Atlantic Beach, NC (August 2024)

diving aboard Atlantis IV

Ario and Aeolus

juvenile oyster toadfish	damselfish?	blenny
Our annual week's diving in Atlantic Beach this year was impacted by hurricane Ernesto, making its way past Bermuda and then northward. Swells arriving off the North Carolina coast combined with local wind waves made for some cancelled dives and rough going on the days we did get out. Forced to stay inshore, we found the bottom a bit stirred up, limiting visibility. It seemed like a perfect time to try out some new macro equipment I had recently purchased. It had been a while since I shot any macro--I forgot how hard it is to get sharp focus with the very limited depth of field!

Hatteras, NC (June 2024)

diving aboard Lion's Paw

Proteus (sunk August 19, 1918 in collision)

By now the wreck of the Proteus is an old friend, and one of the easy "go-to" wrecks out of Hatteras inlet where you can usually be assured of good visibility and plenty of sand tiger sharks. Photographically, having dived this wreck so many times, it can be difficult to find something new to shoot . . . so sometimes you just have to go with the flow and photograph the marine life you encounter. As we got to the bottom of the anchor line there was a large goliath grouper who had staked out his territory on the wreck's stern (above two rows, left). While photographing one of the wrecks winches (top, right), a huge ray suddenly appeared in my viewfinder coasting directly over my head...you just have to go with what you are given!

 

USS Tarpon (SS-175, foundered under tow August 26, 1957)

The Tarpon was a WWII era diesel-electric submarine that sank off Cape Hatteras while under tow. Years ago she was the place to go to see sand tiger sharks, but nowadays nearly all the wrecks off Hatteras sport these beasts. Karen Flynn poses over the submarine's stern (above, left), while at the other end two of the sub's torpedo tubes are clearly visible at the bow, the brass polished nicely by the current and sandy bottom (above, right).

 

Dixie Arrow (sunk March 26, 1942 by U-71)

The Dixie Arrow is also an old friend now. A World War II tanker torpedoed during the war, her remains have been steadily deteriorating over the years, and she is largely flattened except for the extreme stern and bow, which stand fairly high above the bottom. Beneath the engine was another goliath grouper on this dive, and he was reasonably "friendly" allowing a close approach and some nice closeup photos, even though I was shooting with a 15mm fisheye lens. I kept hearing voices as I was photographing the grouper, causing me to look around for their source, to no avail. After surfacing, I discovered that Mike Powell and Dave Etchison had been quite close, just on the other side of the ship's boilers, and had been shouting to each other through their rebreathers as they had a close encounter with a great white shark!!

 

Manuela (sunk June 25, 1942 by U-404)

The freighter Manuela was also a casualty of German U-boats off the North Carolina coast. This wreck is pretty much always blessed with good visibility, and today was no exception. The wreck is broken into 3-4 pieces, all of which are quite picturesque, but to me the most fascinating aspect is the midship debris field. A section of the hull lies intact and inverted, and next to it, spread across the ocean bottom, is a huge debris field...it appears that some giant being had shaken the ship until all her innards fell out in a jumbled heap.

 

Catherine Monahan

The Catherine Monahan was perhaps a typical wooden sailing vessel, but the wreck has a twist. She was apparently carrying a cargo of bagged cement, and after sinking the bags hardened up, and over the years the wooden hull decayed away, leaving a pile of neatly stacked, hardened cement bags in the shape of a ship (above, right). Near the bow sits a pile of anchor chain (above, left), with a school of fish, and even a small moray eel in the upper left. When I first got to the bottom, Marc Corbett (who had tied in the anchor line) motioned to me that he had seen a BIG shark. I made my dive with no sightings, but after I had bundled up my camera and approached the anchor line to make my ascent, there it was! About 20 feet away, and surrounded by an entourage of sandbar sharks, was a small great white shark! (At first I wasn't completely sure if it was a great white or large mako, but the tremendous girth and symmetric, scythe-like tail, beating slowly back and forth, surely made it a great white.)

 

FW Abrams (sunk in Allied minefield on June 11, 1942)

The FW Abrams was a "friendly-fire" casualty of the same global war as many of the wrecks we dive off Hatteras, as she had a fatal encounter with an Allied minefield. Today she is largley flattened and increasingly buried beneath the shifting sands. The highest part are her three boilers (top), and the remains of her steam engine. The engine was engulfed in a mesmerizing cloud of swarming anchovies that were in constant movement as they surged over and around the engine like a giant bird murmuration (bottom row).

 

Atlantic Beach, NC (April 2024)

diving aboard Atlantis IV

WE Hutton, aka Papoose (sunk March 18, 1942 by U-124)

Our annual April trip to Atlantic Beach is a bit early in the season for East Coast diving, with the risk of wind and rough seas always present, as well as cold water temperatures. We managed to get out to the wreck of the Papoose (actually the WE Hutton) on Saturday, and indeed the water on the bottom was a chilly 63 degrees, and a bit murky. The dive proved to be fantastic, however, because from the moment I landed in the sand beside the wreck, a big loggerhead sea turtle swam up to me, and we swam around wreck together for a full 30 minutes! He would swim right up to me, look me in the eye, even mouthing my scooter, and kept me company for the entire dive.