TRUK LAGOON SLIDESHOW OF SHIPWRECKS

Back in April, Melissa and I dived into the Graveyard of the Pacific- Truk Lagoon, the wreck diving capital of the world. It was something complete different for us, history meets biology, artifacts and artificial reefs all jumbled together into an emotional experience overflowing with unique photographic opportunities. We explored dozens of Japanese shipwrecks sent to the bottom during Operation Hailstone in February 1944, a result of intense bombing by American planes in a surprise airstrike which dealt the Japanese naval fleet a fatal blow. Swimming through lightless inner passageways of 500' long warships we were truly immersed in the darkness of World War II. We discovered caches of unexploded bombs and torpedoes, cargo holds with demolished Zero planes, tanks frozen in time, and even the remains of soldiers who perished at sea. The above is a wide angle fisheye picture from inside the bridge of the Nippo Maru, a scene featuring Mr. Potato Head which brought a little levity to the otherwise heavy solemnity of the place.

And here's a link to a slideshow with more images:

http://www.brandoncole.com/WEBGALLERIES/Truk2013_600pixel/

These pictures will soon be posted to our web site at www.brandoncole.com

FINE ART PRINTS, CANVAS GALLERY WRAPS, METAL PRINTS

Many people ask if our marine photographs are available as prints for display in one's home or office. Yes they are, and we'd be happy to help you find the perfect photo of a shark or whale or dolphin or tropical fish or octopus or seal or whatever finned or flippered creature you like best-  including this curious green sea turtle shot at an interesting angle in Palau, photo RH71629. Please contact us directly at brandoncole@msn.com, or visit our new print gallery at Fineartamerica here:  http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/brandon-cole.html  We've just now started to upload photographs to this site, and we'd be glad to upload pictures specifically for you. Simply let us know what you want and we'll take it from there!

100 PLUS SILKY SHARKS ON A BAITBALL

People often ask me about sharks… What’s it like to swim with sharks? Am I afraid of them? Why risk it? I try my best to answer, but always fail to adequately convey the magic of the encounter, the feelings, the thoughts going through my head. They are most impressive creatures, masters of their realm, a perfect blend of capability and beauty. 400 million years of fine-tuning under the hood.

While on my recent trip to Mexico’s Socorro Islands, I photographed a number of different shark species, including whitetip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, silvertip sharks, whale sharks, scalloped hammerheads, and silky sharks. One of the highlights of the shoot was finding a baitball out in open water, a swirling tornado of baitfish. Small hapless fish which happened to be under attack by at least one hundred silky sharks. One of those Blue Planet moments I’m lucky to stumble across a few times in my career.

Here's a video clip from my few moments in the water, before the silkies became a bit too frisky and forced me to call it day. Still images will be posted to my web site ( www.brandoncole.com ) soon.

SCUBA DIVING IN THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

Finally, I'm home from back to back photo expeditions. The first trip was to the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador, one of my favorite places on earth. The second was to the "Mexican Galapagos", the SocorroIslands off Baja Mexico. In addition to meeting lots of interesting, fun people from around the world- Russia, Europe, Brazil, Mexico, USA etc.- I met up with my finned and flippered friends beneath the waves- sea lions and sharks, turtles and tuna, and oddballs such as the mola mola and redlip batfish. The tropical Eastern Pacific has some of the finest diving on the planet, and I'm already thinking about future trips to this region, probably back to the Galapagos and maybe to Malpelo off Columbia. Let us know if your sights are set on the same!

EMBARKING SOCORRO PHOTO EXPEDITION

I just arrived Cabo San Lucas, launching point for my next shoot- two weeks of diving with sharks, mantas, dolphins, mobs of pelagic fish, and more out in the Islas Revillagigedos, aka the Socorro Islands, aka the "Mexican Galapagos". More than 200 miles S-SW of the tip of Mexico's Baja peninsula, this archipelagos is one of the top big animal diving destinations in the world, and one of the three must dive locales in the Eastern Tropical Pacific’s “Shark Triangle,” along with the Galapagos (Ecuador) and Cocos Island (Costa Rica).

I’m on my own this time, unfortunately, as Melissa is busy with a number of big art projects. Here’s a photo of the Manta Queen herself, from our last trip here, a most memorable get together with our diving friends from across the globe. 

To see more photographs from Socorro and also Baja’s Sea of Cortez, click here to jump to our web site: http://www.brandoncole.com/IFPro/scripts/imageFolio.pl?img=0&search=qt+-D&cat=all&x=0&y=0&bool=and

TRUK: DIVING INTO HISTORY

Greetings from the Graveyard of the Pacific. We're now in Chuuk, also known as Truk, wreck diving capital of the world. Our mission is to explore dozens of Japanese shipwrecks sent to the bottom of Truk Lagoon during Operation Hailstone in 1944. Intense bombing by American planes dealt the Japanese fleet a fatal blow, and we're immersing ourselves in history, swimming through the dark inner passageways of 500' long warships, discovering caches of unexploded bombs and torpedoes, cargo holds with demolished Zero planes, tanks frozen in time, and even the remains of soldiers who perished at sea. Here's a picture of Melissa soaring overtop a Japanese battle tank at rest on the deck of the Nippo Maru at 125' feet down.

PALAU MICRONESIA

Melissa and I are currently in Palau, Micronesia. Palau is one of the world's top scuba destinations, famous for its beauty above and below the waves. We've been flying over the picturesque islands in a small plane, flying over the coral reefs carried along by brisk currents, submerging in a lake filled with millions of stingless jellyfish, exploring sunken World War II history, enjoying close encounters with sharks and mantas and sea turtles, and in between it all, spending time with great friends we've gathered together from around the world. Fun stuff. We're looking forward to another dive reunion as soon as we can.