Cozumel March 2008

[Roger Southwick]

Thanks guys!

To answer your questions:
Yeah, they are pretty wary of divers, but eventually get used to you and come out, then dart around catching plankton.  When they finally retreat, it's with a super-fast backwards swim into the burrow.  It would be great to get video of these guys.

Camera: Canon 300D Digital Rebel (the first one, so it's old & slow compared to new ones)
Housing: Ikelite DSLR housing
Strobes: 2 Ikelite 100A substrobes on the beefy Ikelite arms; slave sensor
Lenses: Canon 100mm macro with flat port; Canon 10-22mm zoom with 6" diameter dome port

I learned a few important things on this trip:

• For things that use specialty batteries (like the Ikelite slave sensor), bring a fresh set along even if it costs $24 for 6; in Cozumel, it costs $132 for 6.
  
• Odd things happen with controls at depth if the camera isn't firmly bolted down to the mounting plate.
  
• Focusing a macro lens in heavy surge is a challenge until you stop fighting it and work on timing.  Just make sure the surge doesn't shove the lens into a rock.
  
• If someone swims under you, remember to remove the little bubbles from the dome port.  People thought I was nuts for waving into the camera lens during the dive, but it worked.
  
• Even just a drop of seawater that leaks into a connector can cause extremely weird camera behavior.
  
• After a big wipe-out in the gear rinse area because you were in bare feet instead of wetsuit boots, black duct tape makes great bandages and looks really cool!  But it's less painful to wear the boots.