MANTA RAY
Our friend Ron Isbell took us to the northern side of Lady Musgrave Island. Perfect conditions but with a lot of dead plankton or coral spawn on the surface. It must be good food for manta rays. There was a line of them swimming in rotation over perhaps one kilometer there and back.
How many? A dozen – maybe as many as twenty.
What makes a good underwater model? Christine Danaher is one of the best. A diminutive figure is a good start although some scuba tanks can appear huge. We have an extensive collection of Christine D. pictures and some excellent underwater 16mm film footage.
A loving attitude toward animals, especially underwater is another good point. This helps to eliminate – or will eliminate fear.
A disposition that accepts certain discomforts – wet hair, cold water, rough sea and all the rest requires a tough girl.
The new additions to the world of underwater modeling are breath-hold free divers. Nadine Werner (Germany) for example is reported to hold her breath while swimming/diving for a remarkable four minutes.
There is a stunning blonde Russian actress, still in her twenties who set a world depth record for free diving some years ago. Check You Tube videos under “mermaids” for a host of lovelies with good lungs.
My mistake, this looks like Christine Danaher but is one of the pictures by our good friend (the late) Irvin Rockman, taken in New Guinea. I should have spotted the difference with her wet suit. It’s a fine picture – but not mine!! The following picture is:
