The Exotic Creature Tour: Komodo to Alor April 2010
April 27-30, 2010 Maumere Harbor

Blue-banded Ribbongoby, a rare find from Maumere Harbor

Years ago, during a dive in Lembeh Strait, Ned and our guide Liberty watched a coconut roll down a sandy slope. A tug on the two mismatched halves forming the orb indicated that an octopus was inside, tightly holding the two halves in place with all the strength its eight arms could muster. Ned, who has no patience above water, but can remain motionless underwater for an hour waiting for an animal to perform, decided to back off and see what would happen. The wary octopus finally losing the game of chicken, jumped out of its coconut home and to Ned’s surprise drew six of its arms tightly against its mantle and walked off on the remaining two arms. Shortly after returning home, we heard a story on NPR about the recent documentation of the same species, Coconut Octopus, Amphioctopus marginatus, walking on two arms. However nothing was mentioned about the animal using its globe of a home as a quick and efficient method for descending a sand slope. For years we wondered if the rolling octopus was an anomaly. Then our friend Edi Frommenwiler, owner of the live-aboard Pindito, sent a video contribution to Sensational Seas Two showing a Coconut Octopus, rolling down a sand slope inside the harvested halves of a coconut shell. Edi shot his sequence here in Maumere Harbor, located on north central Flores in southern Indonesia, where the Komodo Dancer is docked between voyages.

Our friends who are joining us for the second leg of the journey are trickling in to Sea World Club, our land-based accommodations for the next four-days. Kreg and Margaret Martin, avid fishwatchers and REEF surveyors from California are first to arrive, anxious to take advantage of the muck diving in Maumere Harbor, a site they thoroughly enjoyed on a previous trip. Kreg has plenty of tips about unusual species we may find.

When we arrive back at the Komodo Dancer in the morning for our first dive, it’s as if a circus troupe has arrived. Gawkers of all ages flock to the waterfront as our neoprene-clad band tumble out of the dinghies on the count of three. When we pop to the surface an hour or so later the bemused gathering still stare in wonder at the otherworldly happenings.

Now Maumere Harbor is a classic “What am I doing here?” dive site. Its Milk of Magnesia water and silty, trash-strewn bottom would have little appeal to the average diver, but as any veteran critter hunter can attest, such uninviting terrain is often where many of the ocean’s most off-the-wall animals reside. We spend our underwater time poking around pier pilings and beneath fishing boats moored between the main fish market and the mouth of the dry river bed, which during rainy season, flushes the city’s ubiquitous trash out to sea. Everything is fine in the shallows along the retaining wall where schooling baitfish stream and bright tropicals dance, but the harbor’s real treasures inhabit the barren slope of black talcum-fine silt that drops from eight to over a hundred feet less than a stone’s throw from where the spectators throng.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sand-dwelling animals by their nature are wary. Few venture far from the safety of their burrows where they disappear at the first sign of danger. Finding and sneaking up on them is one of the most challenging and rewarding games in the sea. Through the haze at 80 feet, I spot a pair of unfamiliar fish hovering like phantoms above a depression. I stop dead, drop to the bottom and inch forward, but when I’m still more than ten feet away they are on to me and disappear in a puff of silt. These are just the sort of weird wonders that inhabit the muck. I’m not only unfamiliar with the species, but can’t even place the pair in a family.

Weaving my way back up the slope, I sight a juvenile Coconut Octopus the size of a golf ball, far too small to commandeer coconut shells, but just the right size to squeeze inside a cold cream jar.

Inspired by the festooned dashboards of local taxis, I amuse myself during my safety stop by attaching a lime green fishing lure, ace of hearts playing card, soup spoon, yellow toothbrush handle and Hello Kitty shorts to my video lights and housing. Our dinghy drivers burst into laughter when I hand the camera up. Back on board, Ned sobers me up by informing me that he found a colony of Yellow-spotted Bandfish, Acanthocepola breviata. “They’re deep, it’s very dark and they’re spooked by the slightest movement but they can be had,” he states in his determined sort of way. A “top 10” on our fish wish list, bandfish have eluded us for over ten years. Not to be outdone, I grab an ID book from the ship’s library and flip pages until I find my mystery fish, which turn out to be Blue-banded Ribbongoby, Oxymetopon cyanoctenosum. Ned is duly impressed.

