The ARGO returned to La Paz, Mexico on September 18th. The sub is now covered in canvas and secure on ARGO's deck, the SCUBA gear is stored and our expedition members are all heading off, returning home, in different directions. Brian Skerry, Jamie Bechtel and I thank Jeff Gale for the ride home!


Jaime Bechtel and Brian Skerry

This was an enormously successful project and I thank everyone for their contributions. I want to extend a special thanks to the crew of ARGO from the Undersea Hunter Group who were absolutely fabulous is making this a successful project. Everyone on board was superlative in helping us with our every need and providing the highest level of professional service, collaboration and friendship. I would go anywhere with this team!


Shmulik, Wendy, Greg and Avi

We learned a great deal about the ocean life in the sea of Cortez. We were enchanted by pilot whales, intrigued by hydrothermal vents, and thrilled by the opportunity to explore deep within this sea. Sadly, we learned what has happened to the seamount El Bajo over the many years of over fishing.

We hope this work will inform and encourage restoration and conservation of seamounts globally. There is a proposal at the United Nations level aimed at protecting seamounts that are outside of the national boundaries of countries, on what is called the "high seas" from trawling. If these bans are put into place, it would go along way towards protecting remaining seamounts globally. And, then, of course, each country must protect, restore and conserve the seamounts in their waters, which in most cases extends 200 miles from the coastlines in what is called their Exclusive Economic Zones or EEZ.

We are now planning our next seamount expedition to follow up on from this exploration. We now want to find a seamount that is pristine to compare to El Bajo. Avi thinks he knows one about 40 miles from Cocos Island in Costa Rica. We may go there next year with Avi, his team, ARGO, DEEPSEE, and as many members of this expedition who may also be free next year.


Brian Skerry and Greg Stone plan their next move.

So stand by for the next installment ...

-Gregory Stone

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Labels: conclusions, future expeditions, Greg Stone, Return

This post is contributed by expedition team member Wendy Benchley.

Elation! I have gone into the ocean depths in a submersible!

It was a terrific adrenaline rush to watch the clear blue water rise higher and higher on the plexiglass dome while sitting in a first class seat, with a 360 degree view. I'm hooked! No heavy tank, no jaw ache from clenching on a regulator, no clearing clogged ears! Only the lovely sensation of sinking slowly, so quietly down to a ledge on the seamount.

Avi Klapfer, the sub's designer and our pilot, maneuvered DEEPSEE with remarkable skill around the seamount until we were out of the strong current and resting peacefully on the bottom. We were surrounded by hundreds of beautiful pastel trigger fish. It was a special moment. On our way up we saw a school of tuna and some jacks. It was reassuring to finally see a few schools of larger fish in the Sea of Cortez.

There were no giant manta rays, but my trip into the deep was an incredible thrill and privilege. In fact, this whole trip has been an incredible thrill and privilege.

- Wendy Benchley

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Labels: DEEPSEE, Wendy Benchley

Our last dive was special. Avi piloted Brian and me through the blue, down and down past a huge school of mackerel that followed us until we passed through 300 feet, when the faint glimmer of surface sun disappeared. From there on we were in the black perpetual night of the deep ocean. We slowed and finally stopped 10 feet above the bottom, with 1,000 feet of sea on top of us. If we were to step outside of our sub, there would be 1,617 pounds per square inch pressing on our bodies, and we would implode to the size of a pint of jello. Needless to say, we decided to stay inside the sub!

If I described SCUBA diving as flying on another planet, then looking out at the bottom at 1,000 feet was being in another galaxy. The bottom was granular sand punctuated by rocks. We saw a few red scorpion fish, and then, as Avi moved the sub toward a great wall of volcanic rock, an unworldly deep sea octopus slithered by, changing its color to a deep red of alarm.


Photographer Brian Skerry eerily lit in the DEEPSEE submarine at 1,000 feet below the surface.
(Top) Alan Dynner looks out on the deep sea ocean life of the Sea of Cortez.

