Adams River Sockeye Salmon Run October 2010

I spent this past weekend up at Adams River, BC. with Kathryn and Alex.  This year's salmon run is the dominant year of the sockeye's four-year cycle; with an unexpected 34 million sockeye returning to the Fraser River watershed this year, the biggest run since 1913!  By comparison, an estimated 1.5 million returned to spawn in 2006 and 3.7 million in 2002. 

On Saturday, October 16, we spent about four hours in the river with fellow photographers Stewart Sy and Nick Lawlor.  The river's current gave us a bit of a workout and the underwater visibility was silty at times, yet we made the best of it. I shot some topside images on Sunday morning before heading back home. 

For more information about the Salute to the Sockeye festival, visit the Adams River Society’s web site at www.salmonsociety.com

Words of Wisdom

"You will never find the right person if you do not let go of the wrong one..."

Browning Pass HideAway Dive Resort~ Set Adrift On Diving Bliss!

I spent the past week diving at the Browning Pass HideAway Dive Resort, just north of Port Hardy, BC.  Captain John deBoeck never ceases to amaze diving guests with Browning Pass and all its diving wonders!

For more information, go to: www.vancouverislanddive.com

These are just a few images I captured...

Number 9 ~ Happy Birthday, John Lennon!

October 9th, would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday.  Today we remember the man, husband, father, musician and peace activist that was John Winston Ono Lennon. 

I can recall when Double Fantasy was released in 1980, Lennon stated the album cover would feature Yoko & him kissing.  At the time, they intended that any pictures of them in the media would only show them kissing.  A protest of sorts against war and I suspect negative vibrations in general.  After all, what image could be more disarming than two people who are in love, kissing?

I came across a quote today by none other than Dr, Seuss, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."  I think, Mr. Lennon would have liked that...

"Think peace. Act Peace. Spread peace and Imagine peace."

Decorator Crab ~ Master Of Disguise

A master of disguise, this bizarre-looking "decorator crab" demonstrates the fine art of undersea camouflage by attaching various detritus to to its exoskeleton.  These crabs use their sticky saliva to attach items they find to their body making them sometimes difficult to spot on an invertebrate encrusted reef or wall.  Photo taken in Browning Passage, British Columbia.

Northwest Dive News Published My Vanuatu Story

Apart from publishing my story, "Vanuatu: Bali Hai in the South Pacific", I also scored the magazine's cover shot!

Selene Peterson, Executive Assistant to the Publisher, said "We will be using your most awesome photo from Vanuatu titled “Diver and Soft Coral” for the cover of NORTHWEST DIVE NEWS. We love it!! It is incredible and the colors are amazing. Many thanks and most appreciated!!!"

The Shark-Free Marina Initiative

A very worthy cause whose goal is to reduce worldwide shark mortality.

Registered 'Shark-Free' marinas participate in a voluntary program under which they agree to prohibit sharks from being harvested at their facility. Working in tandem with businesses and fishermen we develop sensible protocols under which threatened species of shark are permitted to recover and replenish their stocks. We also work with policy makers at Local, State and Federal levels to create and enforce community conscious policy and increase the awareness of the need to protect our sharks and our ocean.

Currently between 60 and 100 million sharks are slaughtered worldwide each year. This massive cull of apex predators is unsustainable and poses a serious threat to the oceans health. Over the last 5 years the recreational fishery in the United States has harvested an average of ½ a Million sharks per year, removing them from an already struggling breeding population. Shark-Free Marinas will reduce the mortal take of sharks and encourage responsible use of our ocean.

 (source: www.sharkfreemarinas.com)

Aquatica's newest dealer in British Columbia!

...though he says he will ship anywhere. 

My good friend, Stewart Sy, is not only a talented underwater photographer, but is also now one of AQAUTICA's newest dealers in British Columbia.  

AQUATICA manufactures an extensive line of underwater housings for today’s finest digital cameras. The company also manufactures the world renowned Technical Lighting Control (TLC) strobe arms, trays and accessories. AQUATICA and TLC are the brands preferred by some of the top professional underwater photographers and are well known for their optical quality and superior level of craftsmanship. David Doubilet, of National Geographic fame, used their products as far back as 1982.

I purchased my first AQUATICA underwater housing in 1985 and took it around the world on diving assignments. Today, I am housing my NIKON D700 in an AQUATICA AD700.