Yellow-spotted Bandfish

On the afternoon dive, we come upon an unusual gathering of hundreds of Shortfin Puffers, Torquigener brevipinnes, under a pier. Some of the goofy little fish swim around but most simply rest on the bottom. Intrigued, Ned watches the peculiar aggregation for a long while trying to figure out what they’re up to. His curiosity is appeased when one of the millions of baitfish taking refuge in the shallows is knocked unconscious by a marauding jack and drifts toward the bottom. Even before it can settle a frenzy of four-inch puffers descend on the corpse and tear it to shreds. Later, out of the corner of my eye, I watch our Cruise Director, Garry, evidently unaware of the minnow incident, innocently wiggle his fingers in front of one the puffers and get nailed. Suddenly I don’t think they look so cute anymore.

Puffer Attack

Not far from the pier, we encounter a shoal of Bigfin Squid attaching finger-sized egg cases to the broken frame of a boat. The ghost-white cephalopods spook if approached too closely or quickly, but eventually everyone masters the art of squid watching and settles into front row seas for a most remarkable show.

Bigfin Squid attaching egg cases

The weird and wonderful keep coming in the form of such oddities as Snake Blennies, Xiphasia setifer, Frog-faced Sleeper Gobies, Oxyurichthys papuensis, and the biggest Ocellated Dragonets, Sybchiropus ocellatus, ever. Ned scores with a pair of rare Yellow Tilefish, Hoplolatilus luteus, another first for our life lists. Although the Komodo Dancer’s crew is more than willing to take us to different sites, we all find the critter watching so amazing just off the vessel, we can’t be bothered to move. In fact, we find it a welcomed change to be able to dive the same site. Soon everyone is happily sharing their discoveries. What great fun to be able to say, “Head down from the third piling, until you see a lone white gorgonion bush at about 50 feet. Make a 45 degree turn to 70 feet and look for the bright yellow fish.”

Yellow Tilefish

Ocellated Dragonet

I’m reading Mike Morwood’s A New Human: The Startling Discovery and Strange Story of the “Hobbits” of Flores, Indonesia. It is full of information about the recent discovery of Homo floresiensis and has inspired me to take a look at some of the Flores countryside. Wendy McIlroy and I decide to hire a guide and driver to take us up to the Keli Mutu volcano to view its three lakes and Ned takes a rare day off to accompany us.

Ned, Anna and Wendy huff and puff up to a volcano caldera

The restaurant at the Sea World Club can be reached by a path along the beach providing me with a grand opportunity to search for seabeans on the way to and from breakfast. (For information about these tropical drift seeds go to www.seabean.com). By the time breakfast is over the grounds staff is out raking the beach clean of the dead seagrass and debris that arrives with every tide. They watch intently as I poke along and one man offers me shells for sale. When I show him the seabean I’m after, I receive puzzled look. On the second morning, the beach is surprisingly devoid of sea beans – not one to be found even though Mark Willis and Park Chapman reported that a whole new “crop” had washed in on the evening’s tide. On my return, I see 20 people - men, women and children - poking along the wrack line about 100 yards ahead. When they spot me, they send an envoy who stands silently before me holding his t-shirt full of sea beans. I don’t know how to explain that the fun is in the hunt and that I don’t really want to purchase any. I don’t have the heart to discount their efforts at earning a little money so with a mixture of broken Bahasa Indonesian, English and hand gestures I indicate that I will pay for necklaces made from the beans. That afternoon after returning from diving, I am met by a seabean delegation, who proudly hold out two necklaces – and what necklaces they are – more suited for the neck of a caveman than my own. I purchase both, certain that someone in our group will find this over-the-top necklace as quaint as I do. I am correct, Mary Brown takes one without a second thought. Any suspicion that I might have paid too much is confirmed when I am met the following day with two more Neanderthal necklaces! Of course we buy them both, but secretly I am thankful that we depart in the morning.

