Caribbean roughshark (Oxynotus caribbaeus), below 1700 feet during the day, as shallow as 1000 at night.
Only photographed live off Roatan.

Though many people visit Roatan for their love of the ocean, most often their love remains shallow and superficial. As opposed to the mere 130-foot depths explored by Roatan scuba divers, the world's oceans have an average depth of over 14,000 feet. Most of the planet is covered in waters that have never seen light and are inhabited by otherworldly animals adapted to this extreme environment. Currently the most accessible point for people to explore this world for themselves is right here on Roatan.
To better understand the uniqueness of the Roatan Institute of Deep-sea Exploration (RIDE) and its current submersible Idabel, it is useful to have a brief history of submersibles. It was in the 1960s that modern submersibles were born, that interest was at the highest in exploring the ocean, (as well as space one could add), and that most developments in submersible design were made as well as in vehicles. It was during this time the submersible Alvin was launched that famously found the Titanic (1964), and the standing record for deep submergence was made by the Trieste to the bottom of the Marianas Trench (1960). In 1968, six men spent over a month drifting 1500 miles in the Gulf stream in a submersible named the Ben Franklin. Television regularly featured the exploits of Cousteau piloting his diving saucer and living underwater in the Conshelf habitats. In short, it was an exciting time to be exploring underwater.
By the 1970s, enthusiasm to explore the depths was considerably dampened. Many large companies that had built submersibles in an effort to demonstrate their ability to do so and in the hopes of getting funding in a government funded "wet NASA" realized they had invested poorly and began mothballing their subs. There was a surge of sub building activity however due to their use, particularly in the North Sea for support of oil extraction. One company in Florida came the closest to a "mass produced sub," manufacturing over 20 submersibles with a 1000 foot depth rating and a cylindrical design. Interestingly this company was started as a hobby by John Perry, a newspaper publisher. It was Perry-made subs that were making tourist dives for years in the Cayman Islands, and a high-strength steel sphere that used to belong to a Perry sub is incorporated into my submersible Idabel. By the 1980s even this market was drying up as oil companies decided it was more cost effective to send ROVs - (Remote Operated Vehicles) to replace the subs, reducing risks and with unlimited power supplied down an umbilical cord.
The 1990s saw the growing of the Atlantis submarine company that claims a fleet of subs "larger than that of many national navies" with 11 subs operating in seven countries. The company has provided tours to over 11 million people and claims to be the largest tourism service provider in North America. Though the owner of Atlantis got his start working with subs at depths up to 6000 feet, he quickly decided that the real money was in taking the 99% of people that have never been scuba diving to 100-150 feet under, and the success of his company has proven this philosophy. It also was something of a death toll for deep submersible innovation and investment. We now find ourselves living on a planet that is more than 70% covered with water, with an average depth of 14,000 feet and yet only nine nations on the planet - USA, Germany, Portugal, Russia, France, Greece, Costa Rica, Canada and Honduras - have the capability to explore past the first 1000 feet of that. The majority of these vehicles are operated by federal governments, off 200-300 foot long ships, at the cost of $20,000 to $50,000 per day to support the overhead. With such a small number of vehicles worldwide, operating in such a limited basis due to their extreme cost, the amount of deep ocean exploration done by humans is scarce at best.
It was in such a scarcity that my dream as a 9-year-old boy to build a sub was born. With the chance encounters of many people that have benefited the project, and more than two decades of stubborn determination, that I have found myself operating the deepest submersible in the hemisphere south of the US. Due to total vertical integration of the business- (being my own designer, welder, machinist, pilot, etc.), I have kept my costs to levels that are less than 10% of my nearest competitor. It is for these reasons magazine reporters and TV crews have been sent from as far away as Brazil, Japan, England and Germany to document what lives in Roatan's deep waters.
Beginning in 1998, I have made over 1200 dives, as deep as 2620 feet in the waters off Roatan. Most have been 2-3 hours, but many have lasted 7-9 hours, and once I stayed down for 17 hours. I would like to share with the Voice readers some of what I have learned and observed from these dives.
Water Visibility
One of the most common misperceptions about the deep ocean is how quickly light fades. Due to Roatan's large distance from a major land mass, and lack of rivers to put sediment into the water on a regular basis, the visibility here can be as good as visibility possibly gets in saltwater. I base this on conversations with pilots of other subs, who are always amazed to learn I have seen the sun hitting the surface here as deep as 800 feet. The only time I have heard of the sun being visible any deeper is in Crater Lake in Oregon, which is fresh water and so high in the mountains no rivers run into it, and the volcanic crater lip even protects the lake's surface from wind driven waves. There, people have seen the sun strike the surface as deep as 1000 feet.
Surrounding Roatan, there is a thermo cline at 250-300 feet down. Not only does the temperature change here, but the visibility at least doubles, as the sediment rich waters above are in another layer. This deeper water is so clear that I often turn my lights out at 1000 feet and can easily navigate with only the natural light. Once I was even able to do this at 1300 feet. What is strange about light at this level is the color, or should I say complete lack of it. As any diver can tell you, in the first 50 feet, red light waves are absorbed by the water; in the 500 foot range even the blue starts to go; and in a few hundred more feet the indigo leaves. What is left is not exactly black and white, but you can't quite say what is different about it, because you have watched each color being leached out one by one.
Another surprising fact is how far the moonlight can penetrate. You must remember 98% of the light has already been absorbed in the first 100 meters. It is not the intensity of the light that lets it get so deep, it is the remarkable clarity of the water. Thus it is on many occasions I have seen the moon striking the surface, at depths to 500 feet. I have also had people tell me they could see the glow of the submersibles lights- from shore when I was 400 feet underwater.

