Last week I had the opportunity to tag along on a filming expedition. Sisbro Studios rented one of FAU’s boats, the Elasmobranch Research Laboratory Dusky, to film fishes that congregate underneath the mats of sargassum macroalgea that float along the Eastern coast of Florida. Robert Sams was the cameraman and I just acted as extra lookout and safety diver. We snorkeled in open water, which is something I haven’t done often. We looked for patches of sargassum just east and south of the Boca Raton inlet. The first patch we came across was quite a distance from shore and the water was crystal clear. Robert spotted a school of Mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) when he first dove in. When I entered the water, there were schools of various baitfish and young Sargassum Triggerfish (Xanthichthys ringens). I also spotted a small Tripletail (Lobotes surinamensis) among the sargassum. Just before finishing up, a small Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) passed by just in front of Robert’s camera, so hopefully he got a nice shot of it. Unfortunately, sargassum was difficult to find in the open ocean in large quantities, so we had to come closer to shore to find more. There the water not as clear and there were a lot of particles suspended in the water that probably made filming more difficult. Nevertheless we persisted and I was able to spot a young Scrawled Filefish (Aluterus schoepfi). We wrapped up the day with lunch and Robert spent the afternoon filming fiddler crabs, while I went back to the office.The film project is for an upcoming educational DVD for grade school students about water, and how inland lakes are ultimately connected to the oceans. I admire such projects and the people who create them. Education is the key to conservation.
The experience had me thinking again about why we fellow nature photographers trudge around lots of equipment in the blistering hot sun each week. I am not a professional photographer, I only do this as a hobby, because I like nature and I like photography. I don’t make any money from my photographs. In fact, I spend far more money on camera equipment then I ever get back from winning photography contests. So why do I do it? Well first and foremost is that it’s fun. I learn so much about photography and wildlife from my weekend photo adventures. It’s neat to see animal behavior that has not been seen by many, and even better to document it in photographs. Second, it’s a hobby that lets me contribute something to the community; by letting you see that there are beautiful and interesting creatures right in our own backyards. Hopefully the work will inspire some to take a closer look at the wild things around them and to want to preserve the few remaining habitats that they have. To help get this message across, I provide my images for free to educators, students, and others that will use them for educational purposes. If you’re interested in using any of my images is such a matter, please contact me.Since I mentioned FAU’s Elasmobranch Research Laboratory, I should also mention that Shark Week on the Discovery channel starts this week. One of the graduate students from the FAU shark lab will be featured in the documentary Perfect Predators on August 1, 2007.
