Last day was a short but good one. We launched early into a very rough sea but I spotted some action immediately and we jumped into a redeye herring baitball where we blew the entire tank on. It was a very exciting baitball but the coup de gras was the bryde's whale which shot past between all of us and I only had time to look at it before it shot off. Then a sailfish (probably I. platypterus) joined in the hunt and the boys were ecstatic with just an hour's work. We invited the Beeb crew to join the action after we were finished and they had 2 cape fur seals on it as well. With the bouncing profiles and high seas, I decided not to be greedy and ended the Wetpixel Ocean Safari 08 on a high note.
There was some serious action this year and I'm glad I'm extending a few days afterward to hit the stuff on my own.

fair play to you lads, it sounds a lot of hard work, but it must be amazing to see. and well worth the effort.

Is anybody using a rebreather while filming the Sardine Run? A small compact CCR seems like the ideal tool, no bubles and hours of "bottom time". Especially since most of the action is shallow, so you don't need extra bailout.

Well got rid of the guys so now I can enjoy myself. Was a very productive trip for the guys so I don't think anyone was disappointed. Of course I want that Bryde's whale in a baitball shot

Rebreathers are probably useful but short of a military style compact rebreather, it's a bit bulky for chasing baitballs. For the dolphins it worked very well a few years ago when cameraman Didier Noirot tried it. But that was a scr draegar. There are also baitballs so big you're at 90ft to see the bottom.

Great shot Drew! Brydes Whale, sailfish, et al...hard to complain about that!

Like I said, shallow :-)

BTW, great shots and this run is certainly on my to do list.

Just got a call from another operator and he had to pull his divers out of the water super quick because the sharks were chasing them out of the water!
I have to say the action in water combined with conditions made this probably the best week I've ever had on this safari. 15-20m viz with subtropical and even tropical predators, it's just amazing stuff!

Well the Beeb have REALLY wrapped this time. Their camera man, Didier and his assistant, Roger "the horror" Horrocks are off to an undisclosed destination with my compressor.
So it's just the normal people left now. Well there's a russian crew with Andrei Makarevich, artist, rock star and TV personality for scuba diving who just arrived.
The viz is still rocking and so is the action. Plus now I'm on strike again so I can stay again

oh I didn't know the UAW was on strike again...

Thank you Drew for fantastic trip ! Did you met Makarevich again ? Maybe you can remind Igor (tour leader) to send me pictures of us with him - since you missed ultimate shot of the safari with your mobile phone !

I'm back to Tokyo and will post few pics here soon. Stay tuned.

Actually I spoke with him and found out I've seen his art exhibition in NYC last year. I never thought it would be the same guy. Small world.

Cool ! You went to Makarevich art exhibition in NY ? Was it his personal or with group of other people ?

In drinking frenzy of last night I forgot to ask Igor (guy who introduced us to Andrei) for his e-mail, but hi has mine, if he did not lose it - if you see him just nag him for that pictures of us with Makarevich (you can give him my e-mail again

Anyway, here is few first pics from Wetpixel Ocean Safari - not the best ones, just sampler:






taken with Nikon D300 + Nikkor 12-24mm in Sea&Sea housing with NX Compact Dome with two YS-250 strobes.

Alexander Safonov
http://pats0n.livejournal.com

I'm impressed my billfish ID is spot on for once.
Alex, there's a distinct lack of yellow/red in your pics. The common dolphins as you know have a light yellow patch and the gannets are really just blondes like you . Even the limbatus in your picture should have a bronzish appearance.

AWESOME. I love the sailfish shot

Yes, that sailfish shot, and the dolphins are both awesome shots. I agree w/ Drew - maybe a warmer white balance would help?

Cheers
James

Wow looks fantastic.

Alex are you using a dioptre on your 12-24mm? That smudging in the corners is what mine produces if I don't use a dioptre?

Alex

Wow; gotta go see this ASAP.

James, I was going to use my Hrvatski accent but Alex is russian so it'd be insulting


Hey Alex, stop talking to yourself . You also need to get more complimentary phrases...Wow it's fantastic has been used already. Oh and no soft corner debates on this thread please.

Speaking of soft corners, Herb, I figured out the 12-24 needed a thicker 25mm extension to help the corners. It's now pretty decent even at f4.5.

Hey Safanov
One of your 250s died after the first baitball, didn't it?

Jeff
It's still going NOW! Get a flight quick! I just notified a film crew about it and they are dispatching a team like right now.

Next year, this time SA is on the books.

Well there may be a WP boat next year. You just have to convince Eric and me. LOL

Damn you, Drew! Temptation...

Next year is my year to stay home. I mean, aside from the 100 days or so of travel I already have booked.

You're the guy (baitballs with whales!) with the horns and I'm tempting (thousands of dolphins!) you? I do submit thou doth protest (thousands of sharks!) too much (some breaching too!) methinks. So what's another 3 (thousand humpbacks) weeks to the hundred(s of gannets diving on your head!) odd days? Stay home? I consider South Africa home 1(mega baitball) month of the year.

WP subliminal messaging courtesy of the RahDiAHTor man.

Well Drew, it will take few days before my WB will be restored to normal after all these adventures and I will be ready to have fresh look at images and process them properly ) And I'm not just blonde, I'm blonde with yellow fins !

On serious note - thanks for advice, will think about your notes next time I open Lightroom.

