Journal of Jean Cousteau
February 18, 2010
When I originally signed up to act as a dive guide for L&L, I never imagined I'd do so much globe trotting. I think I've spent as much time in the air as I have underwater these past few days. Sure, it's great for my research, but it's wearying on the body.
My latest client, one Marco DeVanderlay, was certainly an interesting fellow. Kinda cute in a rakish way.
I couldn't help but ask him about those facial scars, but he played coy about it. Huh, I wouldn't be half surprised if they were just drawn on to enhance his mystique.
He dropped by hoping to talk to the senior staff about shipwrecks and salvage locations, but I was the only one here. Still, far be it for me to pass up an opportunity to try out some new gear. I got him interested in checking a deep rift area I'd been reading about in the Red Sea called the Twin Crevasses. Who knows what treasure might lie in the deep dark, right? He took the bait and I pulled my luggage back out for another trip. If this keeps up, I should just keep a packed overnight bag on hand.
We rendezvoused in the Rahhab Region just north of our dive target and, right away, I saw something special.
This wasn't the only green sea turtle I saw either, a fact that put me in a pretty good mood. These animals are terribly endangered, common victims of illegal egg harvesting, drowning in nets and choking on plastic they mistake for food. The population here seemed pretty healthy, though, so I plan to revisit for a more thorough study.
After a bit of a swim, Marco and I reached the northern crevasse and dove in. I think the giant crack in the ground, like a gaping maw of darkness, unnerved Marco a bit. It really is a thrilling experience, descending for what seems like an eternity... then the light fades out to nothing, and it's just you surrounded by an impenetrable black curtain until something moves into flashlight range. At least we were greeted by a smiling face when we hit bottom.
Why hello there, Risso's dolphin! It was nosing around a small forest of "chimneys", like this one:
Once these might have been black smokers supporting a whole hydrothermal community, but these have been inactive for a long time. There were still a lot of little critters making their home here, and—for once—I had a client who wasn't in a hurry, so I could take my time looking around.
Marco moved slowly, methodically scanning the sea floor. I guess he found a lot of treasure or whatever, because he managed to stuff his bag pretty full by the end of the dive. He was so eager to grab anything shiny that he almost ruined my shot of these little guys:
Scale can be hard to capture underwater so the coin provided a nice reference. You can see how tiny these angler fish are. I had a hard time focusing and ran out of film so this was my best shot. They were really cute! I'll have to try to get better picture on a return visit.
Marco's Log
February 18, 2010
There must be some divine comedy at work when it comes to me and salvaging treasure with the folks at L&L. I went out and bought a bigger bag, yet I still can't drag everything I come across back to the surface. It's a cruel and unfair punishment... I'm dying to know what is in these large barrels scattered beneath the sea.
But I digress, Mr. Journal.
Today I met up with Jean Cousteau. Perhaps you may have heard of her already? I won't go into the details of her personal life, but when I overheard her mention a deep sea dive, I couldn't resist.
As it turns out, this would be the first time I'd ever venture this deep underwater... I know people have a fear of heights, but does the opposite work with a fear of depth? I wonder if that's a real condition... You should find out for me, Mr. Journal.
We had to travel to the Red Sea, which is near Egypt; a place I'd always wanted to visit but never found the time. The dive started out pretty simple: swim through a reef, find a crack in the ground, and dive our way in.
This is where it got a bit intense.
As we ventured deeper (and I'm talking depths of more than 500 feet), all the light started to fade and the creepiest and scariest creatures I'd ever seen started to make their way out into the areas illuminated by our flashlights.
Eventually we hit bottom, and it felt like I was swimming the seas of an alien planet. It really gives you a little perspective on how much we don't know about the world we live in... Imagine all the treasures down here that the world has forgotten!
Speaking of treasure, I found plenty. I'm talking Gold Bars, Copper Bars, Platinum rings and more! Needless to say, my few short hours with Jean were extremely profitable. And the best part of it all? She didn't even want a cut!
It took us a few dives to traverse the Twin Crevasses, but our last dive really took the cake.
Jean had this crazy idea to take a picture of me with one of the deep sea sharks. With her being a marine biologist, it seemed like a fairly weird idea in hindsight... perhaps she was trying to get rid of me? The shark in question started to come towards me with it's massive teeth shimmering from the light of my flashlight. Jean and I swam and hid in a nearby cave which, unbeknownst to us, revealed another incredible discovery!
Somehow, a submarine had sunken inside this cave! Hundreds of feet below the surface, preserved almost perfectly for us to find! What are the odds of that, Mr. Journal?
Strewn all about the area were various cargo containers and boxes of goods that, as luck wouldn't have it, I could not carry up. As our air was quickly fleeting, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in myself. Here I was, in a place I'd never been, with riches beyond my wildest dreams at my finger tips, and no way to bring it back with me.
I said before that my time with Jean was profitable. That was true. But it could have been more profitable if I had a bigger bag!
Story. Of. My. Life.
Let me tell you, Mr. Journal... one day I'll be able to bring everything back to the surface with me.. and that day will be glorious!
