Blackwater diving is underway in Yap. Thank you David Fleetham for contributing these takes and being on our first blackwater explorations.

These initial expedition dives were conducted off of Yap’s East coast several miles offshore in thousands of feet of water.

Yap is unique in that it sits on the rim of the Marianas Trench, within 100 miles of Challenger Deep, the deepest point of the ocean.

Pelagic squid were encountered and photographed on almost every dive.

This year’s image contest Best of Show champion won with a blackwater photo of squid behavior of predation, cannibalism to be exact.