As honest as the day is long, Stu knows underwater camera gear, how to use it. and provides "exemplary customer service!"  For more information, contact:

SLS Photography Ltd
11-8291 General Currie Road
Richmond, BC V6Y 1L9 CANADA
(604) 618-3421
cameras@stewartsy.com

Candy Stripe Shrimp

Usually found hiding near the base of crimson anemones, the candy stripe shrimp (aka Clown Shrimp) are one of the most striking marine invertebrates in British Columbia's Emerald Sea.  With their neon veins and translucent bodies, these tiny shrimp are a much sought after macro subject for underwater photographers.

“When angels visit us..."

“When angels visit us, we do not hear the rustle of wings, nor feel the feathery touch of the breast of a dove; but we know their presence by the love they create in our hearts...”

On numerous occasions I have been speaking to my wife on the phone while she's in her car when she says, “Just a second, hon.” I can hear her roll down her window to give her bag lunch, piece of fruit, or bottled water to a homeless person. While she has many virtues, words can't express how blessed I feel to be married to one who does such charitable acts for those less fortunate without any fanfare or expectation...

"JTZ GRL" ~ When I say I'm in love, you best believe I'm in love L-U-V!

My amazing wife, Kathryn, just received customized license plates for her new BMW.  While she shows me every day in so many ways how much she truly loves me... she clearly is taking no prisoners in proclaiming to the world she's "Jett's Girl!"

Decorated Warbonnet ~ (Chirolophis decoratus)

Skittish by nature, Decorated Warbonnets are an eel-like fish named after the prominent cirri crowning their skull, which resembles the feathers of a Plains Indian chief's warbonnet.  Measuring about one foot in length, many believe these bizarre-looking fish from the Pacific Northwest rival any to be found at many of the World's tropical diving hot spots. 

Spiny Dogfish - Long Distance Travelers

Spiny dogfish inhabit colder waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans from shallows to nearly 700 metres deep. Found in all the world’s temperate oceans, the spiny dogfish is a small schooling shark that forms groups of hundreds, or thousands, of individuals of the same sex and size.  The average length is between 75 and 105 cm (30 to 40 inches), however, individuals have been known to grow to 130 cm (50 inches) weighing 9 kg (20lbs).

Spiny dogfish sharks are long-distance travelers. One spiny dogfish tagged and released from Washington State showed up off the coast of Japan ~ a 5,000 mile journey!

Truth In Advertising ~ One Early Explorer Got It Right

This is a newspaper clip of the actual “Help Wanted” ad that famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton ran when assembling his Antarctica expedition crew.  Surprisingly, it generated over 5,000 responses from adventure seekers.

This legendary explorer's ill-fated 1914-1916 Endurance expedition is considered to be one of the greatest survival stories of all time where 28 men were stranded in the Antarctic for nearly two years. Well, the ad did say..."safe return doubtful".

Andy Lamb - Coastal Fishes Of The Pacific Northwest

Kathryn and I attended a talk in Vancouver by Andy Lamb tonight.  Andy along with underwater photographer, Phil Edgell, have recently released a newly revamped 2nd edition of Coastal Fishes of the Pacific Northwest. The book costs about $30 and is a “must have” if you dive in the Pacific Northwest.

With great wit and humour, Andy entertained us with his views on marine conservation, what changes have ocuured since his first edition of Coastal Fishes was published in 1986. Very entertaining and refreshingly enlightening views from a man who has been diving in British Columbia's Emerald Sea since 1967.

Andy and his wife wife, Virginia, operate a B&B on Thetis Island, BC, called the Cedar Beach Ocean Lodge www.cedar-beach.com.

You can order his latest book from Amazon Books  Link

Depth Magzaine ~ Published My Story About Diving In Maui

Depth Magazine, an online internet scuba publication, has published my story, "Maui - Hawaii's Waterworld" in their September/October 2010 issue. The cover shot is also my image of dolphins swimming on the bow of the dive boat.

Coming Next Month... Northwest Dive News October 2010

 Editor, Rick Stratton had this to say about the next issue...

Vanuatu: Bali Ha'i in the South Pacific

Have you ever danced with a Fire gobie in the pale moon light? Jett has, and he wants to tell you about diving in one of the most beautiful places this planet has to offer. Tell anyone that you've been diving in Vanuatu and their vague response is likely to be something along the lines "Sounds fantastic! Ahhh...where in the world is Van-a-what-tu?" Even experienced travel agents are sometimes stymied when it comes to pinpointing Vanuatu's geographic whereabouts. Find out about corals, cuttlefish, and what else this mythical place of diving has to offer! (By the way, it's located east of Australia and west of Fiji - for those not near a map.)

