Dmanh

Nice pictures. I am amazed that you had the "calm" to snap one off while having your mask covered by this creature. Gutsy!

They come out late at night when it is really really dark. Really big ones come up from the deep on the full moon; looking for types like us And sometimes, but less frequently, they will come out during the day as well.

Great video, lucky that nothing was damaged or seals broken! I can see why you would have been laughing

Too bad no one was with me to get photos/video. Then it would have been a laugh for sure! I was lucky to get this one shot as it lunged, that was before I realized what was going to happen. Will check out your vid. thanks

Hi Mark; This dive was off North Pender Island in Shingle Bay. I used the Panda ocean access trail and dove out towards the point due West. This is such a rare event that you need not worry about it happening again. I dive these waters every week and it is the only really bad experience I have had in the 8.5 years living here on Pender. D

Thanks Scott; It was quite an experience. I figure I was stalked as I went back to the same location the next week with a new light and there was no den around. Perhaps the dim focus light gave me away and it thought I was going to be a meal? Doing some google searches shows octopus taking down sharks in aquariums. yikes! D

Hello fellow divers, hope this never happens to you Giant Pacific Octopus Attack 2007/11/11 Have you even been attacked by an Octopus? Well, guess who had an interesting (un-nerving) experience today. My dive started with friendly fish darting around me and some beautiful nudibranch photography. My big divelight's batteries died, and I continued to dive with the camera spotting lights (very dimm). Down at 70' I saw a dark shadow emerge from rocks several feet away. As I recognised a large Octopus coming out of a crevice I though "wow, a friendly Octopus coming out to say hello". Turns out I was wrong! Before I knew what was going to happen, this creature anchored two of its tentacles around a rock and latched onto me and my camera equipment with four of the remaining tentacles. I was not happy. In self defence I pushed my burned out flashlight to the body. Nothing happened and I was getting pulled down. Now I was even less happy and was wondering "how do I get a shot of this?". Luckily I was able to get my feet/fins on a rock and push straight up. With this big effort on my part the creature decided I was not fit to be had for dinner and released me. Needless to say I hussled to shallower water after that. During the remaining minutes of the dive I stopped to take some more pictures, but kept looking over my shoulder for a sneak attack. Glad to say I was not followed. My best guess is that this Giant Pacific Octopus would have been approx. 8-10 ft toe to toe. Another successful photoshot completed! Derek Holzapfel Location of attack: Pender Island, BC, Canada www.naturediver.com

Hi James; I have just joined up here looking for information/to share information as well. I recently purchased the C-8080 and a PT-023. Camera purchase decision was based on all the reviews as having the "best picture quality". This camera replaced a D-550 with a PT-009 housing (my training camera). So far have done 1 dive photo shoot. You can view the pictures at: http://timmers.bc.ca/~derekh/gallery/200411Drummond These were done using the internal flash with the diffuser plate. So far I have learned that there is only a very very small sweet spot for taking macro pictures. It is with the camera back about a foot and the lens zoomed in to make up the distance. This way the shadow of the lens housing is pretty well avoided. Currently I am researching a strobe solution and have yet to come to a conclusion. Maybe I will start with the PFL-01 housing for the FL-20 flash. As least it will be an inexpensive start. Regarding sports photography with a flash - you will have a hard time due to the lag. However, I have done some shots of whales using the multi shot mode and this helps quite a bit. That is it for now. I will post again when I have made a strobe decision. regards Derek