Electric Ray
It’s a young one. You would not know. But I know. It’s small. It has a double tail fin and was trying to avoid me. He swam by and I got a very nice close up of his eye. Some things are fortuitous. It’s not as though I can tell him to pose for me. One dive buddy was not coming. Too deep and his nose and ears hurt. The other was not impressed. He’s seen one before. Not me! You don’t see an electric ray often enough to be bored. He was active and I was chasing. No the charge is not harmful. I did not touch it to test this theory.
Meanwhile we had an encounter I will not forget. I got to look him straight in the eye! I’ll bet he was not thrilled.
Electric Ray
It’s a decent image. But the point here is that the image represents a story. After time spent in the old city I detour to the Red Sea again. I dove at Christmas. And though I am an accomplished amateur diver there is much to learn. I was given the opportunity to dive with a nitrox mix in my tank. This was a 38% mix of oxygen. It allows you to stay down at depth for longer than with room air 21%. I have two dive computers. The second one was not set for nitrox and it was bleeping unhappily for a couple days afterward. Fortunately my spiffy new dive computer was accurate and kept me safe. It’s a Suunto – made in Finland – and widely in use around here. It has a computer cable to hook up and download the dive memory to your computer. It doesn’t work on a Macintosh. (Just a bit of public rebuke for Suunto who has thus far been clueless on how to solve this problem. Hint: I’m still waiting for an answer and am pissed.). Meanwhile I’m more than nervous about a nitrox dive. It’s a new experience. You don’t mess around underwater. Safety! I was warned my bottom was 85 feet. Do not go below 85 feet! You won’t explode but the enriched oxygen is not good for safety below your bottom limit. And…. this electric ray was at 89 feet! I drifted down and shot a few images and then was scolded and sent higher. Nothing happened; the sky did not fall. And I got a shot. In medicine we use high concentrations of oxygen to treat medical problems. But I am not familiar with underwater concentrations and how they affect physiology. Some late night reading…
Electric Ray
This is a rare fish to find on the reef. It is said to have an electric charge to stun its prey. It is also known as a torpedo ray.
Fun facts? I have had a very limited opportunity to get a proper shot of this fish. The last try my camera was not working properly and I bare got a passable shot. This time around I had everything clicking. The fish did not shock me. I kept away from the electric sensors. I got my shots. Everyone was happy. He swam away safely.
I was so happy to get shots. And my gear was right. The exposure, the focus, the white balance, all perfect. Trust me on this, it ain’t easy.
Oh! And no shock. My dive buddy was horrified to see me so close. But nope, no shocks.
Electric Ray
We were headed back to base. The late afternoon fading light made it hard to get shots. I was still experiencing camera woe. And there swimming before us was an electric ray. At least this is the name in my book. It was interested in getting as far away from us as it could. I have seen an electric ray only once in three years. So this was pretty special. And yes, I played with the wildlife to get him to stay in view long enough to get a decent shot. I shot a bunch but these images were the best of the lot and not excellent as is my usual luck. But an image of an electric ray is special no matter what.
photobackstory 