Adventure Magazine April 2020

Launched in February 1931, the
SS President Coolidge was operated
as a luxury liner. After the Pearl
Harbour attack in 1941 she was
commissioned as a transport ship
to reinforce garrisons in the Pacific.
She set sail from San Francisco for
New Caledonia and Espiritu Santo in
Vanuatu. On her approach to Santo
in October 1942, the SS Coolidge
struck two mines and the captain ran
her aground. 4,998 troops got safely
off the ship before she sank. She
now rests on her port side in warm
tropical waters with her bow at a
depth of 20 meters and her stern at
70 meters.
I was invited to photograph
the infamous Coolidge and as we
descended towards the huge wreck
I was vaguely conscious of a large
fish shape in the distance. My eyes
just about popped out of my head!
It was the biggest grouper I had
ever seen and I became transfixed
with photographing this wonderful
250-kilo monster. Unfortunately
my magazine editor wanted me to
photograph a mural called The Lady
BORIS THE GROUPER
in the ship’s dining room and took me
to deeper water. Next day we moved
on to another location. I was gutted.
I knew instinctively that the grouper
was an amazing photo opportunity
and promised myself I would return.
One year later I returned to dive
the Coolidge again. My wonderful
resident Japanese dive guide
Mayumi told me the grouper’s
name was Boris and promised to
bring him close to my camera. We
swam down the starboard side of
the Coolidge to see Boris lurking
in the distance. I signalled Mayumi
to wait while I set up my camera.
Then I could concentrate on the
composition of the image in the heat
of the moment. Guessing Boris might
come very close I manually focused
on my knee. I manually metered
the background water and set the
strobes on low power so as not to
over expose the fish. I was ready. We
kneeled on the hull. Mayumi pulled
from her plastic container a fish the
size of a small kahawai and waived
it above her head. In an instant Boris
was right in my face! As he turned
in front of me with his little yellow
followers I took one photo.
Two weeks later I saw the
transparency was pin sharp and
perfectly exposed. I was elated
and it was to become my most
successful image. It won a first
place in the world’s prestigious
Wildlife Photographer of the Year
competition. Being flown to London’s
Natural History Museum to accept
my award from Richard Attenborough
was the highlight of my photographic
career. The image then toured the
world as part of their exhibition and
its appearance brought me lots of
new work enquiries.
Several years later my 12-yearold
daughter Ocean completed
her PADI open water dive training
and I took her to meet Boris. She
appeared to have absolutely no fear
of this huge fish. What I learned from
this whole Boris experience was this.
Once you recognize a great photo
opportunity don’t give up on it. Go
back and do it again and again until
you get it right!
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