird out here. Please keep this in mind.

Ill shoot you a PM to give you the run down. Most of us out here aren’t doing exactly what we did in the states, so a bit of flex and imagination is needed looking at jobs. We are in dire need for a structural engineer, and another mechanical engineer with strong airside experience."

I can't help you with structural or mechanical engineering; but my wife is an electrical engineer. The only thing that could be better then me landing a job out there is getting my wife a job so I can focus on teaching myself how to become a sushi chef and sommelier for the next two years. I just hope she's not following this thread any longer.

I PM'd you my info, thanks for the assist.

[Johanv]

Any updates? Hope the trip went well

[r-balljunkie]

Still in pohnpei, trip was delayed a few days. This place is amazing. Updates later.

[frugalreefer]

Thanks for posting up the videos. I only wish there were more

[r-balljunkie]

Originally Posted by rehab

Man it is so nice, thanks for sharing those awesome vids.

Originally Posted by rehab

Was that a black tang I see at the end of the last vid?

NP, glad you liked them. now, not a black tang, in the sense, of ooh aah, super rare, rather a Zebrasoma scopas tang. Nevertheless, a beautiful fish. I have one in my aquarium.

Originally Posted by oceanview76

-Thank you very much. I can't imagine a nicer way to eject from the rat race in the Northeast.

Aaah, yes. I think I'm going to have a hard time readjusting back into society after wearing shorts and sandals for the last two years. I think it will be bittersweet once we are on the plane, buckled in our seat ready for take off, when we finally do depart the island for good. There’s an old saying in the Army, your best duty station, was your last duty station. If translated into civilian life, I think its going to be the appropriate sentiments when we remember back on everything. Hellova an adventure.

Originally Posted by Johanv

Any updates? Hope the trip went well

Originally Posted by frugalreefer

Thanks for posting up the videos. I only wish there were more

Asketh and you shall receiveth.


Wow,

You guys are a bunch of suckers. You’ve been getting ripped off on photo quality for over a year!!!!

OK, OK. I think I found the problem. White balance is your friend when it comes to underwater photography. I think my diving skills have greatly improved and I'm able to think more coherently and have a greater comfort level manipulating buttons. I guess that comes with diving every weekend for over a year and a half?

Perhaps. I think ive graduated from the Auto-underwater setting, to being comfortable enough to shoot in manual mode. All I can say is wow, much much better image representation(s).



I’ve been back from Pohnpei for a couple of weeks now, getting back settled in to the normal routine. I have to say, not too impressed with the diving in Pohnpei. It was nice, but I'm spoiled rotten (Daddy, Daddy, you only got me a 5 series beamer for my 16th birthday!!! I hate you).

The scenery in Pohnpei was phenomenal, the hospitality and people were spot on. It was a really nice getaway for us.

I think the waterfalls, and swimming with the manta rays was the highlight of the trip. I posted some pics in the scuba diving forum, didn’t want to further muddle this thread…even though it can be argued its already muddled.

Back to now…..we’ve been kooked up for the last 6 days, straight raining. I think everyone was chomping at the bit to get wet, and all the boats were gone, or in need of repair. We did a couple of simple walk in dives, which is rare for the group I run with, we like to go ocean side for the more adventurous stuff. I have to say, what a nice treat. I’ve had a couple of bad walk-in dives, due to my poor underwater navigation skills, which ended with a load of swimming back to shore. We had an expert navigator this go around, who was amazing at getting us from location to location.

As you can see from the pics, the visibility was bad, tons of run off in the water, high particulates.

Keep an eye out for zoanthids in the pictures……tons of zoa’s, which are hard to spot if you don’t have a good eye for them.

Ill post some video later on.

Enjoy the pics.

[r-balljunkie]

[r-balljunkie]

[r-balljunkie]

[sanddollar789]

Amazing how artificial lighting changes the look of corals.... :P

[syedjilani]

It's amazing. Thanks for sharing...

[Chrisrush]

Those carpet anemones are amazing, especially the red one.

[Loynzey]

Which camera and lens do you use whilst diving?

[tra072011]

Hi,

Thanks very much for this comment. It help me to think about my ideals.

Tks again and pls keep posting.

[robferrari]

Those pictures and video are amazing! Thank you for sharing. It's exciting to see what is in nature compared to our tanks.

[Renaisancexx]

I just finished reading through this entire thread and enjoyed it all. Amazing is what comes to mind. Thank you for sharing!

[CJ 1098]

Nice to a see a red carpet in the wild, did you see anymore or just the one?