Over the Top sea bean necklace

The Exotic Creature Tour, Part I: Komodo East to Alor – April 2010

Komodo Dancer

Two previous trips to the Nusa Tenggara region of Indonesia convinced us that the islands hold far more than mantas and sharks and other big animals the waters are so famous for. When we booked the Komodo Dancer for a month of diving, divided into two, two-week voyages with four days scheduled between to explore Maumere Harbor, we requested an itinerary emphasizing dry river beds, lagoons, sea grass meadows, patch reefs, and pier pilings. For the most part, our group of critter hunters will be keeping their eyes glued to the bottom, hunting for a hodgepodge of seldom-seen animals instead of scanning the blue for Mr. Big.

Ned and Paul plan our dive trips far in advance, so we had no idea that the timing of this voyage would coincide with the final phase of their Pacific invertebrate book project. We haul along a hard-copy draft for final editing. Even though the 520 pages with 2,000 photos documenting 1600 species would seem somewhat complete, we are well aware that we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what is actually out there waiting to be discovered. After five years of heavy hunting this will be our last chance to add new species to the pages. That plenty of critters remain became evident at Rinca, sister island to Komodo, where on our first dive we pick up three hot new crabs. The dive is a precursor of what is to come and happily, rare-animal action continues nonstop for the next 100 dives.

April 8-11, 2010 Bali, Indonesia

Our 1:00 a.m. drive from the Denpasar Airport to our hotel in Ubud is quite different from our last trip to Bali, 10 years ago, when we arrived during the day. At this late hour, the roads are free of temple worshippers and buzzing motorbikes, a welcomed relief from 36 hours strapped inside airplanes. Still, the drive brings back warm memories of earlier years when Ned and I first fell in love with Indonesia.

Four days of lying low in an isolated bungalow above a jungled ravine at Ubud is just the break we need after being chained to our computers for the last several months. We spend our last morning with friends Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock who live in Bali. The couple, early pioneers of Indonesia diving, and the folks responsible for first exciting us about visiting Indonesia back in the 1990s, have spent the last few years working for Conservation International in the Raja Ampat/Triton Bay area. Their fine underwater photographs and local insight are displayed in Diving Indonesia’s Raja Ampat, their most recent publication, released in 2009.

Indonesia Map Courtesy Garry Bevan

April 12-15, 2010 Rinca to Komodo

On the way out of Bali our party converges at the Denpasar airport for our short flight to Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores, where we will board the Komodo Dancer, a.k.a., Ombak Biru. The group, all friends and diving companions for years, have a spirited reunion. Roger Van Dok, chomping at the bit to be back underwater, gets down to business by passing around wanted posters for two fugitive crabs that Paul is fixated on finding with the help of eighteen pairs of critter-hunting eyes powered by umwelt.

Our Group

We were recently introduced to the German word umwelt (pronounced, oom-velt) in Carol Kaesuk Yoon’s 2009 book, Naming Nature: The Clash Between Instinct and Science. Umwelt is our perception of the natural world and our place in it. People possess it in varying degrees, but its once life-sustaining influence is on the wane as we plow relentlessly into a modern world. It’s our sense of umvelt that takes us to Indonesia and compels us to turn over rocks, pick through crinoids, and dive after dark. It’s a desire to learn the names of things and contemplate their place in our universe. A discussion of the concept prompts our group to joke about getting in touch with our inner taxonomist.

During the introduction of cruise director Garry Bevan and dive guides Claire Holman and Gede Merta, we are pleased to learn that they are as ready as we are for the hunt to begin. Prior to the voyage Garry was described to us by two different friends in the same way, “Well, Garry is Garry.” As it turns out, their rather puzzling description hits the mark. It has been a long time since we met such a character. His intriguing English accent and dry martini wit would make him a shoo-in for Monty Python’s auditions – it’s easy to envision him wielding a broad sword against the Black Knight at the toll bridge. Although he makes every effort to hide the fact, it soon becomes apparent that Garry has hidden talents. With tools flying like Edward Scizzorhands, he repairs every piece of broken dive or camera equipment we can throw at him, and even more impressive, the man can read the Komodo currents like a wizard. Claire, as chipper underwater as above, has a genuine knack and enthusiasm for finding critters. And need I sing even more praise for the eagle eyes of Indonesian naturalist guides, and Gede is one of the best.

A most unusual crab discovered inside a yellow crinoid is among the early discoveries at Rinca. Paul and Ned can’t even place it in a family. It turns out to be the third documented sighting of a rare member of the hairy crab family, known as a Companion Crinoid Crab, and the first reported from Indonesia. I personally add a purple Ladybug-like amphipod to our growing collection of crustaceans. My little find is quite different from a second, more common species inhabiting these waters. To get an idea of just how entertaining something as obscure as an amphipod can be, have a look at Mike Elliott’s DiveFilm movie, “Ladybug, Ladybug” from iTunes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Companion Crinoid Crab

Purple Ladybug Amphipod

Paul and Ned working on the new critter book.

The last time Ned and I dived in this area we photographed a small red clingfish that turned out to be an undescribed species. On a morning wall dive, I drop down to a ledge to see what has kept Ned preoccupied for the last 10 minutes. I am thrilled when he shows me a group of the same distinctive clingfish skittering around a rock. We spend the last part of the dive watching fusiliers sail down in endless streams to a cleaning station manned by a pair of Blue-striped Cleaner Wrasse. The water is so unusually warm and clear at Cannibal Rock (in fact Garry states that it is the second best conditions he has seen in all his years of Komodo diving), that after a brief council we decide to remain in the area an extra day. Ah, the advantages of having an accommodating cruise director, and chartering the entire boat.

Undescribed Clingfish

Cleaning Station

Before leaving Komodo, we stop at the Loh Liang Ranger Station for an early morning dragon walk. Not only do we find a bevy of the world’s largest lizards lazing away their morning in the shade, but also catch sight of megapodes, a strange brush fowl endemic to the region! After the walk, Ned recklessly heads back to the boat early, leaving me to meander through the souvenir stalls without monetary supervision. Lucky for both of us, strands of Komodo pearls don’t come close to the quality or price of those from the Atlas South Sea pearl farm we visited last year in Raja Ampat.

Komodo Dragon patrols his domain

Route-Alor-Master-April map Courtesy Garry Bevan.

April 16-18, 2010 Adonara and Lembata Islands

Eager to make our way to Alor, we decide to bypass dive sites in northern Flores, figuring that we can spend extra time there on our way back to the port of Maumere. Pulau Raja is a good place to break up our long run and it proves to be a great site for critters. Claire finds yellow pygmy seahorses; the first of what will be many ghost pipefish, and Ned strikes it rich in a field of flasher wrasses at 50 feet. Timing works to our advantage making it possible for a 4:30 dive when male flashers go into their daily 20-minute courtship display. Many in our group have never observed the little wrasse displaying, so we settle down to watch the show with the added bonus of Ned swimming willy-nilly in pursuit of the zippy of little fish. In honor of the extravaganza, Garry names the site Flasher Reef.

Yellowfin Flasher Wrasse

Javan Flasher Wrasse

In the Boling Strait we add even more ghost pipefish and our first frogfish to the list. But the showstopper is a trio of rare Rhinopias on the single site: a yellow Weedy, pink Paddle-flap, and a beautiful reddish specimen that becomes the source of much debate: Is it a Weedy or a Lacey?

Paddle-flap Rhinopias

Weedy Rhinopias

Mystery Rhinopias. Could it be a Lacey?

Out of the blue, Garry announces an afternoon hike for anyone interested. From Watu Warawutun to Waipukang – “Just 3 miles to the village,” he broadcasts with authority as he makes further adjustments to his GPS. “Now don’t be shy folks, after a brief jaunt the boat will meet us at Waipukang in time for the afternoon dive.” I’m used to my daily 3-mile power walk at home, but don’t take into account the hilly terrain, a winding rut of a road, chatty locals, and so many goats to observe. Garry, decked out in hiking boots and outdoorsy vest with a curious “Octopus Army” patch sewn over the breast marches off in a cloud of dust and quickly disappears over the horizon. Others of us with flowers to smell and less stamina straggle into Waipukang two hours later. The “Octopus Army” patch intrigues me, and Garry, obviously amused that someone took notice, promises a shopping excursion for vests in Maumere at the end of the trip.

Garry’s forced march. Photo by David Hull

April 19-21, 2010 Alor, Indonesia

As planned, we spend three days exploring the Alor Strait and Kalabahi Sound, between the islands of Pantar and Alor. Mushroom Coral Pipefish, a pair of seamoths, and Magnificent Urchins complete with commensal Coleman Shrimp and Zebra Crabs keeps things hopping. Lillian Kenney and Dave Hull add icing to the cake by videotaping a pair of mating cuttlefish. As if everyone is not quite happy enough Claire points out an exotic Dragon Shrimp concealed within a black coral bush, and during the night dive at the same location, Gede finds a Red Reef Lobster.

Rare Dragon Shrimp

Red Reef Lobster

The water is quite cool here, which is a shame because it keeps a lot of our group from making what proves to be a most rewarding night dive. Claire is on a roll finding critter after critter and Ned hits the jackpot with the discovery of an unbelievable nudibranch impersonating a bit of soft coral to perfection. And that’s only the beginning of the strange tale, which will be featured in our upcoming Encounters column in Alert Diver. I won’t give the storyline away except that it has to do with mimicry gone wonderfully wild.

Undescribed soft coral nudibranch, look closely for the hitchhiker

While waiting for the current to calm at our chosen site, we drop in the lee of a point where Gede finds even another Rhinopias, the most beautiful yet, a gorgeous yellow Leaf Fish, and a most stunning Papuan Scorpionfish.

The Rhinopias keep coming

Papuan Scorpionfish

After the currents have their blow, we dive a choice site. As I drop down, I see Lynne Van Dok gesturing toward a population of flasher and fairy wrasses inhabiting a rubble slope. It is only 2:30 in the afternoon, a little early for spawning, but these fish are rather precocious and an unusual customer really stands out. I have spent hours chasing wrasses about, but this one is unlike any I have ever seen. I spend a frenzied half hour trying to get enough video to make an identification from Dr. Tanaka’s Fairy and Flasher Wrasse Guide, downloaded on my laptop. Is it possible that this is an undescribed species? The question will remain unanswered until our return voyage.

April 22-25, 2010 Pantar to Lembata

Beangabang Bay on Pantar is a focus point of our itinerary. On our last visit, four years ago, we found the bay packed with amazing animals. It was where, on a night dive, I saw my first pearlfish. I was so excited that the entire boat made the night dive the following evening. Five minutes after tumbling out of the dinghy, the entire reef exploded into a four-hour spawning display, including not only dozens of species of hard corals, but also anemones and corallimorphs, punctuated by a waterfall of flashlightfish. It was one of the most memorable dives Ned and I ever made.

Dinghy One heads for the shallows

Years of diving have taught us how quickly and frequently things change underwater. And things have changed. The reef off the lava flow where we had witnessed the coral spawning shows marked deterioration from a probable outbreak of the Crown of Thorns Starfish, and the great field of soft coral between 80 and 100 feet is no more. Of even more concern, our first dive on a sand slope that had once been extremely productive produces just one pair of ghost pipefish. Our unfavorable results set Garry, Claire and Gede into high gear, making exploratory drops around the bay. An hour later, Claire returns beaming, having found us a honey pot. Sure enough, for some unexplained reason, the 100 yards of the bare sand slope she found holds a circus of kick-in-the-britches animals – three magnificent pairs of Roughsnout Ghost pipefish, Ambon Scorpionfish, Mimic, White-V, and Coconut Octopuses, dozens of juvenile puffers the size of buttons, and normally rare Ocellated Tozeuma Shrimp galore. Late in one dive Claire escorts Ned, Mary and Michael back down the slope to a performing Wunderpus at 50 feet. The little saucer-sized wonder dances, prances, and skips across the bottom like a circus star. “Would have been great video,” Ned tells me later. Yeah, yeah, yeah… I was nowhere to be found…but it is exciting to know that Beangabang is still a magical place.

Wunderpus

Wunderpus

Roughsnout Ghost Pipefish

Roughsnout Ghost Pipefish

We make our way back to Flores through the waters to the south of Pantar and Lembata. Ah, but another day, more frogfish, Wunderpus and Rhinopias (This Rhinopias thing is beginning to be interesting; by last tally we’re up to six, an unheard of sightings count for such a rare fish.) In the afternoon we check out a site on the SW side of Adonara that Burt Jones told us about. There isn’t much happening until I get in the middle of a toby fight: Yes, you guessed it; the brawl is over a woman. When found, the trio of Black-saddled Tobys, two males and a single female, are moving as a unit around a coral head. At regular intervals the males face off and collide beak to beak. One clash ends with jaws locked onto the tail base of the rival. As the pair spin in open water two new tobys sail into the scene. I almost drop my camera when I realize that the newcomers aren’t tobys at all, but Mimic Filefish, a species that impersonates tobys so predators believe that they share the little puffers’ defensive capabilities. I have been searching for the little Mimics for years, but what a time to appear, right in the middle of a toby brawl! Before the new developments can be processed, the bitten toby, after long minutes of indignity, frees itself by swelling up with water and spiraling down to the bottom then back up to break the attacker’s grip.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Mimic Filefish

April 26-27, 2010 Maumere Bay (Flores), Indonesia

Tied fast to a pier in Maumere Harbor, we say goodbye to half of our group, who catch a commuter flight back to Bali while we expectantly await the arrival of friends for the next cruise. The rest of us will spend four days diving the bay while the crew begins preparing for the next cruise.

As promised, Garry escorts Anne, Lynne, Mary and me to the local dry goods store, to search for the now-fabled “Octopus Army” field vest. In a cautionary note he forewarns that the last time there, he couldn’t find a single vest among the endless hanger rows of garments. Oh but Garry, whom we have recently taken to calling General Ikan Gurita (Indonesian for octopus), has obviously underestimated our search skills, finely honed after two weeks of critter hunting. En masse we attack the awaiting wall of garments and within minutes come up for air clutching six vests. Roger, who tags along, later likens us to a foraging school of striped catfish. ~~Anna & Ned DeLoach

The Octopus Army is born

Coming soon: Maumere muck diving, volcano hiking, and a seabean jewelry industry is born.

March 2010 - Sensational Seas Two Completed and REEF attends Beneath the Sea

Sensational Seas 2 DVD

March 16, 2010 Jacksonville, FL - The Sensational Seas Two DVDs are here! I wasn’t expecting them until next week, a day or two before we fly to New Jersey for the debut at Beneath the Sea, but Debbie Hardin and Greg Helstrup of Collateral Resources came through a week ahead of schedule.

As we freed the first box from the pallet strapping, Ned and I marveled at the size of the total shipment. We had the same number of DVDs replicated as we did for the 2004 production but this pile of boxes was much smaller, the result of our decision to go with a more environmentally friendly packaging. I had tried to use a wallet-style cardboard package in 2004, but met resistance from several angles and ended up settling with the traditional plastic DVD case. After Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth DVD hit the shelves in a recycled cardboard package, I knew we could get what we wanted and more important, the retailers would accept it. I gave Greg the wish list: Recycled paper case, soy ink and no shrink-wrap. For whatever reasons I didn’t sort out, the quote came in a little higher per DVD for low-impact packaging than for the plastic, but no matter – this was important to the entire production team.