Then we moved slowly up the wall, passing strange jelly fish. Suddenly we saw two long neon flashes from bioluminescent creatures. It happened too fast to identify them. As we ascended, there were more and more white deep sea sponges and yellow corals. At 500 feet the wall ended, and we sailed through the water column past jellies, a school of bait fish, and finally to the surface with the welcoming sun and bright blue sky. The deep is mysterious and wonderful, and I am thrilled to have visited this strange realm.

- Alan Dynner

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Labels: Alan Dynner, DEEPSEE

We are having a very productive series of dives on the El Bajo Seamount, conducting surveys and acquiring video and still images. I remain stunned at the number of old ghost fishing nets, but I have gone into that before.

The sub takes two passengers at a time with one pilot. Those not diving in the sub are usually SCUBA diving while the sub is in the water. I have started using a new SCUBA diving air mixture on this trip called nitrox. Nitrox is a mixture that has more oxygen in it than regular air. Our atmosphere has about 20 percent oxygen, while this mixture has 32 percent oxygen.

The reason we use this mixture is that it has less nitrogen in it and when SCUBA diving it is the accumulated nitrogen in our body tissues that can cause sickness and the bends. Nitrox reduced the risk of the bends and allows you longer time diving. So my New England Aquarium dive officer, John Hanzl, will be pleased to know that I became nitrox certified on this trip. Even though I am a SCUBA instructor I have been a little old fashioned in that I have not used nitrox until now, It is a great mixture though. So Larry Madin, Alan Dynner and I are all now nitrox certified.


Wendy Benchley and Greg Stone emerge from the submarine after a dive.

Wendy Benchley and I made a dive in the sub yesterday and found hundreds of trigger fish down deep and were happy to see a small school of what I think was yellow fin tuna, though I could not get close enough to be for sure what species of tuna it was.

We are working very hard now these last few days, regretting that we do not have more time. I have had an infection caused by an insect bite on the side of my head, which I have treated with antibiotics, but the swelling can easily be seen around my left eye.

As I am writing this, we all saw a school of dolphins and a large whale (probably a sperm whale) in the distance.

Another great day on the Sea Of Cortez.

-Gregory Stone

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Labels: dolphins, Greg Stone, nitrox, SCUBA, sperm whales

Contributed by expedition photographer Brian Skerry

I have spent the last three days living a boyhood dream--exploring the ocean in a submersible. I have been SCUBA diving for over thirty years and taking pictures underwater for nearly as long, but I have never been inside a true submersible until now. It is everything I thought it would be and more!

This trip is the beginning of the Seamounts story that Greg Stone and I are producing for National Geographic Magazine. My goal as the story photographer is to produce images of seamounts that illustrate the immense value these places have as biodiversity hotspots in the sea; some of the last remaining hotspots in our world's oceans.

The seamount we've been exploring here in the Sea of Cortez is El Bajo, once a lush and wild place, famous for massive schools of hammerhead sharks and a wealth of other marine life. Today however, it is a shadow of its former self due to decades of over fishing. I had hoped that with the deep submersible dives we would find that the devastation was limited to only shallow waters, but it does not appear to be the case.

While we have seen some beautiful animals, there are very few and the evidence of destruction is clearly present. I have shifted my photographic focus to using El Bajo as an example of what can go wrong without protection of these jewels of the sea. I have been photographing lost fishing gear, especially massive fishing nets that have been lost on the bottom here. These trawler and seiner nets are draped over the reef and boulders of the seamount, a testimony to the severe pressure this site has received over the years.

I have been shooting with a newly designed deep-sea camera system developed by National Geographic Magazine for this project. With the superb maneuvering by the sub pilots I have been able to get very close to my subjects and make pictures. I've also made a few dives and made pictures the old fashioned way too--with a camera and underwater housing.


Brian Skerry (right) emerges from the DEEPSEE submarine after a dive.
In the photo above left Skerry photographs the ship for National Geographic story about the expedition.

