Bottle-nosed Dolphin Encounter off Eleuthera Island

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3May2013

So often we get stuck in routines. This can even happen when talking about something as un-routine as scuba diving. We go to certain dive sites over and over because they offer the best general diving. I have been on dive boats where on the way to the site we see something amazing in the water from the surface. “Can we jump in?” I ask. “Nope” is always the response. To me, you have to take advantage of the gifts the ocean give you. We had this a couple of days ago where feeding dolphins and nurse sharks let us share the water with them for over 90 minutes. Here are some shots.

Nurse shark feeding in the sand as dolphins swim on

Nurse shark feeding in the sand as dolphins swim on

 

Bottle-nose dolphin in black and white

Bottle-nose dolphin in black and white

 

A bottle-nosed dolphin bottom feeds in the Bahamas

A bottle-nosed dolphin bottom feeds in the Bahamas

 

If you are interested in going on a dive adventure without limitations contact Valentines Dive Center and mention this post!

Korsae, Micronesia – Dr. Seuss’ Dive

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9April2013

I have to be honest here – I had never heard of Kosrae (pronounced Kosh-rye), a small island in the federated states of Micronesia, before winning a trip to the beautiful island. I grew up in Canada and now live in the Bahamas, far from this admittedly non-tourist island. When I heard the news that I had placed in an underwater photo competition and my prize was a week in Kosrae I immediately googled the destination. I actually didn’t find very much and this excited me all the more. Could this be a virtually undiscovered diving paradise in the middle of the pacific ocean?

It turns out that Kosrae is not exactly undiscovered, but it certainly could be called a paradise! Micronesia has some very famous (to scuba divers) islands like Yap (mantas anyone?) and Palau, but Kosrae only gets about 200 divers a year. In fact, at any one time there are usually only about 6 tourists on the island and only about 40 hotel rooms total. Okay, so we have established Kosrae isn’t a tourist trap, what about the diving? To truly appreciate it you need to see it for yourself. Here are a few pictures that will not do it justice.

Kosrae's endless hard coral reef

Like something out of a Dr. Seuss book, the coral formations off Kosrae Island are bazaar and beautiful.

 

Pipefish found in a blue hole

Pipefish found in a blue hole just a short swim from the Kosrae Nautilus Hotel

 

Freediver circled by sharks and rainbow runners

An unexpected treat: a baitball being fed on by grey reef sharks and rainbow runner – a highlight of the trip.

Pink Anemone fish or clown fish

Pink Anemone fish or clown fish like this are very common around Kosrae

 

porcelain crab in sea anemone

porcelain crab in sea anemone straining the water for nutrients

If you would like to experience the diving yourself contact Kosrae Nautilus Resort. They will help you every step of the way.

(Photographically) Shooting Whales

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10February2013

Check out my latest article in 72&Rising magazine about what I have about learned shooting whales. In the last year I have been fortunate enough to encounter and photograph sperm whales, blue whales, pygmy blue whales, humpback whales and Bryde’s whales. Here is what I have learned:

Download the article - Sea Pixels – Shooting Whales by Shane Gross

Freediver photographing humpback whales in Mexico

Freediver photographing humpback whales in Mexico

To subscribe to 72&Rising click here.

 

Mating Octopus

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25January2013

Sometimes you are really lucky to witness animal behaviour. It is even more lucky to see it underwater. Last week I was privileged to see the mating of two octopus. I wish I had a wide angle lens on, but I guess I wasn’t meant to be that lucky. Anyway, here is a picture I wanted to share.

Caribbean Reef Octopus Mating.

Caribbean Reef Octopus Mating.

The Lively Pelagic Zone of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

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29November2012

Here is a day-by-day play of a recent photography expedition to the southern tip of the Baja peninsula. Our main goal was to find striped marlin feeding on baitballs. While the baitballs proved elusive, the area is full of life.

Day 1 in Cabo…tough cloudy conditions, but managed to find a large baitball with sharks and marlin. Also saw whales, mobulas, dolphins and sea lions. All surface stuff today so no “intimate encounters”, but the forecast looks perfect for tomorrow so confidence is high.

sea lion playing

Sea lion playing under crashing waves

Cabo day 2 – Wednesday lived up to its “hump day” moniker with hours of humpback whale interactions. Amazing in-water humpback interactions, that is. We also saw a blue whale, bottle-nose dolphins (interacting with the whales), and a friendly newborn baby loggerhead sea turtle. Just one of those amazing days on the water.

bottlenose dolphins playing with humpback whales

Bottlenose dolphins playing with humpback whales

Baby loggerhead sea turtle

Baby loggerhead sea turtle

Cabo day 3 – Started off the day with a quick visit from a scalloped hammerhead and and a long visit from a very friendly whale shark. Then went looking for marlin. We didn’t find any baitballs that weren’t being hammered by fisherman, but we still got to swim with free cruising marlin! Another huge success on/in the water today!

Whale Shark and scuba diver

Curious whale shark

Striped marlin

Striped marlin cruising near the surface

Cabo day 4 – Today the ocean gave us some great in-water encounters with dolphins. Their curiosity and grace in the water made today great, even though the fisherman kept us from getting in the water with the huge baitball we found. Tomorrow is our last day and we are going all out for marlin

Cabo day 5 – our marlin expedition officially turned in to a humpback whale expedition today with hours and hours of interactions with a very friendly group of 4 whales. An amazing day to end an amazing week….

Family of humpback whales

Family of humpback whales

Overall the trip was a huge success even though the baitballs eluded us. There will be many more opportunities to go and find them. Trip leaders Amanda Cotton and Luke Inman are planning on going back in December of 2013, click here for details.