Diving with Manta ray at night was out of this world !!

Large and powerful lights where placed on the sea floor which attracted plankton (essentially microscopic plants and animal). Various coloured lights where directed from the boat into the water. The plankton swarmed in covering the illuminated areas like snow in a blizzard. A Manta ray smorgasbord.

I descend though this surreal environment and rested on the sea floor. The excitement built. Suddenly giants materialize out of the darkness with their mouths open and mandrills extended. Their streamlined body, huge wingspan and long tail give them an almost extra-terrestrial look. They appeared alone or in lines of two or three gliding though the swarms filtering out the plankton as they went.

I utilised two powerful video lights whilst diving which allowed my camera to grab focus. Aiming these lights towards the surface attacked large swarms of plankton and brining the Manta rays to within inches. They would flip, pirouette and summersault as they danced between my lights and those on the sea floor like an alien ballet. The grace and agility of these majestic creatures was staggering.

My air supply ran low all to quickly. The lights where turned off, the plankton scattered and the Manta rays disappeared back into the darkness. I ascend to the surface and back into reality.

Technical details – I was using a Nikon 16-35mm at 16mm. A low ISO was selected to achieve a black background and high shutter speed to freeze the movement of the Manta ray. The underbelly was illuminated predominantly with 2 x strobe lights and filled in with 2 x video/focus light. The Manta ray was very close so backscatter (particulates in the water between you and the subject that look like snow in the photo) was not an issue. I was shooting upwards to capture surface lighting placed above the feeding ground.