Wrecks of Chuuk & Creatures of Yap

It was a great trip and hope to have a trip report out next week or so. Chuuk was just one of those places I "have to go to" even though I am not crazy about wrecks. It really was worth it and has something to offer for all. You could spend the whole trip just shooting macro on the outer structures.

Long Lance Torpedoes 29'6" long, 26"diameter, 5952lbs, 1080lbs of explosive

Officer Jeep on deck of San Francisco Maru

Great shots! I really like the silver fish in formation and the Mantas.

It looks like the vis was a little bit limited? How were the diving conditions?

Beautiful pics!

When we arrived in Yap the rain was coming in sideways and the pool had whitecaps We were limited to Mil Channel where the viz would range from 10-20ft. I had to give up on the group shot, went with the Tokina 10-17 with strobes out wide on 1/4 power and just wait from them to come in close which they did. 6-7 would go by in a train but you could only see one clearly while the others were in the "fog". On the last day it calmed down enough we got to dive the outside reef and viz was fantastic. We will go back but maybe not when the trade winds are blowing.

In Chuuk we had good viz at most sites. The key is to time your dives so you are first in our well after others have been on the wrecks. This is the nice thing about the Odyssey's open dive deck. If you needed a guide there was always one to show you the hard to find stuff.

nice pics!

Come in Sept when Eric and I will be there...

I will once I get flights confirmed

NW Diver,

I really like your photographs and the moody Chuuk wreck ones especially!

Plus don't feel bad because it looks like you had pretty good conditions in Yap - when I went in April '03 unfortunately we immediately followed (Super?) Typhoon Sudal and the viz was the least of my worries. My heart went out the to the resilient people of Yap and I had the interesting opportunity of being the first diver, along with a few of the divemasters, down on some of the reefs after the storm. I must admit it was one of the most heart-wrenching experiences I've ever had underwater, to see that much total destruction of stretches of beautiful reefs and the look on the proud Yapese divemasters' faces upon surfacing, almost all who had lost their entire homes also.

But that experience broadened my awareness of the fragility (and resilience) of coral reefs and the amazing character of a proud people. I certainly became more understanding and empathetic now and you know I didn't tend to complain much about choppy seas or poorer viz on any of my subsequent dives around the world.

So I'm saying this NWdiver, because your photographs are wonderful, the mantas are enchanting, your wrecks of Chuuk are moody and erie....., hey a little less viz - well that is mother nature after all and just be glad she wasn't as furious as when I ended up in Yap!

I do understand though that Yap's reefs have made amazing progress towards recovery and I would like to go back again at some point.

Thanks so much for posting, Best, Carol

Wow, those are some really nice shots.

Nice shots Martin! The wrecks are hard to shoot in with others around.

Jack

Yap was great and the reefs looked very healthy, especially the outer reef and a spot called Slow and Easy (?) As I said we only really dived 4 spots but we went to see Mantas and were happy diving one spot as long as they kept coming in.

Now that my wife has got hooked on shooting video we talked about how your "condition expectations" change with camera in hand. At first I was little disappointed that I was not going to be able to get that big group/manta train shot Tim, Mike and others have made so famous. But then I just have to remind myself "you are seeing something amazing, enjoy".

Yap outer reef

Thanks NW Diver those corals look lovely!

The sites that I saw almost totally destroyed were some of the East facing sites as Sudal took a direct hit on the East side of Yap. Usually the East facing sites aren't dive-able with the trades in April but that was the only thing even remotely diveable when I went in early April '03. Sites like (forgive my spelling I forget how to spell these sites), Goofnuw Mini Wall and Gapow Reef sustained massive coral destruction, at Gapow even at 90 feet. The dive masters asked me what I thought, percentage that was gone and I said about 85% coral destroyed (I was trying to be optimistic) at Goofnuw Mini Wall and the divemaster looked at me (I said it was heart-wrenching) and said "I think it is a total loss". That was hard to witness in such a proud Yapese man. As I said it made me more empathetic and I don't worry so much about viz, sea states, how much I see, etc now when I travel. I see good in all conditions and situations more than ever now - because I witnessed first hand how really destructive mother nature can be (first diver along with the divemasters down on these and other sites). At Gapow huge brain and star corals almost the size of Volkswagens were split and thrown around like they weighed nothing and of course they took out just about anything they hit also. I hear the waves were huge but no people were killed and that is the most important thing.

I think the West and South reefs actually fared better as they did not sustain a direct hit like the East and Northeast reefs of Yap. But even at one of the more Southeast sites I saw pink anemonefish that had "rode out" the storm in their anemones with abrasions all over their little bodies. Yes it was difficult to see but at least they survived. The resilience of life in that situation inspired me.

But that was 5 years ago and it will be interesting to see how those sites are doing now? I think when Eric, etc goes later this year those East sites are diveable in the late Summer/Fall and it would be really interesting to see photos of the resilience of the corals at those sites and general sites there as I hear reefs regenerate and recover there quickly and with gusto! As do those caring, proud and wonderful Yapese people.

Thanks again, loved the shots, Carol