A delivery column on a platform that's routinely cleaned. Photograph by David Doubilet

We've covered a lot of water since our last field dispatch from artificial reefs. We left fisheries biologists using ROVs to estimate fish biomass on artificial reefs off the Pensacola coast and drove west across a still battered Gulf Coast. Hurricane damage was still evident in every direction. We rolled into Lake Charles, Louisiana, late in the evening, bleary-eyed and shaking from an overdose of Starbucks and Redbull. We met our fixers Darrell and Cher Walker (True Blue Watersports), repacked the gear for a few days in the Gulf, and loaded our Sport Fisherman in the dark. Captain Keith Monroe and first mate Eric Larson pulled us off the docks at 2 a.m., and we headed into the Gulf of Mexico. Daybreak gave us a view of a forest of platforms stretching to the horizon–some manned, some not. The water closer to the coast was mud brown, useless for photography, so we pressed deep into the Gulf looking for clear water. 

I have been diving for eight days in the Phoenix Islands and have seen a range of situations underwater. Much of what I’ve seen has been severe stress on these remote ecosystems. Many of the coral reef habitats I have dived on have undergone bleaching events in recent years and are now just beginning to show signs of new life. It is actually a testimony to the overall good health of these reefs prior to the bleaching that they are able to rebound at all. So in terms of the future, these places should continue to rebuild and return to their once lush state.

September 13, 2009–After nearly six days of sailing we reached Nikumaroro Island around 10 a.m. today. The tiny spec of land turned into a deserted tropical island clustered with palm trees the closer we approached. I had planned to use the days in transit to unpack and assemble all of my photo equipment, but the rough seas didn’t allow for this.  So, I spent the first several hours today doing this along with charging batteries and prepping my dive gear. I was able to get everything ready in time for a dive in the early afternoon.

I dove on the leeward side of Nikumaroro and from the moment I jumped in, two things were evident. First there seemed to be a lot of fish. Second, the corals here were in rough shape. As I mentioned in my previous post, coral scientist David Obura was here in 2005 and recorded substantial coral bleaching and dead corals due to warming sea temperatures. Our hope was that in the four years since, new coral growth had taken place, however we saw very little of this.

I ended up spending about three hours in the water today, making two dives and concentrated mostly on photographing fish. There were some huge schools of surgeonfish in the surf zone, where I often love to work. The crashing waves create backlighting that can make for a beautiful picture, provided you can hold your position and not get slammed into a rock or coral head!

Nikumaroro Islands is the place that many believe Amelia Earhart landed on her historic attempt of a round the world flight. So, while fish were foremost in my thoughts today, I must admit that somewhere in the back of my mind I secretly desired to swim over an underwater ridge to find the wreckage of a Lockheed Electra lying amongst the coral. Didn’t happen though. I did swim amongst the wreckage of a ship that grounded here, but no aircraft debris today.

Tomorrow I am planning an early morning dive on the windward side of the island where I hope the reef will have fared better from the stressing event of four years ago. —Brian Skerry

The journey I was embarking upon would take me from my home to Boston’s Logan Airport to Fiji, where I would board a ship and sail for the Phoenix Islands. From start to finish I would be away about 25 days. On the way to the airport we stopped to pick up Dr. Greg Stone, the expedition leader and force behind the Phoenix Islands being designated as the world’s largest marine protected area.

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.

Hello everyone—welcome back to my “On Assignment” posts and greetings from Sumatra where I am beginning a tiger story for National Geographic Magazine (NGM).

 David Doubilet and dive guide Colby discuss HMI light cable connection. Photograph by Jen Hayes. (Click image to enlarge.)

I am working on an assignment called Artificial Reefs. These structures occur on the bottom of the sea by design, by accident or sometimes the unfortunate product of war. In many cases artificial reefs provide valuable structure and habitat where there is little to none.

Underwater photographer David Doubilet in his studio, prepping and packing for an assignment

Hi everyone. This is an invite to join me on an assignment that will take our team on an unusual underwater road trip along the continental shelf of the eastern and southern United States. The assignment actually started with a short few days underwater in late May in Florida, but now we kick off the major stretch of work that will find us in southern coastal waters moving around in planes, trains, and automobiles ... and of course dive boats.

The latest news on Doctor Danger (July 6):

Intestines? Who needs ‘em? Despite losing about 2/3 of his in surgery after a car stunt gone bad, Doc Danger is on the mend and ready to work.

“People get hurt on the job every day. This was my day.”

It was during his latest suicide car jump: The car he was driving, a little too fast, crashed into the stack of cars as planned, but then flew past its mark and fell 80 feet to the ground. Unfortunately, on the landing his body slid beneath his seatbelt in a way that severely damaged his insides. As the strap dug into him, “I felt more pain than I ever had in my life,” he recalls. Fortunately, a surgical team was able to put him back together, but first they had to remove a large section of his intestines. “I’m still learning how my new body works—some things just don’t go through me the way they used to,” he says. “But I’ve had my whisky drink, and so far so good.”

Doc says he’s overwhelmed by the response to his accident from family, friends, fans, and strangers. “You go through life thinking people don’t give a damn, but they do, in a big way. It’s an amazing thing.”

Though he’ll hand over the keys to the suicide jump car, at least for now, “I’ll go right back to doing my fire stunts,” he says. “I’m disappointed—I like crashing the car. You’re never quite as alive as when you’re near death.” But it’s time to heal, and maybe time to put other priorities on top, he says. Meanwhile, if you’re lucky, he might just show you his scar.

—Jennifer S. Holland

Garrison Keillor’s mellifluous voice is practically as American as apple pie. Since 1974 he’s been telling stories from the fictional Minnesota town of Lake Wobegon every Saturday on his radio show, A Prairie Home Companion. This month Keillor chronicles the goings-on at a place that does exist, if only for a short time: the great American state fair. He hit several of these “ritual carnivals” last summer, but he remembers the day this photo was taken at the Iowa fair particularly well. It was shortly after his 66th birthday, and he’d just made a friend in the dressing room. “Senator Tom Harkin and his wife came and visited me there, and he ironed my shirt,” he says. Keillor was busy shaving when the Iowa senator explained to him that as a child he had learned to “iron a good shirt.” Keillor hosted a live performance of his radio show that evening and recalls the ideal setting: “An Iowa crowd on a warm summer night, who’ve eaten some ice cream and a pork chop on a stick—no better audience in the world. There isn’t much you can do to put a dent in their day.”

Photo: Clad in his signature red tie, socks, and sneakers, Garrison Keillor reports from a racetrack near Iowa’s State Fair grandstand. Photograph by Joel Sartore.