Official Ostracod night in Bonaire

[cleomagic]

Has anyone dove during Ostracod mating in Bonaire? We are heading there next week, and it look like Oct 2nd is supposed to be a prime time to see it happen. Does anyone have any tricks to photographing or video taping the event? We have Sony RX100's and were curious to know what settings would be best. I won't tell you our strobe/video light config because I don't want to be using them

-- Cleomagic

 

[tursiops]

It is easy to see them....they appear to be out starting about 45 minutes after sunset, on nights when the moon has not yet risen...it needs to be dark! The 45 mins delay is so civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight are over. The moon rises at sunset at full moon, then about 50 minutes later each night thereafter. Full moon is Sept 28, so Sept 29-Oct 12 should be pretty good.

Stay near gorgonians and coral, not too deep.

It is almost impossible to take pictures of them....they are too dim. The pix you see are taken with image intensifier cameras.

Here are some links:
Ostracods
The Starry Night Beneath the Caribbean Sea - The Artful Amoeba - Scientific American Blog Network

 

[Superscubaguy]

I was just going to recommend checking out Bonaire Talk for some great info on this but Tursiops brought the info to here. I will be looking for them October 3. My last dive on Bonaire two years ago was during this display. It was amazing. We tried to take pictures but it did not work.

 

[cleomagic]

Thank you, everyone, for your input. Will let you know how it goes - our video light is a red light - might that work in being able to capture a photo? Just won't be able to capture the blue (might look purple....)

 

[tursiops]

Thank you, everyone, for your input. Will let you know how it goes - our video light is a red light - might that work in being able to capture a photo? Just won't be able to capture the blue (might look purple....)

No, it won't help. There is barely anything there to see....they are smaller than a tomato seed....you need to photograph them by the light they emit, not the light (red, white, whatever) they reflect. Forget the camera, and just enjoy the show!

 

[cleomagic]

Wanted to post an update - we dove off of Cliff on October 2nd, and the Ostacod activity was amazing! It started right when we were in place (around 7pm, sunset at 6:23), and the peak was right around 45minutes after sunset. We were at 30-40 feet, and it looked like they were everywhere. And no, we did not try and take any pictures - just decided to enjoy the show. The "show" peak activity was 5 minutes, and then started to die off. Everyone once and in a while we would see one while we continued our dive. Definitely a must see if you are in Bonaire at the right time.

 

[tursiops]

Wanted to post an update - we dove off of Cliff on October 2nd, and the Ostacod activity was amazing! It started right when we were in place (around 7pm, sunset at 6:23), and the peak was right around 45minutes after sunset. We were at 30-40 feet, and it looked like they were everywhere. And no, we did not try and take any pictures - just decided to enjoy the show. The "show" peak activity was 5 minutes, and then started to die off. Everyone once and in a while we would see one while we continued our dive. Definitely a must see if you are in Bonaire at the right time.

Thanks for the report back!
Congratulations....you are now an official Ostracodder.