Indonesia's Lembeh Strait or British Columbia?: Horned shrimp (paracrangon echinata)

Muck Diving in British Columbia has its rewards. For many years I referred to this critter as being a broken-back shrimp.  However, Marine Biologist extraordinaire, Andy Lamb of Cedar Beach Dive Resort, helped me to identify it as being a Horned shrimp (paracrangon echinata).

NorthWest Dive & Travel Expo 2011 in Tacoma

Apart from presenting a daytime seminar, it looks like I will  also be on stage at the fourth annual Dive and Travel Expo's Saturday night film festival. The event is sponsored by the Dive News Network and will again be held at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center on April 8, 9 & 10, 2011.  Topics to be announced at a later date.

What A Difference A Year Can Make ~ Sockeye Salmon Return To British Columbia’s Fraser River

Early predictions are this year’s Fraser River Sockeye salmon run could be the biggest run on the river since 1913! With an estimated 25-million sockeye expected, this is welcome news especially after the disastrous 2009 season when just over one million salmon returned.  Clearly, the four-year salmon life cycle is dictated by the rhythms of Mother Nature.  We can only observe and remain hopeful that future runs will remain equally strong.

Jett Britnell Lands Lead Role In TV’s Ocean Hunt

Hollywood, August 22, 2010 ~ After months of auditioning actors and scuba divers, producers of Ocean Hunt, a new adventure series on the FOX network, have decided that underwater photographer, Jett Britnell, will have the chance to play the lead character, Napoleon Nelson, an ex-Navy Seal turned diving photojournalist who juggles the trials and tribulations of working as a big time undersea adventurer with the never ending obstacles that get in the way of maintaining a solid marriage (His scuba diving wife will be played by action thespian, Angelina Jolie).

“We auditioned Jett about five times,” said executive producer and the show’s creator, Matt Damon. “We pretty much knew he was our guy but the people at the network weren’t sure, only because sometimes you don’t know if he’ll just phone it in with his laptop.  He often brandishes a Macbook Pro like a spear gun. Still, there’s a certain lovable charm to him that’s undeniable.”

Other actors that auditioned for the part were Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Pee Wee Herman, Jamie Foxx and Hilary Swank.  Joining Jett on the show will be the great comedic actors, Zach Galifianakis and Betty White. Both will play diving sidekicks helping Jett (or Napoleon) flesh out his editorial assignments so they exceed the expectations of their workaholic man’s man boss, who will be portrayed by Damon himself.

According to Damon, the premise to the show came to him in a dream, one in which he was embroiled in an underwater knife fight when all of a sudden he came up with the title for a show and Ocean Hunt popped into his head out of nowhere. When he woke up, he wrote the name of the show on a pad he keeps by the side of his bed and later that day, he pitched the idea to the network.

Damon also claims he hadn’t even thought about casting Jett in the part. Apparently, Jett’s first audition was the one that won Damon over, after showcasing his storytelling abilities he has been famous for over the years. “He’s like an old young Jacques Cousteau,” said Damon. “He can dive to any depth. It’s like he’s made of Trimix. It’s been a long time since there’s been someone like that on television. I think this show will put an end to reality television and bring the adventure series back for good.”

Jett, who was reached for comment, only had this to say about his new job: “Banana pancake anyone?”

What's The Deal With Jerry Seinfeld?

The deal with Seinfeld is he played Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Theatre tonight, we were there, and he slayed!  What can I say?  Seinfeld is a comedic genius when it comes to telling jokes about anything seemingly mundane.  If Kenny Bania was in the house tonight, he surely would have shouted, "That's gold, Jerry! Gold!

iPad Paid For Itself In Less Than Two Weeks!

In less than two weeks, my new iPad has virtually paid for itself because I was able to quickly retrieve one my wife's emails while at a BMW dealership showroom. The dealer had to shave an additional $500 off their final price when Kathryn showed them a confirming email from one of their competitors. She's now chauffeuring me around town in her luxurious new BMW!

Urticina Piscivor ~ The Fish Eating Tealia Anemone

In British Columbia, Fish Eating Tealia Anemones can be found within kelp forests or upon rocky reefs. There are several species, each slightly different from the other as its tentacles can be either solid white or a solid red color.  Planktonic organisms and anything small enough that falls into the grasp of this anemone's tentacles are unlikely to escape.

True to its common name, this strikingly colored, dinner-plate sized  anemone employa its strong tentacles to catch small fish or shrimp. Growing to about 8" to 10" in diameter (20 - 25 cm), the Fish Eating Anemone is not a predator to all fishes.  It actually provides some protection for one small fish, the Painted Greenling.  Much like clownfish do in typical host anemones, Painted Greenlings have been observed lying unharmed in this anemone.