Diving in the sub is fantastic! Just the sensation of slowly descending below the waves, then seeing the colors of blue morph into darker shades, then into shades of green is mesmerizing. I find that I have to shake myself out of a sleepy trance-like feeling and concentrate on the job at hand. It feels strange to me, seeing fish and gliding over rocks without being wet.

Although this component is short, only four days, it has already been extremely valuable from several perspectives, especially in regards to the learning curve of such a complex project. The next trip for this project/story will show the other side, the magnificent wildlife that live around seamounts and will explore places never been seen. I simply cannot wait!

-Brian Skerry

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Labels: biodiversity, Brian Skerry, El Bajo Seamount, overfishing

This post was written by expedition team member Wendy Benchley.

The devastating reality of a depleted sea rocked my soul yesterday. The El Bajo seamount still rises with majesty from the sea bed, but it is fundamentally changed.


Moon rise over the Sea of Cortez

Twenty five years ago, I remember the thrill of swimming off the edge of the seamount into the open blue water to cruise with schools of jacks, tuna, grouper, hammerheads and, with luck, a manta ray of two. Now the only schools of fish were tiny chromis and on the top of the mount were small numbers of angel, butterfly, trigger, puffer and scorpion fishes. My heart leapt when off in the distance I saw a grouper. Imagine that, one grouper is now a treat in this depleted sea!

The data and images we are recording will be important to move ocean conversation issues forward. I keep hope alive by focusing on the work Greg Stone, the New England Aquarium and Conservation International did to create the California-sized Phoenix Islands marine protected area in the Pacific ocean. If we could create more of these areas there is a chance the ocean could regain enough health to provide the fish protein needed to feed the world.

Perhaps this afternoon I will see a different ocean. I'm in high anticipation--it's my turn to ride in the DEEPSEE. Claustrophobia was worrying me a couple days ago, but now that I've seen the superbly trained pilots put the expertly crafted sub through its paces, I feel not a twinge of anxiety. I hope to see a deeper ocean filled with life and perhaps a manta or two to make my heart sing.

- Wendy Benchley

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Labels: biodiversity, El Bajo Seamount, Manta Ray, Wendy Benchley

I had my first dive at El Bajo yesterday in DEEPSEE and what a dive it was. Brian Skerry, Avi Klapfer (the pilot) and I drifted down the south side of the seamount at 4:00 p.m., my favorite time of day in the ocean. Ocean life tends to come alive late in the day as the sun goes down. And DEEPSEE gives you a totally immersive view of the ocean through the plexiglas bubble.


Preparing for a submarine dive

First we drifted down to the summit of the seamount while filmmaker Adam Geiger SCUBA dived around the sub and filmed us. Then we headed into deeper water and saw schools of red fish, amber jacks, garden eels poking their serpent like necks from the sand and peering at us and finally we came upon a sad surprise. It was a giant "ghost net" wrapped around a rock, an old seine net. This was a reminder to us of why this seamount, while beautiful in its own way now, does not have the abundance of marine life that it once had.

Back in the 1980s, there was a time when hundreds of hammerhead sharks, dozens of manta rays and other large fishes swam and circled El Bajo. We spent a long time filming the net and Brian made photographs for our National Geographic magazine article. Avi expertly maneuvered the sub in away that amazed me. A six ton vehicle and he could slide it sideways, up and down to a tolerance of a 1/4 inch.

After leaving the net we continued on and were soon surrounded by spawning fish. Male and female fish swimming in tight circles and ejecting sperm and egg into the water column, hopefully a sign that this area is recovery from overfishing.


Brian Skerry, Avi Klapfer and Greg Stone

As we neared the end of our dive we saw one more encouraging sign that was a 12 foot hammerhead shark that swam by the bubble of our sub and off into the abyss.

This, for me, was a perfect, day.

-Gregory Stone

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Labels: El Bajo Seamount, Greg Stone, Manta Ray, overfishing