Underwater Video Selection
A selection of 27 of my underwater videos is shown below.
Short video clips can also be viewed on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blueseavideos
Short video clips can also be viewed on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blueseavideos
New Release:
The three islands (gilis) off the west coast of Lombok in Indonesia are renowned for the abundance of turtles that can be seen while snorkelling or scuba diving. There are three small islands grouped together, Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air. I had little time to explore thoroughly but was able to obtain some footage and images while completing three dives with the friendly and helpful staff of ‘Divine Divers’ based on Gili Meno.
I came across this Banded Sea Snake whilst diving off Gili Meno, Lombok, Indonesia with 'Divine Divers'.
The banded species is actually a krait – the distinction between a sea snake and a sea krait is in the end of the tail. A sea krait has a flattened paddle-like tail to help it swim more effortlessly through the water with the most propulsion and, as it is an air breather, it must return to the surface regularly. This dive site comprises of three rock outcrops surrounded by a sandy seabed at a depth of 40 metres off the southern end of Cap Nice on the French Riviera. This is a ‘square’ dive and one descends the anchor rope to the seabed adjacent to one of the three outcrops. The site boasts many gorgonians and is home to several grouper, moray eels, Forkbeard (Mostelle de roche) and conger eels. There is a constant current from east to west which can affect visibility but also helps relieve boredom while completing decompression on the anchor rope as a variety of jellyfish often drift by in the blue.
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This dive location lies off the southern tip of Cap Ferrat on the Cote d’Azur. The site is best in calm conditions as the shallow anchorage can be quite exposed. The anchorage is on a shallow shelf with a drop off to the south. One follows these cliffs down to the sandy sea bed and past an old outfall pipe line at the depth of around 40 metres. One can continue a few metres out on the sandy seabed to a small sunken boat at 50 metres or continue along the cliffs where there is an abundance of gorgonians. Decrease depth by continuing up onto the shelf on the eastern side and return the boat. There is always a current from east to west over the shallow plateau and this attract many shoals of fish and quite often barracuda.
UNESCO World Oceans Day:
I felt very honoured when approached by UNESCO asking permission in include some of my video clips in the film they were making for “World Oceans Day 2021”. The sections chosen by them were from a dive trip to Belize in 2019. Spread across 37 nations from the tropics to the poles, the 50 UNESCO marine World Heritage sites are among the ocean’s most productive waters. Their abundance of marine life is vital to sustain the livelihoods of indigenous communities, local businesses and artists alike. |
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Descend 120 metres (400 feet) into the throat of the Þríhnúkagígur (Three Peaks) volcano in the Bláfjöll (Blue Mountains) Country Park, Iceland.
The interior of the crater is huge by any standards and has the most vibrant and amazing selection of colours. This magma chamber is often referred to as the heart of a volcano and it’s here that the liquid rock waits to find a way through to the surface, causing a volcanic eruption. In most cases, the crater is usually closed after the eruption by cold, hard lava. The Þríhnúkagígur volcano is a rare exception to this. The magma in the chamber seems to have disappeared and it is believed that it solidified in the walls or quite simply retreated to the depths of the earth. One of the many amazing experiences on a visit to Iceland! |
The Belize Barrier Reef is a continuous coral buttress approximately 260 km (160 Miles) long. It is the second largest of its type in the world and has 70 species of coral. It has more than 600 species of fish and invertebrates.
