YAP: A Micronesian Treasure

David Fleetham · Issue 114, May/Jun 2020 · pp. 52–58

Products mentioned: Canon 5D mark 4, Ikelite Dry-Lock housing, Ikelite 161 strobes

The water in Yap was a balmy 84 degrees. This was good. I had been laying on the rubble bottom for over ten minutes waiting for the shrimp to emerge from its den beside the goby that had been warily watching me the entire time. My elbows were on the bottom to hold a Canon 5D mark 4 in my Ikelite Dry-Lock housing steady and my eye was trained on the 45º viewfinder while attempting the most relaxed breathing I could muster so as to not disturb my vigilant subject. The dive site is named “Slow and Easy”. It is ten minutes away from the Manta Ray Bay Resort where I was spending three weeks with groups of divers that had one thing in mind…..take pictures underwater or more accurately take better pictures on their last day than they were taking on their first day. The goby finally moved to one side and reluctantly allowed the shrimp, claws and arms filled with tiny bits of rubble, to emerge fr…