Diving the Amazon: Rigors and rewards

The longest-established scuba diving magazine in North America

May 2007

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Diving the Amazon - Rigors and Rewards

BY JEAN-MICHEL COUSTEAU

TOP: Cameraman Matthew Ferraro films an extreme close-up of a caiman in relatively ‘clear’ water, using a high definition camera. RIGHT: Jean-Michel Cousteau takes a close look at a matamata, a bizarre, uniquely camouflaged creature that looks more like decaying leaves than a species of turtle.

BOTTOM: Céline Cousteau reveals a freshwater stingray nestled in a field of green algae along the bottom of the Amazon River. Photos: Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society.

Chief Diver Blair Mott maintains a firm but gentle hold on an Amazon River caiman he is relocating to deeper water. Photo: Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society.

The Amazon. It’s the world’s largest river, with nearly one-fifth of all the river water in the world flowing between its shores. It’s one of Earth’s most dramatic features—a ribbon of life starting as a trickle 18,600 feet (5,670m) high in the Peruvian Andes at Mount Mismi and finally roaring into miles of muddy, surging power before it empties into and alters the Atlantic Ocean at Belem, Brazil, 4,000 miles (6,438km) away.

Twenty-five years ago my father and I traveled with teams the entire length of the Amazon to document, learn about and see the environmental conditions of this great water system. This year a new assemblage of young people and seasoned colleagues join me in retracing the same route to reassess the health and vitality of the river for Season Two of our PBS HD-TV series Jean-Michel Cousteau Ocean Adventures.

With all the advancements in diving and camera technology, there is an opportunity to investigate and closely film an exotic mixture of life forms many only dream about, much less experience in the wild. Unlike anywhere else in the world, giant fish, crabs, iguanas, even dolphins, suddenly mingle in the rich dark waters that rise every year as much as 40 feet (12m) during the wet season, inundating the rainforest.

The only thing our team could count on in the Amazon was the knowledge that it’s a challenging place to make a documentary above water, and more so below. Just to get to dive-worthy water takes time, patience and resolve. Yet we were willing to endure 10

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the steamy, hot, insect-infested, murky conditions for the chance to experience some of the most thrilling underwater experiences on record for us.

After delays due to dive and boat gear held up in Brazilian customs and days of riverboat travel, away from civilization, during the heat of the dry season, the team arrived inside a protected reserve located at the convergence of Xixuau-Xiparina rivers and Rio Jauaperi in Brazilian Amazonia.

Everyone wore lightweight dive skins otherwise we’d overheat and exhaust ourselves before even beginning the day’s filming. Team divers assessed their surroundings, asking themselves, as divers often do before taking the plunge in an unfamiliar place, “Will the water be a comfortable temperature? Will visibility be decent so I can at least see my gauges? Is there a strong current?” When these three ingredients are just right at the start of a dive, things get off to a good start. However, in the Amazon, the divers quickly learned they were to be denied the three basics taken for granted by ocean divers.

The group slipped into the water, which at first offered a pleasant relief from the heat and humidity. The comfort didn’t last; a chill set in. This part of the Amazon has a swift, cold current and it made people wish for the comfort of a heavier wetsuit. The range of depth was seven to 32 feet (2-10m), since it was the low water season. Film

work took place in the shallower water and every flick of a fin meant almost complete loss of visibility due to the thick, fine sediment coating the river bottom. And this was not a place where you wanted to be at a visual disadvantage. This is caiman country, the habitat of the species related to the alligator. The goal was to get clear underwater footage of this animal, without loosing gear, or worse, an appendage.

The good planning, sheer luck, teamwork and determination needed to get the shots all came together in some spectacular dives. We found several small, clear, swift-water locations that were concentrated with diverse life due to the low water conditions. We located the caimans, observing their breath-holding ability and their lack of aggressiveness underwater. The matamata, a turtle species that resembles a moving clump of brown decayed leaves, blending perfectly with its muddy, detritusladened surroundings, was revealed to the camera. Team divers felt their heartbeats and breathing increase dramatically at their first sight of free-swimming anacondas and boa constrictors. In the Amazon region, these snakes are at home in the water; we are the aliens, at a distinct disadvantage in their habitat. Dives in this place don’t last long: your tank air rapidly diminishes in the presence of these beautiful but potentially deadly reptiles.

An astonishing sight when diving the Amazon is the fresh water stingray, with its undulating leopard-spotted body, contrasting beautifully against a soft emerald green field of river algae. Who says dive conditions need to be perfect? A different kind of diver’s paradise awaits in this amazing freshwater system, which feeds the world’s oceans. The mighty Amazon is a river of life, demanding our admiration, respect and protection. Our Ocean Futures Society team looks forward to sharing with you this and other stories in Return to the Amazon on PBS in 2007. divermag.com

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