Geology
Part of the equation that makes RIDE possible is the unique geology of Roatan. There is only a two mile stretch (between Sandy Bay and West End) that offers a combination of being in the lea of the island, having safe harbors, and immediate access to waters thousands of feet deep. I have done much investigating for other places in the world with these three requirements, and one or more is always missing. If any world travelers have seen such a place, please contact me with the coordinates!
The largest contributor to this unique geology is Roatan's location on the edge of a Caribbean plate. In case the name of the country wasn't enough of a reminder (Honduras means "depths") that we live on the edge of a trench, the 7.3 earthquake that rocked us in May 2009 was evidence in which most of us took notice. Looking at a map it is clear that Guanaja, Roatan and Utila are the tops of a mostly submerged mountain range. These mountains are being formed as the Caribbean Plate is pushed down into the trench. The Cayman trench is the deepest in the Caribbean and plunges to depths of over 25,000 feet. It is worth noting that no manned vessel in the world today is capable of reaching such depths.
Besides being pushed upwards, these mountains are riding a plate that is slowly moving into the trench. That is why the north side of the island is much steeper than the South side. Over the years, various projects, including inspecting the dumping site for materials from the new cruise ship dock, have allowed me to explore depths of every area between French Harbor and Flowers Bay. I would estimate the slope on the south side to be less than half of that on the north side. There is also at least 3x the trash to be found on the south side, as would be expected from the larger population and industrial centers being found on that side of the island. The north side is so steep in places there is often a vertical wall in the depth ranges of 250-1200 feet. Just like a glacier moving continually downhill "calves" off pieces of itself, the north side of the island is constantly losing chunks that break loose. On a dive done only 16 hours after the earthquake, enough material had broken free that below 900 feet visibility was less than a few feet and the sub could safely go no deeper. These processes are also on display in certain areas, for example directly in front of Half Moon Bay, and also in front of Peter's Place dive site, where a slab of the deep wall (250-500 feet) is starting to split away but has not yet fallen off. Think of Mary's Place, but many times larger. The cave formed in front of Peter's place is large enough that I have been able to drive my sub thru it, 400+ feet down.
Most know Roatan's gnarled "iron shore" used to be coral and that sea levels used to be approximately 20 feet higher, but how often do you see evidence of when the sea levels were up to 400 feet lower? This fact is on clear display because of the coral (now limestone) left at depths up to 700 feet below current sea level. Reef building coral relies on the algae that grows inside of it, thus generating due to photosynthesis. There is only enough energy in sunlight to permit photosynthesis down to about 300 feet. Seeing the drowned and eroded reef left behind from 20,000 years ago, during the last ice age, at depths of up to 750 feet is a stark reminder in the variability of sea level over time. Where waves used to hammer Roatan's ancient cliffs, there are now many areas in the 300-450 foot range where the wall is severely undercut - these are truly dramatic places to navigate the submersible.
Below this, the landscape changes dramatically. The wall starts to slope out at about a 45 degree angle and the landscape is dominated by blocks of limestone that have tumbled down. These giant blocks of stone, many the size of two- and three-story buildings, provide safe habitats for many creatures that need protection from being smothered by the rain of sediment from above. Below 1500 feet the numbers of boulders diminishes and the most common rock is the black igneous rock that forms the base of the island.

