Red at 40 feet

[justleesa]

Would the strobe light make it red?

Didn't use the strobe for these pictures. They were taken using manual white balance. But I saw it was red, before I took the picture.

 

[justleesa]

Lisa are those non strobe photos that you adjusted in Photoshop?
If so there is a reddish hair like algae that grows on the bottom at certaim times of the year and the turtles eat algae.

Yes, but very little adjusting. Would that algae release a reddish substance that I could identify as red at 40 feet???
The stuff that was coming out looked like when you drop a drop of red dye in water, the swirls and such. I don't have a color correction mask - it was very red coming out of his mouth.

Here is one more pic:

Image by justleesa (Copyright) posted at ScubaGallery

 

[justleesa]

This is way out there but following the neon/fluorescent idea, could he have bitten into a cylume stick?

Other than that I have no idea!

OK, what's a cylume stick? one of those night glow sticks?...

It was very strange seeing that color down there...it was flowing big time.

 

[DennisW]

I doubt it was blood. Blood is either green or black at depth, usually a greenish color. Spock would love it. I couldn't say what it would be, but probably not blood.

 

[IslandHopper]

At 40 feet you could certainly see red. With fairly clear water and good lighting (sun almost directly overhead) we often get enough light penetration to see red colors at 40 feet. Not as vibrant as at the surface, but still identifiable.

 

[f3nikon]

Red? I thought Hawaii is a blue state, maybe the turtle is Republican!

 

[justleesa]

lol....we have all different kinds of voters here


hmmmm......we had about 50' vis.....and it was bright out - but I can't say that anything else was as colorful as what was coming out of his mouth....but that still sounds like a possibility

 

[f3nikon]

Off the subject, but your shot of another turtle swimming down, with an openwater surface background is one of the best shots I seen on turtles. By shooting up to the bright surface, the camera adjust its aperature to a higher number, f16 maybe, giving you greater depth of field. It also helps reduce a busy background.

I thought I had seen a similar shot on a postcard from Hawaii.

 

[Gilligan]

It sure looks like Red Algae to me. This info is from:

http://www.werc.usgs.gov/hq/invasive/seaturtle.html

Impact of exotic invasive plants on selected reptiles -- green sea turtle:

Interestingly, some exotic pest plants may have benefitted turtles. The green sea turtle is an herbivorous species that is endangered world-wide. The red algae species Hypnea musciformis was introduced into the Hawaiian Islands in 1974 from its native Florida. Since its introduction it has spread rapidly invading niches occupied by native species of Hypnea. Although the exotic algae is capable of inhibiting the growth of native species, some believe that the total productivity of certain Hawaiian reefs has increased due to the addition of H. musciformis. Green sea turtles utilize the exotic algae which sometimes represents 99-100 percent of the seaweed mass found in their stomachs (Russell and Balazs, 1994).

Very well researched response. Thank you.

 

[justleesa]

Off the subject, but your shot of another turtle swimming down, with an openwater surface background is one of the best shots I seen on turtles. By shooting up to the bright surface, the camera adjust its aperature to a higher number, f16 maybe, giving you greater depth of field. It also helps reduce a busy background.

I thought I had seen a similar shot on a postcard from Hawaii.

Why thank you :winky:
At the shop we have "Dive Hawaii" postcards with my pictures on them....but I didn't use that one....yet