I had a little surprise on my May 23rd
site visit in Seward, Alaska...



Bret Gilliam / Email: bretgilliam@gmail.com

I had a little surprise on my May 23rd site visit in Seward, Alaska. I had to re-create the scene of a diver fatality and place a fully equipped mannequin on the exact spot near Fox Island Spit. Conditions were about 55 degrees air temperature, 39 degrees water temperature, fully snow capped mountains right down to sea level, ice bergs, and surface ice. (The boat crew forgot to load my dry suit!) Once I placed the "body" on the bottom with another diver and began to photograph it for trial exhibits, a 14-foot, 2400-pound Stellar sea lion male made a pass at me with my bare head, shoulders, and arms all in the water and my Subal underwater camera housing in my hands. I was glued to the viewfinder when suddenly I had a very close encounter. The other crew on the boat soiled themselves and were certain that I was going to have my head and upper extremities bitten off. This damn thing was the size of an orca. I never saw it coming. Chaos reigned briefly. And like a true professional... I got a couple of shots.