Meditative Submersion or Spiritual SCUBA

I have been playing with different ideas for dive videos, and with New Years I wanted to make a video about slowing down and pondering life.  This was what I came up with...

Octopus Mother Take 1

This is footage from a couple of night SCUBA dives at Seacrest Cove 2, West Seattle, Washington. In this video we see a mother Pacific Giant Octopus, in her den with her egg clutch.  Octopus mothers dedicate their whole life to their young, and die right after they hatch. The octopus stick their eggs to the roof of a cave, and then protect the eggs for six months while the young develop. The mothers never leave their side, and protect them from predators and diseases.  Eventually, the mother assists the 50,000 or so young in their hatch, and then dies soon after.
In this video I also see harbor seals, a ratfish that goes head first into my GoPro, and more.  This is filmed on a GoPro Hero2 camera in an Eye of Mine housing, lighting from a Light and Motion Sola 1200. 

Great Blue Heron at Cove 1, Seattle SCUBA Site

I took this photo last night after finishing a scuba dive in Cove 1, Seacrest Park here in Seattle. I was filming storm water rushing into Elliot Bay, so was ready to get home and shower. But the light was too nice to pass up, so I went onto a pier and took a handful of long exposures at the dive site. As I was getting set up, a beautiful great blue heron swooped just over me, then landed on one of the pilings. It then stayed still enough for this 30 second exposure. 

Incredible Seattle Travel Photography

A few new photos from my soggy home of Seattle. See the whole gallery at williamdrumm.com.

Space Needle

The Seattle Monorail

Lake Union at Night

Kerry Park Seattle, Dusk on the 14th and Dawn on the 15th

Dusk

Dawn

What has 1000 Legs and Eats Fish Heads?

The answer my friend is the Pacific Sunstar.  These starfish are kind of the Great White of starfish kind.  They feed with the amazing ability of expunging their stomaches, which then digest food outside of its body.  This is very useful for eating clams, kind of making a clam chowder in within the clam itself.  The animals are also scavengers, and use sensory organs on the tips of their arms to smell for carrier on the ocean floor.
This sunstar found a red Irish Lord (a fish) to eat for lunch.  I came up just as he was getting the meal in order. A very cool find, and good GoPro juice.