Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 24th, 2011
Christmas Tree Worm
Spirobranchus giganteus
Found abundantly in the Philippines
Happy Halloween! Weird Sea Creature Encounters
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at October 30th, 2011Happy Halloween! Here are photos from recent trips I made showcasing some of the weird creature encounters in the past 2 years. A lot of these critters I actually encountered at depths no deeper than 20 feet. Such a thin like separates the norm from creepy.
This is a side view portrait of a giant frogfish. I’m particularly drawn to the pattern around the eye. The thread-like thing dangling in the BG is a lure that the fish uses to entice prey and vortex them into its huge mouth.
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A Life Underwater
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at September 7th, 2011
A rogue with an eye for salvage – and the ladies – Ray: A Life Underwater is an affectionate portrait of one man’s deep sea diving career, told through his extraordinary collection of marine artefacts.
Like a modern-day pirate, 75-year-old Ray Ives has been scouring the seabed for treasure his whole life.
The former commercial diver has plundered the deep for over fifty years, bringing to the surface anything that glittered — even gold.
In a shipping container near the water, Ray tends his museum of cannon, bottles, bells, swords, portholes and diving gear.
He even still takes to the water in a 1900s diving suit.
Produced and Directed by Amanda Bluglass www.amandabluglass.co.uk
Editor and Director of Photography: Danny Cooke www.dannycooke.co.uk
Dive photography: Neil Hope www.divingimages.co.uk
Soundtrack: Tony Higgins www.tonyhiggins.org
The journey underwater reflects the awe of parallel worlds. When man looks to the stars, he sees a longing for his knowledge to fill the vacuum of space. If a man closes his eyes underwater, it is in all likelihood that this is the same feeling. Of weightlessness. Of conquering new frontiers. Of being where the human body was not built to be.
My DIY Solution to Buoyancy Arms for Underwater Strobe
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 28th, 2011
INON Mega Float Arm (Medium) sale price PHP 3,300.00
DIY Kids R Us Floaters price ~ PHP 250.00
Small fad among my dive buddies. It just so happens that these foam funnels from Kids R’ Us (they’re everywhere!) have a perfectly sized donut hole that fits the standard size arms for underwater strobes. Yay, cheap!
Buoyancy arms are there to balance out the heavy weight of your underwater camera so that you have an easier time carrying it underwater. Mine’s made of foam.
Dive Fair 2011 in R.O.X. — Now is the Perfect Time to get SCUBA into your Bucket List!
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 18th, 2011
Always been curious about SCUBA diving? Already diving but can’t seem to find a good deal on gear? Well, you’re in luck kind sir (or ma’am) — ROX in partnership with Mares will be showcasing the world of SCUBA diving to the public for the next two weeks starting this weekend.
If you’ve always been curious about one of the world’s most fascinating hobbies (which by the way is EPIC in the Philippines), do drop by the Dive Fair 2011 from August 20 to September 4 2011 at R.O.X Bonifacio High Street.
On a more personal note, I’ll be doing a short talk on basic underwater videography on one of the fair dates thanks to Gigi Santos. Our underwater photo club will also be showcasing a gallery of underwater photos throughout R.O.X.
So there you have it! If you’ve been putting off SCUBA for the longest time, this moment is opportune. This is the most convenient place to ask all the questions you ever wanted about SCUBA Diving.
When you dive in Basura, you find the oddest things
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 16th, 2011
Smile! I’m a hairy frogfish
Whenever SCUBA is marketed to the public, the point of entry is always how pretty everything is underwater. Go to any SCUBA marketing collateral and you’re guaranteed a photo of healthy coral reefs with schools of red anthias and other fish swimming in nonchalance. Don’t forget the diver in the pink wetsuit and huge yellow mask. I spent more than a year diving reefs, going to average depths of about 60 ft and deeper to catch glimpses of the “busy” underwater life.
After a while though, you start wanting other things. Even if they’re less beautiful and more bizarre.
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This Week is Shark Week. Here are photos I took diving with sharks.
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 4th, 2011This week is SHARK WEEK. We commemorate one whole week to the shepherds of the ocean. They keep the population of other fish in check, affect movement patterns of other fish and ensure that the groupers and other big reef fish do not explode in population and kill off reef life. Our lives are tied so closely to sharks, it is ironic we have created the biggest smear campaign against them.
I dive with sharks. Here are some photos I took of some of them. Some of these are 3 feet long. Others 6-10 ft long. There are a couple of sightings in Anilao and that’s a big deal. Diving Tubbataha, sharks are everywhere — in the hundreds. From the boat, you can see 80 ft down. They’re circling the chase boat welcoming you as you backroll into their domain. The most graceful are the thresher sharks that dive deep into the ocean and surface for food. Their whip-like tails stun their prey. The most peaceful are the whale sharks — the gentle giants, the labradors of the ocean with mouths that look like airconditioners sucking up all the plankton it can find.
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When you’re with them, you can’t help but feel a deep respect for these ocean shepherds, and they feel very disconnected from what Hollywood and the media show us on television.
The best moment of my life (so far) was caught on video with a whale shark making eye contact with me.
Have you ever wanted to learn how to SCUBA dive?
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 28th, 2011
A pink skunk clownfish (Amphipirion perideraion) hovers above its host anemone while scouting its surroundings. Photo by Jayvee Fernandez
I’m taking a few friends out diving this weekend in Puerto Galera. We’re doing a DSD course, more commonly known as the Discover SCUBA Diving or “Introduction Dive.” It’s a short half-day course for those who are iffy about SCUBA diving. People have different reactions towards being submerged into the flora and fauna of the ocean; it is so much different from snorkeling. The course’s main objective is to help you become more comfortable underwater while breathing from a regulator. The course consists of a classroom lecture about SCUBA, familiarization with SCUBA equipment, a confined water session with exercises and finally, the most exciting part — the dive!
