“We dive not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”

By: Unknown

“We dive not to escape life, but for life not to escape us” – This saying has never been truer for a life-long naturalist such as Feodor “Feo” Pitcairn, who spent the latter part of his life doing what he loved most, which was still photography and videography. It was during this phase of his life that Feo happened upon an article about Yap and its mantas which prompted him to visit the island.

In the early nineties, when Yap was a new player in the diving world, its mantas were the highlight of the Micronesian islands, and its existence was spread with the help of Skin Diver Magazine and Paul Tzmoulis. Luckily, Feo read the article in Skin Diver that gave Feo the idea to visit Yap and do a video about its mantas that brought him to the Manta Ray Bay Resort & Yap Divers, and ultimately the beginning of a lifelong friendship with Bill and Patricia Acker.

As it is part of life that things do come to an end, the loss of Feo has left many feeling sad and bereft, but his contributions to society and the diving world will continue to keep his legacy alive.

In keeping his legacy, Bill will be hosting Feo’s dive shop members on a weeklong memorial dive trip in Yap (November 17th – 24th, 2024). This trip will not only include three tank dive days, but also a memorial dive to the newly named Pitcairn Corner. During three weeks of daily diving, Bill and Feo were unable to find the elusive manta mating dance Feo desperately needed for his movie. As fate would have it, on the last dive of the trip and with air running low, they found exactly what they had been searching for at the area of M’il Channel Bill has renamed Pitcairn Corner in honor of his friend Feo Pitcairn. The week will also be filled with various activities from cultural demonstrations and tours to blackwater diving.