Anaconda Diving...Into the Black. PART ONE.

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I posted today on Social media, a photo from a trip we ran, back in September of 2021.

We were in Brazil diving with anacondas.

On this particular day we were on a beautiful river in Bonito, Brazil.

The water was gin clear, and the scenery was spectacular.

We were slowly cruising down the river looking for snakes. We were watching the edges of the river, as well as the river banks for any snakes that might hiding in the water, or basking in the sun.

We finally found one on the river bank. She was a big 5-6 meter long snake. She was so beautiful lying there in the sun.

We slowly approached, but she dropped in the water to hide from us.

AND hide she did!

When you are a big snake in super clear water it should be impossible to disappear. But these snakes are territorial, and she knows the area she lives in well.

Snakes this size get big by being smart and cautious.

The area she has chosen to live in is surrounded by a forest. The river has a lot of trees, tall grasses and forest debris along the edge of the river, so she disappeared fast.

The search was on, we didn’t want to lose her.

We began searching the edges of the water with masks and snorkels to try and find her.

I checked underneath a tree right at the bend of the river and could see her large body tucked up deep underneath.

WE FOUND HER!

Our snake in her hiding spot. To the right of her, you can see her breathing hole. To the left, the river opens up.

It was a shallow area, but she was tucked in tight, so we had to put on scuba tanks to go where she was at.

This snake was hiding in a massive hiding hole she found or created that was behind a tree growing in the water.

It was dark and deep with a small breathing hole, which allowed her to hide indefinitely.

We swam underneath the tree that was half-grown, in and on the river bank. It led to where she was safely tucked away.

It was a tight area, so we took turns, so it would be less intimidating to the snake. A bunch of faces all trying to look at her in here hiding hole might stress her out. We did not want to do that.

I admit it was a bit unnerving swimming in there.

It was dark, and the water was silted up from her moving around in there. You could see her massive body, but you couldn’t see her head.

So we had to wait for her to settle down before we could inch in and see where she was.

She was just laying there, occasionally swimming up to the surface to get a breath of air.

Once she did, she would swim back down and curl up again.

These snakes are so calm and well-behaved. Nothing like we are led to believe.

She was relaxed and never got aggressive with us.

Yes they are predators and yes they are dangerous and must be respected, but interactions like these prove that if done with respect, we can co-exist. They truly are such a polite predator.

She eventually left her cave and swam along the edge of the river searching for one of her spots where she exits the river to slither back into the forest.

We continued to follow her and I am so glad we did, we managed to capture some epic images of this iconic predator…

PART 2 COMING TOMORROW.

Days Like Today Are Why I Want to Live Forever!

Day Six, our final day of the trip, and it was the BEST day of the trip too.

We left at 9am this morning and motored out to the South side of the island to listen for sperm whales. We knew the Utensils pod went south when the pilot whales arrived three days ago, but we were hoping they would come back.

The Utensils pod is one of the friendliest pods off Dominica, and is great for interactions. We dropped the hydrophone and listened, but zero clicks. No sperm whales were around. So we decided to head North and see if the sperm whales were on the other side of the island.

While in route, we found out why the sperm whales were gone from the South side. The pilot whales had returned. The pod we encountered on day three was back. When we found them three days ago, they were headed South and out into the Atlantic. The pilots returned and were now headed North.

At this point we knew any search for sperm whales would be difficult, so we decided to embrace what nature has presented to us and just hang out with the pilot whales.

I am so glad we did.

We positioned the boat 100 yards in front of the whales and killed the motor. The pilot whales did something we did not expect, they swam straight up to the boat, stopped swimming and all of them began spy hoping. We were all putting on swim gear, but this sort of stopped us in our tracks. What were they doing?

A quick video of the pilot whales behavior. I was torn between capturing topside and getting in the water, so its a short video.

A group of about thirty whales were all on the surface, not swimming, just hovering there by our boat, seemly taking turns sticking their faces out of the water, looking at us. It was insane!!!

I was torn between filming the spectacle and grabbing my kit and jumping in the water. Bill, our captain said he has never seen this behavior before. Not in the numbers that we were seeing today.

I captured a few stills, and tried to record a little bit of video, but my need to get in the water won me over, and I put the topside camera down and went to grab my swim gear.

I am trying really hard to find the words to describe what we all experienced today, it really is hard to find the words. To quote Jodie Foster from the movie Contact… “they should of sent a poet, no words.” I know it sounds cheesy, but the day was above and beyond anything I normally have experienced with whales.

The whales would hang out, then swim off. We would get back on the boat, get ahead of them and jump in again. The whales would swim back to the boat and interact with us again, and we did this over and over again for five hours straight.

