Seldom seen as adults, and rarely photographed in the wild, Prowfish were once thought to be an exclusively deep-water species that inhabited ocean depths between 300 to 650 feet. However, in Southeastern Alaska, they are increasingly becoming a common sight for cold water adventure divers who are diving aboard Mike Lever’s Nautilus Swell.
Initially, Prowfish were seen fairly often at depths of approximately 115 feet on the Princess Sophia shipwreck. The images posted here are some that I shot of these fish on this amazing shipwreck in April 2011. However, divers are now discovering these fish at numerous other dive sites as mentioned in this weblink: Alaskan Prowfish
There is only one species of Prowfish (Zaprora silenus). They range along the Pacific coast of North America from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey Bay, California, and also to Japan. Greyish in color with a blunt, rounded head with numerous large sensory pores that look like dots, Prowfish measure about two feet long and have no apparent scales. Their diet consists of gelatinous zooplankton and jellyfish, of which we saw many drifting in the water column.
