We maxed out at 1300ft and spent 3.5 hours cruising down Lophelia Reef, an amazing ecosystem of lophelia corals, white sponges, squat lobsters, pompom anemones, cat sharks, and sea lillies adorning house-sized boulders of fossilized coral and basalt.

The submarine is the hardest shooting environment I’ve encountered— low light, movement (both the sub and the animals), distorted perspective (the submarine’s convex viewport messes with depth perception), and cramped environment. On this expedition I mostly shot video (currently being editing), but several my still photos turned out decent.

Lia, I have no idea how you did it. I guess talent helps.

Enjoy these shots of alien life!

300ft: The surface fades away.

350ft: Massive elephant ear sponge

400ft: Looking up Half Moon Bay wall

700ft: Sea lilly reaching into the darkness

800ft: Unidentified fish (Karl claims to have never seen it before)

900ft: Polka dot anglerfish

1000ft: The sponge belt

1000ft: White sponges in the sponge belt

1100ft: Brilliant pompom anemone

1100ft: Incredible 30+ft long deep sea siphonophore (yes, this is an animal)

1300ft: Brittle stars along a wire coral

1300ft: Blood red anemone

1300ft: Squat lobster and crinoid

In many parts of the Western World, Friday is a special night of the week reserved for mischief and mayhem. After languishing for five days at the office, monotonously battling the personal demons deviously conspiring unleash their tequila-fueled furor upon the week’s conclusion, five o’clock finally arrives. As the sun sets, a new weekend rises. For this one night, mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. (Then Saturday comes— recovery; and Sunday— repentance).

On Roatan, mere anarchy is a pervasive state of mind. How else can one rest comfortably in a Third World country while the government undergoes a miniature coup? Oh, wait, that’s right: on the beach with a glass of rum and pineapple.

I’m showering off the sea salt and rolling out on the West End Night Dive……. for now, enjoy this sneak preview of some shots from Karl Stanley’s submarine…

Sweeping silently along the silty slopes 1400ft under the Caribbean Sea off Roatan, Honduras, Karl Stanley piloted his deep diving submarine Idabel upon a writhing mass of brittle stars entangled around the brilliant golden lattice of gold coral. My meager five megapixel camera did its best to capture the alien bundle of deep sea life, oblivious to the fact that the gold coral I was filming is over 2000 years old.

Turn down the audio… I never edited this video, so the white noise of the submarine is a bit blown out.

Read more about the amazingly ancient gold corals at Deep-Sea News…