Deadlocked in Frustration - Again by George Crimmin

We also need new leadership that has the will, skill and courage to succeed in this endeavor. We are separate and entirely different from mainland Honduras and deserve to be considered by different standards. We have always been treated differently: in negative and punitive ways. It is not only the time to divide the Roatán Municipal territory into two separate entities, from upper Brick Bay to the Oakridge border forming a new municipality, but each individual Island being awarded it's own representative in congress - both Utila and Guanaja deserve their own individual "diputados."
Roatán, being the capital, should be awarded two representatives in congress. I believe that this would create at least a resemblance of fairness - today we basically have no voice in national affairs. One Congressman for all three islands no longer makes sense, and is inherently unfair. We cannot compete with mainland Honduras because we do not possess the necessary territory and will never be able to accommodate the population required to increase our representation based on the current formula. We must be judged by a different standard. It's interesting, when the U.S. was forming its government and decided on a representative form based on population, the large states were delighted, the smaller states however recognized that they would have little say in government, that's why the Senate was created. Therefore any law that passes the House of Representatives must also be approved by the Senate where all the states are equal (two senators per state) that way the little states are able to be heard as well. Since in Honduras we do not have a Senate we must have greater representation in Congress to be able to have a proper voice in national affairs, particularly when it directly affects the Bay Islands.
My Fellow Bay Islanders: we have a right to demand to be treated fairly. We have given enough, or should I say, enough has been taken from us and we deserve all of the afore mentioned merits and privileges. I for one will not let this issue rest until we are awarded our equal and deserving rights under the law.
We are the gateway to tourism in Honduras, and if we speak with one voice we will be heard. If we come together as one, we can get the job done. I have said this before but I think it is worth repeating: "Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice".

In September of 2007, I wrote an editorial entitled "Deadlocked in Frustration", where I outlined my reasons why I believe the current Roatán Municipal district should be sub-divided. Perhaps it's time to revisit this topic. However, before doing so let me reiterate that readers have the right to disagree or even be offended by what I write, and I am not necessarily trying to convince them that they shouldn't be. That, I believe would be a monumental waste of time and energy. And it's somewhat depressing to have to restate the obvious.
Now back to the topic at hand. I believe most native Bay Islanders would agree that the current format has been a dismal failure. Very little has been accomplished from lower Brick Bay to West Bay. The demands of the West End/West Bay area and those of Mt. Pleasant are worlds apart. Our politicians employ the strategy of divide and conquer, therefore some areas win and some areas lose. Not a very productive formula for running a successful administration. In my earlier editorial I mentioned that there is one thing stronger than all the armies of the world, and that is an idea whose time has come. To succeed in this venture however we need the right people in the right places. I frequently get my inspiration from nature. It is said that "the secret of success is to start from scratch and keep on scratching."
Any worthwhile accomplishment requires effort. Take the hen for instance, hard work means nothing to her. Regardless of what business prognosticators say about the price of eggs, she keeps on digging for worms and laying eggs. If the ground is hard she scratches harder, if it is wet, she scratches where it is dry. If she strikes rock, she digs around it. Have you ever seen a pessimistic hen? I haven't. Have you seen a hen cackle in disgust at the prospect of her job? I doubt it. Yet some of us humans give up at the first sign of the slightest opposition. We could learn a lot by paying close attention to nature. Our current municipal arrangement is totally dysfunctional and completely ineffective. We need a change of format as soon as possible.