There is my Makarevich pictures ???!!

James, thanks for advice - will definitely try warmer WB next time I run Lightroom



Alex, I don't know what dioptre for 12-24mm is ;(( - will google it now, but I certainly don't use add-ons of any kind for lens. Your advice and feedback appreciated a lot, I'm big fan of your photos and very curious about all new shooting techniques you are using ! Thanks !



Drew, you are right, I replaced one of YS-250 with died battery with spare YS-110. Bottom three shots are done YS-110 + YS-250.

Good luck with activity and shooting ! I definitely want to come on WP boat (if any) next year, I will bring my yellow fins again !



I'm having baitballs every night now ! Very big baitballs ! %)

Just went out this morning and again the players were all out there. Just not a lot of action as it seems the predators are all satiated. I'm skipping tomorrow to concentrate on my volunteer project. Hopefully the guys heading out will find some great activity.


The great torpedo whale... Bryde's (B.Edeni)

Great shot Drew - decent bryde's shot like this is one thing I want to do next time I go to Wild Coast. Good luck !

More b/w shots.... this time of 60+ gannets in the water at the same time. It should be added that this baitball at that time was at 35ft/11m. A few scientific studies of the Morus Capensis claim max depth depth of the dive alone is 9m but I've seen them hit 14m/50ft to hit prey. They also can swim quite a long time (up to 20 seconds) before having to surface. I've seen them down at 70ft/20m before. They may not be shearwater class of divers but they sure are spectacular to watch.

More b/w shots.... this time of 60+ gannets in the water at the same time.
[/quote]

Aarrrghhh... 60 gannets, whatever. ... (crying) I had to extend, I had !

What a spectacular dolphin shot, like jets in the water! Wonder how those gannets clear their ears?

Today was a nice day. Had another Bryde's whale buzz the baitball but we all missed it AGAIN! I think I'm going to just wait for the whales to come through and not shoot anything else. That's the 2nd time I missed it.
The usual predators were again present in great numbers to feast on the red eye herring baitball. Hopefully I'll catch the Bryde's again tomorrow but I may not head out.


Errr Jeff the shots are mostly of gannets. They do exhale through their beaks

I had to extend I had to extend I had to extend I had to extend I had to extend I had to extend

I was trying to be funny; guess I wasn't.

Good thing about church is the kids are all going there... so I'm free to go out to sea in the morning instead of working with the kids.
Tomorrow I'll be heading out with the guys from EarthTouch.

Very nice sunday morning. Started out with hundreds of birds diving and we jumped in on a VERY small baitball and still had 20 odd dolphins and sharks chowing. Then as we had our surface interval and let the 2 teenage sons of my host have a turn in the water... a Bryde's whale pops its head out of the water mouth open, devouring the redeye herring which were so abundant and feeding on the surface. There was so much fish that the gannets stopped diving because they were FAT and there weren't enough dolphins around. Even the sharks look disinterested today. I was laughing at the newbies who thought this activity was normal every year. Oh to have a dry week or 3 again just to show them what waiting is like really.

Those shots are AWSOME, wow. Ive got to go

Sounds fantastic, Drew, I'm very glad you had such a wonderful days this year ! How long it may last theoretically ?

Today was very interesting.
I was on the Earth Touch boat with Barry SkinStad (you springbok fans should know his very big cousin), who likes to launch predawn. We went out to a gorgeous predawn sky and I spotted some birds about 3km away. Turned out to be a major feast with Bryde's whales, sharks and common dolphins with gannets thrown in. It was moving quickly and the guys tried to jump in front of it but they failed 3-4 times before they managed 3 minutes in the melee of predators and prey. We'd all assumed it was redeye but Barry caught a sardine with his barehands while shooting the baitball (well it was injured!) and so we saw a mixed bag of sardines and red eye herring, not the first time this has happened.
The viz was ok but not great. Barry had 2 dusky sharks bump him for good measure and we saw 2 husky bull sharks again. Seems the action continues to be good but the weather is moving in.

A few shots of topside pandamonium. Sharks and dolphins punching the baitball from under the water, pushing the herring right out of the ocean:

Unbelievable ! Small fish flying in the air - such an action. Can't wait to come back next year.

Thank you Drew again for sharing with us this incredible experience !

Yes really I also want to see some new pix.

I do not know any english words to describe the envy I feel!

did you take the pictures down? as I cannot see any.

Drew and myself posted few pics above - please go to previous pages

Didn't launch today despite the good weather due to the arrival of present day living legend Kingsley Holgate and his family. Kingsley is on his last leg of circumnavigating the African continent and his "one net one life" anti-malarial campaign for the entire continent has been a success.
Ross Kingsley, his son, whom I'd met years ago, accompanied him on this epic journey. I'll write more about it in another thread.
Some things are more important than baitballs and action at sea.

Drew, your report and pics have been awesome! I've already booked my trip for next year

Phil

Oh does it still going on? Please let me know.

Sorry no updates for the next 2 days... my dirty weekend time

What - your not washing ..........

Maybe that's your idea of a dirty weekend Peter, but you are older than I am.

Just fantastic images!!!!!!!!

cool stuff!

just curious: do you guys wear helmets or something when you dive? what happens when a gannet dives on you?

or is this just a dumb blonde question... heh heh.

how do i get myself on a trip like this for next year?