Sensational Seas Packaging

The package is just what we wanted and I’m so pleased with the way it all came together at New World: Eric Riesch did a marvelous job with the entire jacket design, incorporating Joanne Kidd’s front cover design and adding all the right touches to the back and inside sleeves. Ned’s classic shot of the yawning Rhinopias on the front and Jeff Yonover’s swimming elephant on the back are both attention grabbers.

All of the contributors to the project have been so generous with their images and time. It’s difficult to include everything we’d like to say in this short anthology format. I hope viewers of the DVD will visit the “Meet the Contributors” section of the website to learn a little more about the filmmakers and photographers who were so important to the project.

Co-producer Nancy McGee lives in Texas, writer Bill Warmus, in New York, DVD software author Kris Wilk is in Canada and sound engineer Bill Fisher is in Chicago. The modern marvels of ftp, e-mail, Skype and cell phones allowed us to collect video and photographs from contributors around the world and communicate with each other through every step of the process even as we all traveled and continued our regular work.

In January, I received clearance from Moby to use his music, “Surf” in our trailer. It was exciting to see the trailer go live on Mary Lynn Price’s free DiveFilm iTunes podcast and on YouTube.

During the nine months of production, we only had one glitch that even came close to being what I would call a “show-stopper”. The most nerve-racking part of the 2004 production was obtaining the license to use the Elvis recording that Scuba Zoo had incorporated into their energetic piece, “Scuba Wow.” I received quite an education in music licensing then, including the nuances of dealing with a musician’s estate and the importance of allowing plenty of time to obtain approvals from the myriad parties who must sign off. Music licensing requires the acquisition of two licenses: one from the publisher of the original song and one from the owner of the particular recording of that song. For this new production, we applied far ahead of time for the use of Billy Preston’s song “Outa-Space”, which I used in the opener “Wow.” The license from the publishers came through immediately, so we were confidant that we were on our way.

The glitch came in the form of a phone call, one week before Kris was to send the completed DVD master to the replicators, informing us that the music license for the Billy Preston recording was tied up, possibly with his estate and there was no guarantee we would have it in time. Since we had the publishing license, we could have another musician record the song but I had edited the video in “Wow” so tightly to the recording that it was down to the frame on the beat. A different recording would mean re-editing the finished piece that had already been shipped to Kris. Nancy, Kris and Bill were in Chicago at the Our World Underwater Dive Show and I decided to wait until after the show to break the news to them. Musician and friend Mark Cunningham, who had already donated three songs to the production, helped me keep my sanity by assuring me he could chart the song out, record it in his studio and get it to me for re-editing within 48 hours. I kept busy by re-editing the end-credits to reflect the change.

We had been scrambling for 36 hours when the second call came in – the music license came through! I caught Mark right before he went into his studio then spent the next two hours on the sofa, catatonic, trying to recover from the events of the last day and a half. I was really glad that I had decided to wait until after the weekend to tell Nancy, Kris and Bill!

So here we are, DVD in hand and ready to head to Beneath the Sea in New Jersey, where Sensational Seas Two has been given a prominent place on the evening film festival and where we will join REEF in its booth to sell the DVD and to talk fish to the show visitors.

March 26, 2010 – Beneath the Sea, Meadowlands, NJ

REEF’s heart is its volunteers who do everything from take fish population surveys (over 130,000 surveys in the data base) to help run outreach events such as the booth at Beneath the Sea. Lureen Ferretti and Beth Olsen flew in from South Florida to help set up the booth. Their job this weekend will be to keep the rest of us coordinated and to “talk fish” to booth visitors.

Lureen, Anna and Beth

Claire Davies is here with her famous hand-knitted fish hats. She has been selling them and donating the money to REEF. Claire is on Sensational Seas sales duty this weekend. Our screenwriter, Bill Warmus arrives with a great New York welcome gift: a copy of the Times and a box of macarons from the Bouchon Bakery. I text Eric Cheng founder of Wetpixel and Sensational Seas contributor, who is a macaron fiend, and tell him we’ll try to save him one. Eric is busy working the show floor but manages to get by for a quick hello.