The two days I spent diving with Belize Underwater out of Hopkins only scratched the surface of what there was to see. This video is a short compilation of some of the clips taken on South Water Cay, Trick Ridge, Tobacco Cay Cut and South Water Gap dive sites. Clips include Remoras, White-spotted Eagle Rays, Parrot fish, Blue Tangs, Lion fish, Green Moray eel, Crabs and Lobster, Trumpet fish, File fish, Butterfly fish and French Angel fish. An ongoing campaign to eradicate the invasive Lion fish is underway along the reef and as many as possible are removed on each dive. Also see Videos: ‘Eagle Rays of Belize’ and ‘Shark Encounter’. |
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A weekend away with members of l’association La Lomellina to dive in the Parc national de Port Cros. We joined others on the boat belonging to Saint P' Hyères Plongee dive centre on the Saturday morning and headed out to our first dive site, Pointe de Montremian. Visibility was excellent and we enjoyed exploring the cliffs and surrounding seabed. After a picnic lunch in the small harbour of Port-Cros we moved on to Tombant de la Gabiniere where we were amazed at the large groupers which were totally unperturbed by our presence. We swam amongst Yellow Mouth Barracuda in open water before returning to the dive centre.
Sunday morning we embarked on a wreck dive (see video: Wreck of the ‘Donator’) before our last dive of the weekend at Îlot de la Gabinière. |
The wreck of the ‘Prosper Schiaffino', known locally as the ‘Donator’, lies upright on a sandy seabed at a depth of 51 metres (167 feet) in the Parc national de Port-Cros. The vessel was sunk by a mine in 1945 and the damage caused by the explosion can be seen as one descends onto the bow of the wreck. The detached bow and damage to the for’ard hold allow access to the interior of the wreck which is covered with gorgonians and home to myriads of fish.
I dived with partners Fabien and Jean-Louis and by utilising a 70% oxygen enriched gas mix for decompression we were able to spend 20 minutes exploring the wreck before returning to the surface. A most memorable dive! |
Members of Rand’eau évasion dive centre and Le Club de la Mer in collaboration with the residents association, L'association Villefranche au Coeur, and the town's mayoral office embarked on the second, end of season, ocean clean-up in the bay of Villefranche on the Cote d'Azur. Several teams were dropped off at locations in the bay where they collected plastic garbage, tins, bottles and more than a ton of wreckage from earlier winter storms. All participants were then treated to a barbecue lunch courtesy of L'association Villefranche au Coeur.
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This small cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) was quite friendly and totally at ease with us being in such proximity. It was almost more inquisitive than we were and I have been unable to use some of the video footage as the cuttlefish kept approaching so close to the camera that I could not obtain a sharply focused image.
The video was recorded at the Crau de Nao dive site off Cap Ferrat in Villefranche bay. |
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Villefranche Bay teems with an assortment of fish species just below the surface which makes it perfect for snorkel forages along the coastline. This short video was filmed while returning from a scuba dive along the coast of Cap Nice from Cochon to Coral Cave where Rand'eau évasion's dive boat was anchored in shallow water.
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These magnificent creatures 'flew' past me whilst diving off Trick Ridge on the Belize Barrier Reef. I encountered these White Spotted Eagle Rays (Aetobarus narinari) several times during the days spent diving with Belize Underwater out of Hopkins. They are so graceful and serene as they pass by along the edge of the reef.
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Members of Rand’eau évasion dive centre in collaboration with the residents association, Villefranche au Coeur, and the town's mayoral office embarked on the bi-annual ocean clean up in the bay of Villefranche on the Cote d'Azur. Several teams were dropped off at locations along the Plage des Marinieres where they collected plastic garbage, tins, bottles and sections of wreckage from the winter storms. All participants were then treated to a barbecue lunch courtesy of the association.
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Nurse Shark (Gingly mostoma cirratum) comes in to take a look at me while diving at South Water Gap with Belize Underwater. Later I was able to stroke it on a second pass.
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Various sections of wreckage from a light aircraft which plunged into the sea in Villefranche Bay a few decades ago can still be found at a depth of 48m off the coast of Cap Ferrat. The best way to tackle the dive is to drop down on the location and then, after a short excursion around the sections, return up the slope to shallower water for the remainder of the dive.
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This sequence of underwater images was presented at the Rand’eau évasion end of season dinner held at La Trinquette restaurant in Darse Harbour, Villefranche-sur-Mer.
