Diver, underwater filmmaker, and marine conservationist, Barny Dillarstone has filmed a creature from the deep that he says has likely never been filmed alive in the wild before. And indeed, Barny’s footage of a purple eagle ray (myliobatis hamlyni) is wonderful to watch, but it’s just one of many incredible deep-sea encounters present on his YouTube channel.
Barny specializes in dropping underwater cameras onto the ocean floor, where he films all manner of underwater species, some familiar and some most certainly not. The purple eagle ray footage comes only a few days after I wrote a news story about another extremely rare encounter, when researchers filmed a sleeper shark for the first time in the near-freezing waters of Antarctica. But far from the South Shetland Islands, Barny’s footage was captured off the coast of Indonesia’s Black Magic Island.
What I like about the underwater filmmaker’s channel is that it’s not just underwater footage with a bit of voiceover. The production quality is like a televised wildlife documentary, with behind-the-scenes footage of the boat and crew, as well as each drop, which doesn’t always go to plan.
The underwater rig looks to be surprisingly simple. It’s built around an Insta360 Ace Pro 2, which is attached to a large, weighted cage, with a forward-facing light, and bait attached to a protruding rod. A huge length of rope is then attached to the rig, so the team can hoist it back up again after each shoot. Interestingly, Barny mentions how shallow-dwelling creatures tend to fear light at night, whereas in the deep, creatures seem to be attracted to it.
This – and a tasty squid – is what possibly attracted the beautiful purple eagle ray at the end of the video. Remarkably, though, it isn’t the only exclusive recording of a species that’s possibly never been filmed alive, but I’ll let you watch the whole video to find out what sea creature that is.
The channel is a reminder that only 5% of the world’s oceans have been explored by humans, making the seas a smorgasbord of rare encounters for bold filmmakers like Barny. And with quality underwater cameras now more affordable than they ever have been, we live in a time where new discoveries are perhaps more likely than ever.
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If you're interested in dabbling in underwater photography, but don't want to spend big, take a look at the OM System Tough TG-7. If you're looking for other cameras like the Insta360 Ace Pro 2, here are the best action cameras. And if you're thinking of submerging a camera that's not waterproof, you need an underwater housing.