The whale would swim up to us, roll, and play, and hang around us and then swim off again. Sometimes dropping down into the depths, other times just swim off into the distance. It was true magic.

After about three hours we decided to give them a break, eat lunch and just watch them from the boat. I was about to eat my wrap when the pilot whales swam back to the boat to find out what happened to us. It seemed they wanted to know where we went. They again were hovering right by the boat, some of them were spy hopping, waiting to see if we were going to jump back in.

My heart and mind were exploding.

So we scrapped the lunch idea and back into the water we went. We continued swimming with them. It was non-stop… the whales kept coming up to us. One of the juveniles took a big interest in our cameras and kept coming up close to get a good look at the dome ports. Maybe it was looking at it’s reflection, I don’t know?

This went on for the next two hours.

On our final jump of the day, we jumped in and the whales dove down to avoid us. We took that as a sign that they were done and it was time to call it a day.

The emotions on the boat were at an all time high. All of us were on fire… this was the stuff that dreams are made of. I have had some amazing moments in the water, but this day ranks up there with the very best of them.

Sandy, one of our friends on the trip said it best, “Days like today are why I would want to live forever.”

Wanted to say a special thanks to the beautiful people of Dominica, and a HUGE thank you to our friends who joined us out there, it was an amazing week. Luv you guys.

Until the next one and thank you guys for reading.

Weekly Featured Expedition! - Polar Bears off Churchill Canada!

So I started this new addition to my newsletter, but figured I would add it here for our website visitors as well. This is insights to up coming trips with my thoughts on them, why I chose this particular expedition, and what people can expect from it, if they join us out there.

This week’s featured trip is our polar bear photography expedition off Churchill, Canada. Now I know I say photography trip, and it really is designed as a shooters trip, but wildlife enthusiasts, with iphones, for cameras, will love this trip as well. The reason I say it is designed as a photographer’s trip is because it is a very small group trip, like a maximum 4 people on this trip. We will be traveling in a private vehicle, so that when a bear is spotted, we will be able to get out of the vehicle for opportunities to set up shots. Either getting down low to the ground, to snap some images, or using tri-pods. And because it is our trip, we will be able to stay as long as we would like with an individual animal.

Of course respect, and safety is everything when it comes to these types of expeditions, for both the animal’s welfare and our own. We will have licensed guides with us, and they will have a rifle with them, which is for peace of mind, and they are required by law to carry one, for emergencies. But chances of them ever needing to use the gun, even a warning shot in the air is pretty much zero.

This one is a big trip for us, and I am super fired up about it, because of the opportunity to get close to the bears at ground level. I have never been thrilled about being up high in a tundra buggy, or on a ship, looking down on a bear as it is walking around. I would much rather be at ground level, looking at them, eye to eye, or up at the bear as it walks around in its natural habitat.

I have photographed and seen polar bears in Churchill during the summer months when they are there hunting belugas, or hanging around the area, waiting for winter to return. Seeing bears during this time of year is special, but it is not the same as seeing them during the winter season, with snow all around. THAT is what I am hoping for all of us to see - a polar bear in it’s element, with snow blanketing the tundra, as far as the eye can see. To catch them in the snow, walking, resting, playing, or with their breathe turning to smoke when they breath, would be amazing.

We are also hoping to visit and photograph the Canadian Eskimo dogs, hanging out with the polar bears. This is the area that was made famous for polar bears interacting with these dogs. The images of polar bears hugging and playing with the dogs went viral and we will visit the area where the dogs are to see if any bears are hanging around. They usually are, because they like to nibble on any left over food that the dogs leave behind.

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Churchill is an amazing place and the opportunities to photograph other types of wildlife is really high, including; red foxes, arctic foxes, caribou, snowy owls, arctic hares and diverse bird species. Ok, I admit, I am just as fired up about seeing the other wildlife here, as much as I am about the polar bears - especially the arctic foxes. This iconic fox is really HIGH on my must see list of animals. I have photographed them before, but during the summer months, when they were wearing their summer coat. To see an arctic fox with that beautiful white fur, in the snow, is a dream come true.

Another exciting opportunity here is photographing the Northern Lights. This is a great area for setting up your camera on a tripod to snap images of the auroras. We have always had good luck snapping images of the lights during the summer months. But the auroras in the winter season are so much better. Looking forward to seeing the lights again, when and if we get the chance. I say if, because we still need clear skies for a chance at photographing them.

So there it is, hoping this helps anyone that may be interested in joining us on this particular expedition, if you do… check out the trip page, send us an email, or give me a call on my cell, I would be happy to chat with you about it (956) 279-8119.

Thank you for reading guys.