February 18, 2010
When I originally signed up to act as a dive guide for L&L, I never imagined I'd do so much globe trotting. I think I've spent as much time in the air as I have underwater these past few days. Sure, it's great for my research, but it's wearying on the body.
My latest client, one Marco DeVanderlay, was certainly an interesting fellow. Kinda cute in a rakish way.
I couldn't help but ask him about those facial scars, but he played coy about it. Huh, I wouldn't be half surprised if they were just drawn on to enhance his mystique.
He dropped by hoping to talk to the senior staff about shipwrecks and salvage locations, but I was the only one here. Still, far be it for me to pass up an opportunity to try out some new gear. I got him interested in checking a deep rift area I'd been reading about in the Red Sea called the Twin Crevasses. Who knows what treasure might lie in the deep dark, right? He took the bait and I pulled my luggage back out for another trip. If this keeps up, I should just keep a packed overnight bag on hand.
We rendezvoused in the Rahhab Region just north of our dive target and, right away, I saw something special.
This wasn't the only green sea turtle I saw either, a fact that put me in a pretty good mood. These animals are terribly endangered, common victims of illegal egg harvesting, drowning in nets and choking on plastic they mistake for food. The population here seemed pretty healthy, though, so I plan to revisit for a more thorough study.
After a bit of a swim, Marco and I reached the northern crevasse and dove in. I think the giant crack in the ground, like a gaping maw of darkness, unnerved Marco a bit. It really is a thrilling experience, descending for what seems like an eternity... then the light fades out to nothing, and it's just you surrounded by an impenetrable black curtain until something moves into flashlight range. At least we were greeted by a smiling face when we hit bottom.
Why hello there, Risso's dolphin! It was nosing around a small forest of "chimneys", like this one:
Once these might have been black smokers supporting a whole hydrothermal community, but these have been inactive for a long time. There were still a lot of little critters making their home here, and—for once—I had a client who wasn't in a hurry, so I could take my time looking around.
Marco moved slowly, methodically scanning the sea floor. I guess he found a lot of treasure or whatever, because he managed to stuff his bag pretty full by the end of the dive. He was so eager to grab anything shiny that he almost ruined my shot of these little guys:
Scale can be hard to capture underwater so the coin provided a nice reference. You can see how tiny these angler fish are. I had a hard time focusing and ran out of film so this was my best shot. They were really cute! I'll have to try to get better picture on a return visit.
Marco's Log
February 18, 2010
There must be some divine comedy at work when it comes to me and salvaging treasure with the folks at L&L. I went out and bought a bigger bag, yet I still can't drag everything I come across back to the surface. It's a cruel and unfair punishment... I'm dying to know what is in these large barrels scattered beneath the sea.
But I digress, Mr. Journal.
Today I met up with Jean Cousteau. Perhaps you may have heard of her already? I won't go into the details of her personal life, but when I overheard her mention a deep sea dive, I couldn't resist.
As it turns out, this would be the first time I'd ever venture this deep underwater... I know people have a fear of heights, but does the opposite work with a fear of depth? I wonder if that's a real condition... You should find out for me, Mr. Journal.
We had to travel to the Red Sea, which is near Egypt; a place I'd always wanted to visit but never found the time. The dive started out pretty simple: swim through a reef, find a crack in the ground, and dive our way in.
This is where it got a bit intense.
As we ventured deeper (and I'm talking depths of more than 500 feet), all the light started to fade and the creepiest and scariest creatures I'd ever seen started to make their way out into the areas illuminated by our flashlights.
Eventually we hit bottom, and it felt like I was swimming the seas of an alien planet. It really gives you a little perspective on how much we don't know about the world we live in... Imagine all the treasures down here that the world has forgotten!
Speaking of treasure, I found plenty. I'm talking Gold Bars, Copper Bars, Platinum rings and more! Needless to say, my few short hours with Jean were extremely profitable. And the best part of it all? She didn't even want a cut!
It took us a few dives to traverse the Twin Crevasses, but our last dive really took the cake.
Jean had this crazy idea to take a picture of me with one of the deep sea sharks. With her being a marine biologist, it seemed like a fairly weird idea in hindsight... perhaps she was trying to get rid of me? The shark in question started to come towards me with it's massive teeth shimmering from the light of my flashlight. Jean and I swam and hid in a nearby cave which, unbeknownst to us, revealed another incredible discovery!
Somehow, a submarine had sunken inside this cave! Hundreds of feet below the surface, preserved almost perfectly for us to find! What are the odds of that, Mr. Journal?
Strewn all about the area were various cargo containers and boxes of goods that, as luck wouldn't have it, I could not carry up. As our air was quickly fleeting, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in myself. Here I was, in a place I'd never been, with riches beyond my wildest dreams at my finger tips, and no way to bring it back with me.
I said before that my time with Jean was profitable. That was true. But it could have been more profitable if I had a bigger bag!
Story. Of. My. Life.
Let me tell you, Mr. Journal... one day I'll be able to bring everything back to the surface with me.. and that day will be glorious!