All the images were captured in the bay during the 2018 diving season. |
Villefranche Bay, Cap Ferrat and Cap Nice boast many beautiful and extensive gardens of sea fans or gorgonians. At depths of 40m to 60m the diversity differs in various locations but are mainly the Purple or Red (Paramuricea clavata), White (Eunicella singularis) and Yellow (Eunicella cavolinii) gorgonians. Whilst diving on these sites one often comes across Mediterranean feather-stars (Antedon mediterranea) which use the gorgonians to anchor themselves in a current. In deeper water one also comes across the Gorgon’s Head or Basket Starfish (Gorgonocephalus) which also attaches itself to the gorgonians in order entrap food passing in the current.
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A revisit this year to the wreck of Le Toulonnaise which is directly in front of the Musée Océanographique near Monaco’s Port Hercule and about half an hour boat ride from Villefranche-sur-Mer. This time we take a peek inside the wreck which lies upright on a sandy sea floor at a depth of 35m.
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The Garajau Marine National Park dive site is approximately ten minutes boat ride from the Madeira Divepoint base in Funchal. The seabed depth varies from 14m to 27m.
The spot is known for one of the biggest coastal fish, the brown grouper. The ones at this dive site are between 40 and 50 years old. Also to be seen are Atlantic Island groupers, sea bream, Turkish wrasse, cornet fish, rays and moray eels. |
With limited time in Cape Town a week of onshore south east wind was disappointing. On the first calm day I set off from Simonstown into False Bay with Pisces Divers. Mike suggested a dive on Pyramid Rock near the coast at Millers Point. This is a shallow kelp forest dive. The visibility had been reduced by the on-shore wind and slight ground swell but once inside the kelp beds low visibility was not really an issue. A nostalgic dive for me as I had not dived in this location since the early 1980’s.
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Rand'eau évasion is ideally situated to explore the waters of the Mediterranean.The dive centre is located in the small port of Darse in Villefranche sur Mer giving access to dive sites along the Cap Nice and Cap Ferrat coastlines.
The centre offers underwater excursions, introductory scuba dives, fully accredited training and exploration dives for small exclusive groups. (Aussi disponible en français - https://youtu.be/1J6d6qK2ym0) |
A typical morning dive with Rand’eau évasion in Villefranche bay between Cap Nice and Cap Ferrat.
The underwater terrain is steeply sloped with intermediate ledges which provide good dive sites. Gorgonian gardens are located along the slope around a depth of 30m to 40m whilst there are also plenty of interesting locations including caves in less than 20m of water. Towards the end of the dive we rescue a hermit crab which had become entangled in an erroneously placed fishing net. |
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This is a brilliant dive. Take a half hour boat ride with Rand’eau évasion from Villefranche sur Mer to the wreck of Le Toulonnaise. The dive site is right in front of the Musée Océanographique near Monaco’s Port Hercule. The vessel originally sank in the port but as it was an obstruction was later re-floated and again sunk in its present location. The wreck lies upright on a sandy sea floor at a depth of 35m.
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Iceland is the only place on Earth where an oceanic ridge and trough protrude above sea level. The sheer escarpment evident at the Þingvellir National Park is an extension of the North Atlantic Ridge where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates are moving apart at a rate of around 15 centimetres per year. Scuba diving in the Silfra Fissure, between the tectonic plates, is incredible as in places it is possible to touch both sides at once. The water is unbelievably clear with visibility in excess of 100 metres but the temperature is only 2 degrees Celsius.
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A feature video showing some of the underwater fauna and flora to be seen in Villefranche bay between Cap Nice and Cap Ferrat from shallow reefs down to 40m.
Cuttlefish, Atlantic Lizard fish, Cardinal and Damsel fish, lobsters, Red Scorpion fish, shoals of Seabream, Moray eels, octopus, red and white gorgonians, Flabellinas and the strange Siphonophore. |
Fish Frenzy is a fun video of about two minutes taken when we decided to see if it was possible to feed the fish that live in the Neptune grass which grows only a few metres from the water’s edge. What a result!......... who says there are no fish in the Mediterranean.
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