Lia and I go back a few years when I was a scuba diving instructor at Coconut Tree Divers on the island of Roatan, Honduras. When I first met her, she was helping film the hilariously disastrous Roatan Movie— the making which was infinitely funnier than the final result. We later collaborated on photo shoots for a few web projects around the island.

Lia probably holds the world record for most time spent inside a homemade submarine (not including Karl Stanley and Barry, of course). For theses images, she was crouched for hours in a tiny spherical dome. She had to keep her lens close to the mere five inches of convex glass separating her thousands of pounds of crushing pressure— but not too close or the cold condensation dripping from the ceiling would fry her camera. She had to wait— and wait— and wait until the right deep sea creature swam by, then try to snap off quality shots with both the submarine and the creature in motion. The results are nothing short of incredible.

Lia has since explored the seas and land of Asia and the South Pacific. She is currently in Australia.

map of the undersea cables connecting the internet around the world

Click here to see the full-resolution map of the the undersea internet cables

Related article:

Cracked.com: 5 Reasons The Internet Could Die At Any Moment

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…

Welcome back to surreality!

This is just a quick update to explain my lack of updates over the last week. It’s not that I haven’t had material to write about. I have, and that is the problem. For those eager for the next update in the adventures of TheScubaGeek, I offer this list of events in my life. Each of these items warrants a proper follow-up article (and I swear I’ll get them done), but for now, this is the best I can manage at 1am on Honduran highspeed….

• Pete found a juvenile lionfish at 38ft near Dixie’s Place. We captured the bugger and brought him to the surface, where he survived for three days on a diet of rum and Funions.
• A poisoned dog dropped dead on the Coconut Tree Divers dock. Submarine Karl said he didn’t need the carcass to feed the six-gill sharks, so we took Lassie for her last walk… rope, cinderblock, boat, and abyss.
• I was dive-bombed by an eight-foot manta ray in an incredibly rare encounter with the living leviathan (my first on Roatan). My Open Water students (on only their second dive!) have no idea how spoiled they are…
• I crossed paths with an enormous loggerhead turtle at 50ft on White Hole. It had approximately a four foot carapace and a wicked prehistoric tail.

And last but not least,

• I spent three and a half hours in Karl Stanley’s submarine Idabel shooting video of the crazy inhabitants of the deep sea. This expedition (my third with Karl) certainly deserves its own article… how else can I descibe the mindblowing experience of cruising 1300ft underwater in a homemade submarine. Story, pictures, and movies coming soon……..

Right, more updates coming when my eyes can focus… until then…

I love my life!!!