I think SCUBA diving is one of the best ways to get away from the heat of summer as you’re (1) already in the beach and (2) enjoying the warm tropical waters of the Philippines. Puerto Galera is one of the best places to dive as it is very close to Verde Island, one of the centers of biodiversity.
We’re staying at GULI Diving (Facebook) at White Beach over the weekend and I’d like to thank Gus and Lisa for hosting us.
When is the best time to go to Tubbataha?
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 21st, 2011
One of the many sea turtles that rest along the white sands of the reefs. This one was more accommodating and let me swim with it for a few minutes.
OK pardon me for this ultra-SEO’d title 
But Tubbataha Reef is one of the diving highlights of the world and last April 14-20, I joined the second trip of the M/Y Hans Christian Andersen for 4 days of diving: In every dive you’re guaranteed sharks.
Tubbataha National Park is open from April to June. You can’t just “go there.” You need to take a live aboard boat and as far as I know you need to be a diver to go. Tubbataha is not an island. It is a coral atoll in the middle of the Sulu Sea composed of walls with great visibility with two sandbar islands which you cannot set foot on. The vis is so good, there was one point I went down to 138 ft thinking I was only at 80 ft. Great vis! Great diving!
The schedule is literally Eat, Dive, Sleep. Our group did a total of 15 dives. What we saw: schooling jacks and huge barracudas, manta ray, several eagle rays and marble rays, big tuna, turtles galore, more than 50 reef sharks (sharks guaranteed in every dive!) and lo and behold, a tiger shark. There were also sightings of hammerheads but our group did not see them.
One of our chase boats resting on the flat iron ocean surface.
Our dining area / cleaning area / where we load the chase boats.
Let’s do this!
Because of the odd weather patterns we were the first lucky group of the season on board the HCA. When we arrived on day 1, the waves were still a slightly strong but slowly got better come day 2 and finally, flat ironed calm. On the last day we were also able to make a trip to the Ranger Station that guards the reef. Since summer came late, I would honestly suggest booking your trip towards the end of April or maybe even early May regardless if you’re taking the HCA or Expedition Fleet. So yes, book on a later date and not early April. It’s a global warming thing methinks.
Underwater photos in this post were taken using a 18-55 kit lens on a standard Sea & Sea port with surprisingly good results despite having only one strobe. If you want to borrow these shots, I won’t mind as long as you give proper attribution. Thanks! Here’s the complete low res album.
Spawning barrel sponges jut out of the wall. This was a Nat Geo moment for me as when barrel sponges spawn, all others in the vicinity spawn as well.
At 40 ft under a small crevice, we found a lot of lobsters. All of the flora and fauna in Tubbataha are protected by law. No touching. No fishing.
A playful manta ray makes it way towards my lens. One of the tricks to shooting mantas is to pinpoint where they will end up when they make a turning gliding arc. I was lucky!
One of the many white tip reef sharks taking off from a dive site called Shark Airport.
A Napolen Wrasse whizzes by my lens. Happy I was able to take a photo.
In a group, I feel more comfortable going up close and personal with this school of barracudas. If they were solitary, it would mean they are hunting.
A peeping turtle probably annoyed that we disturbed him.
Tubbataha is known for its huge fan corals.
WOW talaga!
Pushing a school of jacks for 30 minutes was a bit tiring but we did it. These guys stayed with us for half the dive.
Jules and Jan chasing the manta for a quick photo op.
Where Tuna Sashimi comes from.
Another shark parked on the white sandy bottom.
Zoomed + Cropped + White Balanced: I shoot in RAW because I really have to do a lot of adjusting afterwards such as removing a little backscatter, and white balance adjustments. Other than that, all photos are as is.
Jules taking her time with the school of jacks.
My Tubbataha postcard shot with a very cooperative turtle.
Costs:
PHP 40,000.00 for the M/Y Hans Christian Andersen (price varies)
PHP 3,000.00 for park fees
Ranger Station
On the last day we were able to take a short visit to the Ranger Station. These are the brave men who stay for 2 months at a time, protecting the oceans from poachers and illegal fishers. The sand bar is amazing. It’s just there right in the middle of the ocean. We came in at low tide.
At the station we gave a small donation of canned goods (MEAT!) and bought some t-shirt souvenirs.
What an amazing trip! Next stop, Palau!
I’m now back in Manila and definitely missing the ocean. It’s lovely out there. I think, for what it’s worth, being away from Twitter and Facebook — and the city — really helps put many things in perspective.
Dear Internet, I finally found it. Presenting the FUUUUUUU barrel sponge
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 19th, 2011
Taken in Tubbataha Reef, Philippines April 2011
NUDI Interview on ANC Mornings
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 13th, 2011Jan Acosta and I guested on ANC Mornings to talk about the fast growing underwater photography club in Manila. NUDI or the Network of Underwater Digital Imagers (check us out on Facebook and yep, here’s the link to our site) is an underwater photography club that was formed to get diver-photographers together to share techniques and experiences in shooting underwater.
The Philippines is a biodiversity hotspot and the things we find down there are simply amazing. We talked about diving as a viable hobby in the Philippines, conservation, our gallery exhibits and the SNUPS competition that we’re co-organizing this year.
