Fish Faces: August 10, 2016

 

There was something fishy about Dive 8 of the Deepwater Wonders of Wake expedition — it was indeed the fishiest dive of the expedition, with a variety of eels, swimmers, squatters, a big ray, and even a large shark.

The dive location, on an unnamed seamount north of Wake Island at a depth of approximately 1,025 meters (3,362 feet), was selected to optimize shallow water observation of fish and corals, and the northern side of the atoll accommodated this with some of the shallowest depths while maintaining a safe distance from the fringing reef. Wake Island (atoll) is the only geologic structure within the Wake Atoll Unit of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument that reaches sea level, and as expected, the bottom at this short distance from the atoll consisted mainly of reef debris and, as evidenced by this video, provided habitat for a range of fish species.

 

Download SD version (mp4, 30.0 MB).

Download HD version (mp4, 54.7 MB).

Video courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Deepwater Wonders of Wake.

 


 

For More Information

Dive 8