TROPICAT ATTANTICi.u!i i"r '

' : i l ' I :

" "{,a

.:

,' ,.','!,'

' ' t - :4, '1 : . ]

BFTSHhES

BY NED DELOACHPHOTOS BY PAUT HUMANN & NED DETOACH

ffi$-B ll Dut vou on dolPbin."ff i#

' Paut Hum.ain, autbor of

Reef Fish Identification , looked doutntbe bar at Neal 'Watsott ou'rter of(Indersea Aduent u res (80O-446-

566), wbo just ntade the offer'"Don't tell me to diue ttrtder weed

lines; we'ue been doing tbat all falland still don't baue a PbotograPb,"Paul exclaimed.

"Nope," Neal continued, "notmucb weed tbis time of year. I'll takeyou SvYS out to tbe submarine ten-der buoy off Nassau' Can't guaran'tee anytbin7, but we'll giue it a try ifyou want."

Neal's unexPected offer rekin-dles Paul's and mY hoPes of Pho-tographing a dolPhin, CotYPhaenabippurus, in the wild before thedeadline for the second edition ofPaul's fish ID book. We were near-ing the end of a 16-month missionto track down and PhotograPh over100 fish species missing from the firstedi t ion. \With onlY lour monthsremaining, and still lacking nearly aquarter of the sPecies on our most-wanted list, we set sight on the fish-rich waters of Great Bahama Bank'

Neal is our man in the Bahamasand few know the islands like he'Years of treasure hunting, exploring,operating resorts and booking divetravel have given him extensiveknowledge of the region and itsmarine wildlife.

62 SPORT DIVER

DEEP\rATER DOLPHINLess than two weeks later Neal,

Petrl ancl I ale heading west out ofNew Providence island in search ofdolphin. We are gllests of FrazierNivens and Gene Kruger, owners otNassau Scuba Centre (809-362-7964)'who occasionally take customers tothe remote site in the hoPe of sPot-ting big fish.

During our one-hour boat ride,Frazier keeps reiterating, "Dolphinare not always about' If silky sharks

adds, "And even ifwe do find dolPhin,the f ish tend tomake only a singlepass af ter d iversenter the water,then disappear."

Paul and Iknow from exPeri- ience that locating a lhard-to-fin<1 species ?such as dolphin is -

,'ir aitil:irii't:-

only a first step in attaining a goodmarine wildlife PhotograPh. Next,the subiect must be studied to gainan understanding of its nature' Andin a perfect world the shutter snapsprecisely when the f ish Pausesmomentarily in a distinctive three-quarter pose with fins flared'

Of course, thismust take Place inahabitat typical to

the species and void of susPendedpart ic les that cause unforgiv ingtackscatter. The photographer mustbe waiting in an advantageous posi-tion with the ProPer focal-lengthlens sharply focused, the f ishsquarely framed, the strobe Posi-tioned accuratelY, and the shutter

::::":'$*F'

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

A powerful, forever-hungry, open-wobr dolphin in the middle of o feed. Show time!

speed and flash Power synchronizedto illuminate both the subiect andbackground. After all this comes themost crucial factor - luck.

\We have a bucket of cut bait touse as chum and decide that Paulshould slip into the water first to getoff a couple of grab-shots in case thefish spook. The plan follows that if

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

the chum does its iob, I will join hima few minutes later. Between us weare carry ing four cameras r iggedwith 15-, 2O-,28- and 50-mm lens.

Paul and I are geared uP andready as we approach the buoY. Alleyes are on the water. Suddenly, iustoff the stern, a greenish, near-panicblur cuts beneath the surface, then

another and another. DolPhin! Weare at Step 1.. \fithin seconds, Pauland his cameras disapPear under-water. Pumped, I Pace on the Plat-form. Paul's strobe flashes once,twice; I descend through rushingbubbles and pieces of mullet. Thefirst thing I see is Paul glancing myway. "Thank God he isn't shaking

SPORT DI\€R 63

his fist at me," I think.As soon as mY eyes adjust to the

sunlit, 100-foot-plus visibil i ty, it 'sclear why he isn't upset - the dol-phin are taking the chum. I whirl asa 4-footbull sails over my shoulder'Paul's strobe PoPs in the face of anapproaching female. Two shadowsrise fast from below. Paul's strobeflashes aga\n.ltdoesn't take me longto grasp the situation - these arepowerful, forever-hungry' open-water fish in the middle of a feed'Show time!

The blunt-head bulls and thetorpedo-headed females are mes-merizing. The first impression is ofcolor. Streaks of greens, yellows andblues iridesce from their broad razor-thin bodies. As theY gorge, theyslow. Two bul ls rePeatedlY sai lwithin 3 feet, stoP and Pose. The sixfemales make unhurried Passes asthey pick up chum. FortY-five min-utes later, and long out of film, weleave the water laughing and col-Iapse on the deck with big, Possum-eating grins.

SHARK SHO\T AND APOMPANO ENCORE

A week later Neal has us head-ing for \Talker's CaY in the northernBahamas. This t ime we're af terblacktip sharks, and Gary Adkison,operator of the Walker's CaY (809-

352-5252) dive Program, makes ourhunt easy.

Over the Past few Years GarYand his staff have created the mostoutrageous shark show I've everseen. Ve're not talking five or sixsharks here; on a typical daY 50, 60or more of the dynamos are attractedto a wide sand arena bordered bYhigh coral ridges. Even before thefrozen bait ball is lowered into thewater, dozens of sharks, mainlYblacktip and nurse, sail into view'Occasional lY, a sPr inkl ing ofCar rbbean reef , lemon, hammerheadand bull sharks add to the sPice.

The next morning Gary droPs usover a deep, 9O-foot outcroPPingfrequented by a small school ofAfrican pompano. Paul is tethered toalarge, orange float so that the crewcan monitor our location as we drift

with the current. \(ithin minutes, aschool of 10 to 12 PomPano fear-lessly parade past, onlY feet awaY.The robust fish, with steeP, roundedforeheads and flat, high bodies.reflect a burnished silver sheen likecr inkled, s l ight lY scorched alu-minum foil. One ttarls a spectacularset of threadlike rays from both thedorsal and anal fins. The remainderhave lost all but a few inches of thedramatic filament that extends threetimes their bodies' length when theyare iuveniles.

HUNTING A HAREMDuring the following month we

dive the waters off West End, Con-ception Island and Nassau beforesettling on Bimini for the final threeweeks of shooting. Luck is running'We quicklY Pick uP a chestnutmoray and blackfin cardinalfish onnight dives.

Several sPecies we are still hunt-ing inhabit grass beds. One, the tinybucktooth parrotfish, turns out to bea tough customer. I sPend hourskneeling in manatee grass, just offthe bow of the famous SaPonawreck, watching the PerkY, 3-inchmales skim the grass tops like attackhelicopters. TheY sPend their daYdashing madlY between harems hid-den deep within the tangles ofgreen.

Exhausted after several fruitless,crisscrossing chases, mY strategychanges. I decide to patiently followa slow-moving harem, hoPing thatan overzea\ous suitor will linger longenough for me to get a clean shot'Five frustrating dives and as manYwasted rol ls of f i lm later, luckcatches up with effort; bingo, I baga little fellow during a split-secondpause as he swooPs down to insPecthis fiefdom.

SEA BASS ONAND IN THE ROCKS

\7e begin the last week with 10species remaining from the originallist, the maioritY small, deePwatermembers of the seabass family' It ist ime to dive deeP. Scuba Bimini(300-843-4073) makes the 12-milerun to the deep fringing reef off Vic-

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

tory Cay on Tr,tesciays ancl Thuls-clavs. On Ttresclay I'n.r al><>arcl. Afternroor ing. I svn' iur c l i rect ly to thecoral caves ancl crevices at 80 feet,whele I have photographed crypticbass before.

Hunting species in coral caves isa chal lenge. Not onlY are manYopenings barely large enough to slipinsicle, but debris rains down fromyoul bubbles and any tniscr-te sendssilt swirl ing r-rp off the floor. Theonly way to kcep backscatter out ofthe photos is to holcl your breathand tnove s1owly while inside.

tsefore entering I kneel on theb()ttom, l)reset the lens and adjustthe light. Frtlur a prone position iustitbove the cave floor, I finger-walkfirrwarcl with my left hand while myligl.rt extends the calnera, riggedrvitl.r a 105 rttm telephoto lens, intiont ol nry bocly. About 4 feet frorr-rthe entrance, the f lashl ight beamillr,rnrinates a tiny uniclentified fishlxrvering r-rltsicle clown near the ceil-ing. I carefirlly realign my light andsquir.rt thror-rgh the viewfinder whilervaiting for the fish ttl urove into abetter 1>ctsition. Like lrost seabass, itscuriosity lasts for oniy a t'ew seconclsand it retreats into a side pocket. Inclesperation, I l lop off a hopelessexp()sLlre. 'Ihe next clay I see myimage - an ill-defined tail-shot of zt

threeline basslet.Two days later I'm in the office

consumed by the inevitable, last-minute panic of getting a book toDress. Even with all the tumult I.u.r't g"t the 1-inch basslet off mymind. The next afternoon Paul callsto let me know that the laYout ofthe seabass chaPter ends with ablank space. That is all it takes. Thefol lowing TuesdaY I 'm back inBimini. On mY first try I get a use-less head-on shot. On the secondtry the basslet can't be found. Onrny third and final attempt, the fishappears headfirst out of the dark-ness, hesitates and turns slightly tothe left. Today, the first publishedimage of a threeline basslet Pho-tographed in i ts natural habi tatappears on the bottom of Page 171'in the new, second edition of ReeJ'Fisb ldentification. N

Ned Deloacb is an autbor, editorand photoiournalsit witb more thatt25 years of diuing experience. He ismost recognized for bis Diving Guideto Underwater Florida.

Paul Humann is a PbotograPberand, autbor of more tban 1O booksott marine life. He is mosl recognizedfor bis series of identffication book'son tbe Caribbean.

JANUARY/FE1]RUARY i99('