Ned DeLoach, Anna DeLoach and Eric Cheng

March 27, 2010 – Beneath the Sea Day Two

Before the show, we contacted local REEF members to see if any could help us in the booth. The response was great, so we are fully staffed and ready for the throngs of visitors we were told to expect.

Bill, Beth, Fred, Lureen, Anna, Edith, Lynne (Not shown: Dennis and Claire)

We are selling Sensational Seas Two in the REEF booth. All of the proceeds from the sales will go to REEF and Ocean Pals, so we are hoping for brisk sales. Mary Lynn Price founder of DiveFilm and Sensational Seas contributor (Under Antarctica Ice) has volunteered to help us in the booth - we are a merry bunch, all diving and fish talk. We set up a time for the other DVD contributors who are at the show to meet at the booth and sign DVDs and it turns into a happening! Stan Waterman, Leandro Blanco, Kris Wilk, Mike Elliott, Annie Crawley, Rick Morris, Mary Lynn Price, Ned – it was a thrill to have so many of my heroes in one place!

Stan Waterman and Leandro Blanco

Eric Cheng missed the signing but has great coverage of the show on his Wetpixel site including a group shot taken by Steve Perez.

The day ends with the evening film festival. Show producers Sue and Jack Drafahl have chosen to use five pieces from the DVD. Besides Nancy’s piece, and mine they show Howard Hall’s incredible mating Giant Cuttlefish from Australia and Champ William’s Emmy Award winning short film, The Secret Weapon. Our collected work ends with one of my all time favorite video clips, Edi Frommenwiler’s Coconut Octopus, rolling down a hill. Seeing Nancy up on stage introducing our production and watching the finished work on a big screen in front of an audience tops off the day.

March 28, 2010 – Beneath the Sea Day Three

Beth gives us an estimate of the count of new REEF members signed up at the show. She is sure we’ll go over 200! We’re joined by more local volunteers who are talking non-stop to people who are interested in learning more about our programs.

Claire, Ned, Beth and Warren (Not shown: Julie & Lureen)

Jason Heller from Dive Photo Guide shows up to talk more about REEF and its programs.

Jason Heller and Anna

Rick Morris from the Census of Marine Life and Sensational Seas contributor (Arctic Plankton) is dubbed the Energizer Bunny by our group. He shows up today with an energy drink in one hand and his camera in the other and amid all the “ah ha’s”, swears that he is just trying a sample that someone was handing out.

Rick Morris

We’ve all been on our feet too long and we’re getting punchy. All weekend, REEF has been selling raffle tickets for a chance to win one of the hand-made fish hats from Claire. We wrap the day by drawing the winning name. Although the participants did not have to be present to win, the winner is actually still at the show, so Claire and I take off for the Wetpixel booth to deliver the one-of-a-kind hat to winner Sandrah Gurash.

Sandrah Gurash's fish hat

The weekend was a great success for REEF. We met lots of new people, sold lots of Sensational Seas Two DVDs for REEF and Ocean Pals, and had a chance to thank many of our volunteers and supporters in person. Mary Lynn Price’s husband, Steve Perez, posted an article about Sensational Seas Two at Beneath the Sea and includes a video of the REEF booth.

Looking ahead

Shawn Heinrichs gallantly agreed to hand-deliver Sensational Seas DVDs to John Thet at the Asia Dive Expo in Singapore, April 9. We all know what a sacrifice it is to give up even a little of our precious luggage allowance, but all sales of the DVD will go to Asian Geographic’s anti shark-finning campaign, so we really appreciate Shawn’s help.

Janna Nichols, REEF’s West Coast Outreach coordinator will be at both the Scuba Show in Long Beach, May 15-16 and the Dive Travel Expo 2010 in Tacoma, May 21-23. Nancy McGee will be there to help sell Sensational Seas and participate in presentations at both shows, including acting as emcee for the film festival in Tacoma.

Here’s to an exciting year for REEF and Sensational Seas.