Sharing an enthusiasm for discovery

This is what drsnapper is about: developing and sharing an enthusiasm for discovery. Coupling two elements for a new purpose: a fishing rod and a baited underwater camera - for hook-less trophy shots. Casting a camera to wherever you expect some underwater life, taps into a desire to "catch" the unknown. And just what it does to an angler to reel in a fish, capturing an underwater trophy shot gives you a bit of a thrill, especially when you can review your “catch” instantly on a mobile device. 

Here are some of my trophy shots from the last couple of years:

Lobster tug-of-war

During my visit of the National Marine Science Centre in Coffs Harbour I was shown around the tank farm equipped with a flow-through system. The larger tanks were currently housing some Eastern rock lobster (Sagmariasus verreauxi), yellowfin bream (Acanthopagrus australis), and some well-sized Mangrove jack or red snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus, as pictured). I asked for permission to record with a waterwolf camera how the Eastern rock lobster behaved towards the mesh bait bag that I normally use for the drsnapper underwater camera trap. These pretty strong fellas played tug-of-war with it. They were fighting amongst each other over who will have a go at it first. And when one of them did and tried to seize and evade with its food, the rotation actions of the waterwolf camera make you dizzy. Clearly, the medical-grade mesh bait bag will only last for an attack or two until it is ripped to shreds.

American beauty

Finally, the test tank is up and running. My new friend is still a little camera shy when the lights go on, but there is some interest in the bait bag. There is more to come....stay tuned.

Mini-flume tank

Created a nano test tank at home - this will become my little studio set up to test camera's and bait combinations with some stunt characters I will cast in straight from the North Sea. Current guests include the common starfish (Asterias rubens) and an edible crab (Cancer pagurus).

Tea time

In this post, I used a WaterWolf UW 1.1 camera to record an edible crab (Cancer pagurus) while it was munching on some whole squid tentacles for tea. The WaterWolf was, as far as I know, the first underwater camera on the market designed for angling. I will give it a crack one day, in one of the next posts, providing I find some reasonably clear water and not just that brown-green soup, we all know too well.

Crustaceous crunchtime

Testing whether various crustaceans are strong enough to pull the trigger. Kicking off this wee series with the common shore crab (Carcinus maenas), following later on will be an edible crab (Cancer pagurus) and finally a European lobster (Homarus gammarus). As bait, I will use a ground-up dough produced from fermented fishwaste to check how well these species will repond to its (hopefully) generous odour plume.

It works - first camera-trapped turbot ever???

After the "field" trials were a little difficult to say the least, blaming that bulky frame and picky fish, I went back to the lab, just to prove the concept. Still no award-winning footage, I admit, but at least the turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) do trigger short video sequences. They love a bait ball stuffed with fresh brown shrimps or cod chops. After their first greedy attacks, they become really wary though. All in all, the trigger worked well, and collected quite a few "trophy shots".

Thanks to Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food! All turbot were held for a research project approved by the Flemish Animal Ethics Commission.