It was around 8pm and I was the only one who hadn’t descended yet. I assumed everyone else was around the 2-5 meter mark under my fins wondering what was wrong. The adrenaline was coursing through my veins and I could hardly contain my excitement—so much so that I had to take a moment to just breathe.
It was pitch black. The only light sources were the ones in our hands and the 20 meter light rope attached to the buoy I was holding onto at the surface. After a few moments regulating my breathing, my heart rate started to slowly drop. Collecting myself, I looked down to see everyone’s lights waiting for me.
Blackwater diving is rooted in a straightforward concept: descending into the ocean's dark depths at night with nothing but a few light sources to guide your way. However, beneath the surface lies complex ecosystems of bioluminescent organisms and elusive deep-sea creatures. What you can see in the seemingly black water is what drives some of the most curious divers to go out well past their bedtime to explore the genuine unknown. Epic, right?!
There’s a decent amount of risk associated with blackwater diving, which I’m sure anyone reading can imagine. Unlike the more familiar night dives near reefs or shores, blackwater dives plunge you into the vast expanse of the open ocean, where the seabed may be thousands of feet below. In this environment, the absence of a visible bottom can be disorienting—making you feel like you’re suspended in space. There were so many times on the dive where I sincerely did not know up from down or left from right, as there was no visual aid around me at all.
If a diver isn't tethered or loses sight of their buoy line, drifting becomes a tangible risk. In our case, we ruled out tethering, as there’s so much that can go wrong with THAT approach in itself, with entanglement being the biggest red flag. So, even with a solution to mitigate risk, there’s risk in doing that when blackwater diving too!
And while many of these nocturnal creatures are mesmerizing, some might pose risks if they are disturbed. Just like the fun box jellyfish we saw as we ascended towards the end of our first blackwater dive that came a little too close for comfort. Depending on where you are, box jellyfish stings can kill you in a minute or it can take up to 4-48 hours. Either option sucks! Adding further complications are the unpredictable and often strong currents of the open waters. Because we needed to add more to the list here, right!?
Before my adrenaline overload at the surface, earlier that day we arrived in Anilao, Philippines—an area renowned for its macro and blackwater diving. Some of the most legendary pros in this niche diving subculture call this place home, which led me to believe during expedition planning this was a place we had to explore. After all, we wanted to learn from the very best in blackwater.
When you’re trying something new and very obviously dangerous, sometimes your body takes full control of the situation. Even if your mind is saying you’re fine, your body might be exhibiting an entirely different reaction. And as soon as I started my descent, my senses started moving into hyperdrive. When you have nothing but a single beam of light in your hand guiding the way, and lights positioned every 5 meters down as your only point of reference, you rely on every other sense to help guide you.
Listening for bubbles, feeling your ears signal that you need to equalize because you’re descending, waiting for your buddy to reach out and touch you or wondering what was brushing against your face became key indicators when starting to make our way to the 20 meter mark. Trains of salps and jelly fish were all around us, so an occasional run was bound to happen, making us feel like we were part of a primordial soup. Utterly amazed by the blackwater scene in Anilao, there was no question that we were all officially obsessed.
Marla and I were in a buddy pair. I was on the lights and she was on the camera—but only for a brief moment. Together, we stayed close and drifted in open ocean, drifting further and further away from the light line, always checking to make sure those perfectly spaced lights were always somewhere in the distance. We were on a mission: looking for the smallest, weirdest marine critters we could find. The smaller the organism, the more fascinating.
For a lot of people, the point of blackwater diving is to get the “most epic photo ever.” People get more obsessed with their blackwater diving photography than the dive itself. And in fairness, it’s truly an art form and a special skill that not many people in the world will ever possess. However, for us, the magic was in the moment—not thinking about anything else except the mysteries of the deep dark waters and what we were seeing before our eyes.
Sometimes, it’s important to look past the dive gear and cameras and just be as present as possible in the moment. No photo will ever fully do the experience justice. Most photography you’re seeing anyway is highly edited and in some cases, curated. But, being there in real time is simply something that cannot be beat. With this sentiment in mind, we chose to put away the camera for these dives and relished in the unforgettable moments that were the next five days in Anilao.
From jellies to larval fish to tiny mantis shrimp, the creatures from the deep were putting on a show, with bioluminescence helping light up the area right in front of our masks. As we moved our hands through the water, the bioluminescence moved with us, helping to guide us back to our buoy at the surface.
It’s one of those experiences that left us questioning everything we know about the natural world. Remarkably, the vastness of the ocean remains one of the least explored places on earth. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), over 80% of our planet's oceans are unmapped, unobserved and unexplored. This vast unknown holds countless secrets, species and mysteries yet to be discovered, reinforcing the idea that we've merely skimmed the surface in understanding the oceans' true depth and diversity.
Deep-sea exploration is a realm where the unknown vastly outweighs the known. The ocean depths, characterized by extreme pressures, low temperatures and perpetual darkness, cover about 65% of the earth's surface, yet remain largely uncharted territory for even the most seasoned researchers. The challenge of accessing these remote environments, coupled with the vastness of the areas to be studied, means that many deep-sea species and habitats remain, dare I say, “in the dark.”
The Census of Marine Life, a decade-long international effort, estimated that while around 230,000 marine species have been described, there could be anywhere from 500,000 to over two million more species that have yet to be discovered, with a significant proportion residing in the deep sea. This means there’s tremendous potential for new discoveries.
As technology continues to advance, we’re offered even more sophisticated tools for oceanic exploration. The deep ocean, in essence, remains one of the last great frontiers on our planet, pushing the curious to go one step further in order to gain insight and answers. We realized the science was equally as exciting as the diving itself.
So, when creatures from the deep make their way up towards the surface, those who want a true adventure should be there for the spectacle. This journey for deep-sea dwelling creatures is called vertical migration—a daily phenomenon where tons of marine organisms move up and down the water column in response to varying environmental cues, most notably the light cycle. As the sun sets, many creatures ascend from the deep depths to the surface waters to feed under the cover of darkness in order to avoid potential predators. As dawn approaches, they descend back into the depths.
It aids in the transfer of organic material from the surface to the deep ocean, serving as a crucial component of the biological pump which helps sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It also facilitates nutrient cycling and supports the food chain, as vertically migrating organisms become prey for larger species. This act of ascending and descending daily, not only underpins the health of the marine ecosystem, but also influences global biogeochemical cycles. WILD RIGHT?! Have I nerded out enough for you?
To get a better understanding of these environmental cycles , we realized we’d need to visit Kona on Hawaii's Big Island, the birthplace of blackwater diving. In February 2024, we'll be venturing there to meet the pioneers who introduced this unique diving to the world and to further our knowledge. Anilao was just the introduction, whereas Hawaii will surely be the main event. And I’m pretty sure round two will be even harder to keep my excitement under control.
To be continued …
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