While I’ve yet to photograph a Painted Greenling lounging on this anemone, my undersea search shall continue.

  

I Drank The iPad Kool-Aid... And I Liked It!

 

There’s no denying that underwater photography is a gear intensive pursuit.  Along with digital DSLR cameras, underwater strobes, underwater camera housings and an arsenal of lenses, one also requires a state of the art computer system to download and process all those images.

In 2007,  I switched from using PC’s to a Macbook Pro laptop and I have never looked back.  MACs seem designed to easily handle the rigors of diving photojournalism and photo editing.  So yes, you could say that I’m a die hard Apple devotee when it comes to electronics.  

We are now several months past (released in Canada on May 28) Apple’s impressive release of their latest technology marvel, the iPad. At first, I resisted being an early adopter, but all that ended last week.  I drank the iPad Kool-Aid and sprung for the top of the line iPad 64GB, Wi-FI 3G model.  For a diving photojournalist, the opportunity to present digital media to editors and potential clients proved irresistible.  I drank the IPad Kool-Aid.

The iPad can do several cool things.  Apart from the simple art of reading emails on the fly, it is a great ebook reader that will allow taking a virtual library of book with us wherever we travel.  Toss in the ability to play the off game or watch movies makes this a worthy tool.  With its Multi-Touch user interface, large screen and high-quality graphics, the iPad will run almost all of the more than 225,000 apps on the App Store.

One feature I would like to see in the next model release is a built in hi resolution camera for adhoc image making.  This will come, I’m sure.  And when it does, my lovely wife will inherit the current iPad. Just imagine, she can then either update her blog when her Macbook Pro is in its briefcase, or perhaps even order that new pair of simply gotta have it  black stilettos from White House Black Market while we are driving in the car.   Hmmm... maybe I should rethink that one?

It Was 20 Years Ago! ~ Fisheye View Magazine

 
















August 1990 – It was early in my diving photojournalism career when I received a call from  the editors/publishers Rob & Robin Burr of FISHEYE VIEW Magazine. Back then this was an upstart new diving magazine on the block that was hell bent on giving the traditional bigger diving magazines a run for their advertising buck. FISHEYE actually gave a start to quite a few diving photojournalists whose names are now commonplace in the diving world. Anyway, Robin Burr contacted me to ask if I would consider going to Vanuatu for them on a magazine assignment? "Hell, yeah!", I said.

I felt honored, as up to this point, I only had three published articles in three diving magazines to my credit along with two magazine cover shots.  Anyway, Robin stated they recently had to pay a stock agency for some underwater images because the writer/photographer team they had just sent to Australia came back with a nice story, but their pictures were crap. She went on to say that both my writing and photography were great! Her parting words were, "Bring us back a great story!"

Well, as it turned out, I did just that. My words and images were given feature treatment in the magazine and I also snagged the magazine's cover shot; a vertical image of a chromodoris nudibranch. Another wide angle image of mine was selected to be used in an advertisement for both the charter operator and Sea & See Travel's full page ad.  My article and cover shot in FISHEYE was also printed as a handout that was circulated at the Diving Equipment & Manufacturers Association (DEMA) that year, which resulted in several other overseas assignments for me.

Bob Bowdy, the dive operator, commented, "The response from Jett’s article in FISHEYE VIEW was much greater than we had hoped for. We feel this is entirely due to the quality of the article. If as they say a picture is worth a thousand words, this was an eloquent article to say the least."

So, all in all, a truly rewarding and memorable experience.

Straight Information About Hawaii Shark Attacks and the Risk To Humans

Shark Attack Hawaii 

Thriller movies portray sharks as ferocious predators that aggressively attack and kill innocent swimmers. The truth is much less exciting--or dangerous. The chances of a Hawaii shark attack are extremely low.

Sharks are not unpredictable, deranged killers. Rather, sharks play an essential part in the ocean's balance by removing the weak and sick from marine animal populations.

Basic Facts About Hawaii Shark Attacks

Tiger sharks are responsible for most Hawaii shark attacks on humans. This large shark species regularly eats human-size prey.

When seen from below, swimmers and surfboarders are perhaps mistaken for the fat bodies of sea turtles–a favorite treat for sharks. Splashing creates irregular ripples in the water below, which entice the shark to attack an apparently injured animal.

The most common type of Hawaii shark attack is the so-called "hit and run" assault. This shark attack, a quick bite and release, whereupon the shark disappears, is usually a case of mistaken identity. Because humans not part of a shark's normal diet, we are quickly abandoned for better prey. These shark attacks usually cause leg injuries below the knee and are rarely fatal.

Source: Hawaii Shark Encounters