The currents in Key Largo felt like underwater trade winds that just did not want to quit. The wrecks are deep and need light brought down to them to illuminate large areas on these iron reefs. If I were shooting a very small area I could use dual strobes mounted on the housing but our goal was to create an atmosphere of an underwater studio with generator powered HMI lights on150 foot long cables, a Nuytco prototype submarine LED, handheld HIDs and strobes on photoeyes. 150 pounds of cable and lights were ferried 115 feet down the line to the wreck in a pumping knot and a half current … in the dark.

The currents made working on the exterior of the wreck a serious challenge. Backing away from the ship found you on an unwelcome drift dive. Our team combed the wrecks on a scouting dive and made a plan to set up in the lee of the current. We only had a few minutes to run the cables, set the lights and strobes and make the shot. Twenty five minutes and that’s a wrap. Nothing could be left unattended on the ship between dives because the sea was desperately trying to claim the cables and the light heads for its own even though we had cable clips attached every few feet along the down line. The next day the current was still MR Toad’s wild ride but we were able to set up and make some nice shots.

We could not afford time and budget to stay on waiting for the underwater wind to die down. We had a schedule to keep and an appointment with commercial marine fisheries expert Dr. William Patterson at University of West Florida. Dr. Patterson and his students are studying the effects of artificial reefs on the Northwest Florida shelf. Paterson and his team use remote operated vehicles (ROVs) to conduct video sampling of three different types of artificial reef structures deployed on the sea floor. We followed a down line for 50 feet through 15 foot visibility thinking grim thoughts until we hit a cooler clearer layer. The bright yellow ROV tether finally appeared in our lie of sight leading us like Hansel and Gretel to the structures. One hundred feet above our heads, Dustin Addiss perched on a steel folding chair and stared into a monitor as he piloted the Videoray ROV like a super gamer. The ROV nodded at us and then whirred around each structure like a large berserk bumblebee with a television lens eyeball counting fish.—David Doubilet

Photos:  (Top) Doubilet at 2 a.m. after night dive in big current. (Above) Dr. Will Patterson and team unpacking ROV and connecting tether for artificial reef video assessment. Photographs by Jennifer Hayes.

Comments