These photos are from two very different wrecks off the coast of Maui.
One is the wreckage of an old concrete pier, called Mala Wharf, that was broken apart by a wild storm called Hurricane Iniki in 1992. Since then it has been colonized by corals and fish, and even has a sea turtle cleaning station. This is where sea turtles can come and get cleaned by little fish.
The second wreck was a secret until not that long ago. It is a perfectly intact Helldiver plane, that sank in about 50 ft of water. Just recently the tail fin broke off. The story goes that in 1944, the pilot was flying a training mission and had to ditch the plane on his way back in to land. He survived, but the plane gently sank down beneath the waves. Only to be discovered decades later by a local fisherman.
I took my Canon 5d mark ii, in an Ikelite underwater housing, with dual DS-161 strobes and a canon wide angle lens on both dives. I was looking for big, charismatic animals as well as wide angle views of the wrecks themselves. I was pretty lucky with good visibility, especially with the turtles. I hope you enjoy coming along on these wonderful dives with me.
One of my favorite turtle shots from Mala Wharf. Schools of fish, the coral covered wreckage, and a Hawaiian green sea turtle swimming right at me.
Two lizard fish, waiting for prey to swim close enough to grab with their big, toothy mouth.
A commerson's frogfish, perfectly blending in with the coral. This is also an ambush predator with a huge mouth!
But the master of camouflage has to be the octopus. Here is one right before it changed color and texture to blend in even more with the rubble.
I always find the most powerful wildlife photos have the animal coming right at you.
More underwater fun with sea turtles.
Remember I have a wide angle lens, so this turtle is really, really close!
Here she is, the wreck of the Helldiver. The actual make and model is a Curtiss SB2C-1 Helldiver. I love that the wings and propeller are in such good shape.
This was an unusually clear day for this dive. It stayed hidden and secret for so long because it is usually quite murky in this sandy area.
Scuba diver framed by the wreckage.
The local dive company put down a plaque to show the significance of this wreck.
What a wonderful day. Two dives, two wrecks, and you got to come along to share the experience.
Keep shooting, exploring, and traveling.
Check out on pinmapple.com as well!
[//]:# (!pinmapple 20.885943 lat -156.688367 long Mala Wharf Turtle Dive d3scr)
-Dai Mar