My lovely wife, Veronica, and my dive buddy, Beth Dalzell, and her husband, Wes, headed out on Snapshot for a day of diving. The original marine forecast called for 1-2′ seas and winds from the west at 5-10 knots. As things usually turn out, that was not the case. We headed about seven miles offshore to a wreck named the Adelle. Once we arrived on site, the wind was blowing pretty good and it was snotty. I decided to move back inshore to see if we might find things a little calmer. We headed for a site on the Axel Carlson Reef named the Colleen. I had not shot this site in wide angle and I thought today might be a good day as the surface water looked pretty good. As we got close, we saw another boat on the Colleen and decided to head for the Veronica M which is pretty close. This 100′ tugboat was named after my wife, Veronica and it was a gift to her for her 50th birthday although it didn’t happen until she was 52.
I hadn’t been on the Veronica M this season and I was happy that we visited. The reef site is as lovely as my wife. Even the blue mussels that are on the tug are as neat and organized as my wife.
I had a real treat today as the visibility was better than fifteen feet. I was extremely happy but my I was even happier to see jellyfish floating by near the top of the tugboat. Normally, I have to hang on the anchor line to shoot jellies and it can be pretty tough using a housed single lens reflex camera. Today, I could hang out at the top of the tug and shoot jellies to my heart’s content. The water column was full of ovate comb jellies. I think that they are neat because of the bioluminescense that they exhibit in their ciliary plates.
Besides the ovate comb jellies, I also spied some Leidy’s comb jellies. They are shaped more like a walnut but they exhibit the same bioluminescence. I had a great time shooting and at day’s end, had over 300 images in the camera.
Now, if that wasn’t enough for me, along came a number of Lion’s mane jellyfish. I love to photograph them. My wife asks me how I can keep photographing them and I tell her that they always look different to me. They are my one of my favorite subjects. Sometimes I am able to capture an image that really shows the cornucopia of marine life found in the mid water off New Jersey. The image below is one of those.
When I see Lion’s mane jellyfish, I look closely to see if I might find a resident that uses the tentacles of the jellyfish to stay safe from predators. The resident is the tiny butterfish. They find refuge from predators in the tentacles of the jellyfish. Today, I was not disappointed.
If you look closely, you will see at least two butterfish in this photo above.
All in all, it was a wonderful day. I did not end up doing what I started to do but it was an incredible day, none-the-less. I only wish that Veronica still could dive and experience her tug as I did. She picked the most incredible present for her 50th birthday and it will live on long after we both are gone and it will be doing what we both love so much – providing an oasis in the marine desert for the inhabitants off New Jersey.
© 2008, Herb Segars. All rights reserved.
