This is one of many scenarios which often happen after fishermen lose their gear. Fishing nets will continue to catch marine life for many years after being lost. On September 27th 2008 Ramon Dominguez, a professional diver from Mexico, was leading a group to a location that is rarely visited by divers when they came across a turtle caught in a fishing net. Knowing that turtles can only stay under the water for a very short period of time and seeing no signs of life Ramon feared the worst. After moving the turtle they have concluded that this amazing creature was already dead.
This post has been modified on March 11 2012 because the previous version questioned Ramon’s actions that day. Thanks to Ramon’s reply we now know exactly what happened that day.
The following is a full story according to Ramon:
“Hello all. I just discovered this Blue Turtle forum and to my surprise I found this post talking about my photo. I am Ramon Dominguez, photographer of photo titled "Underwater Sadness." I have been a full time dive instructor for 12 years, and believe me, anybody working full time in the diving industry is not here because of the money, but because of the ocean; and the life beneath the surface is our passion and is what keep us doing this despite barely paying the bills.
This happened inside Cabo Pulmo marine park, Sea of Cortez, Mexico; the net belonged to a former shrimp fishing boat sunk in 40 ft of water. This dive site is rarely visited by divers, but that day, the 27th of Sept 2008, we did. I was leading a group of divers, most of them scientists, biologists from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in California, and John Trone, the photographer of the photo title “Atunero 2”. Actually I believe John or one of the other divers noticed the turtle first and pointed it out to me. My first reaction was to check and see if the turtle was alive and set her free. We moved the turtle and looked for any sign of life without luck; I have seen turtles dive in a single breath without going back to the surface for about 30 minutes, but if they are entangled and fighting they cannot last very long. The time it took us, from the time we got to the dive site, to the time we spot the turtle after 10 minutes of actual diving was at least a good 20 minutes; we were 100% sure that the turtle was already dead by the time we spotted her. We positioned the turtle vertically when we were checking for any sign of life and only a few bubbles of air came out of her nostrills. She managed to brake 3 or four lines of the net, there was only one line left around her neck keeping her in it. She was totally dead and yet she was beautiful, it was hard not to cry right in front of her. We tried to cut the last line of the net, but we did not have a knife because of the marine park regulations. That was the point when we decide to take pictures of her in hopes to convey the sadness we all felt in seeing such a beautiful creature lost forever. John Trone shot his photos first, because he was my customer, and I took my photos after him.
People opinions are often times full of shit, proof of, this mistaken and foolish comment from Ivan Martinetti.
As for the comparison of both photos, John Trone's photo was taken with a compact camera and no post editing was done afterwards; mine was taken with professional underwater camera and lighting and post editing was done on it, resulting in a more crisp and vivid image. Next time you consult with a number of people about these matters, be sure they are not just your neighbors or barbecue friends, but photo professionals with a better background in these matters-and even then there is no way you can be 100% sure if the turtle was alive or not. In order to save our oceans and our turtles we need to take smart decisions, but when I see comments like Ivan's, it just reminds me that we have more ignorant assholes in the world than we need and makes me think our world is hopeless”.
I am sorry that Ramon got so upset and felt a need to insult me. I wrote what I wrote because I was concerned and disappointed that this photograph was used to generate cash and no attempt was made to use it to educate. I believe that it is really important that these kinds of events are fully documented online for everybody to see and research. Otherwise, it is a wasted opportunity in which one could help make this world a better place.
About photo #1:
Title: "Underwater Sadness"
Photographer: Ramón Domínguez
Source: http://underwatercompetition.com
Location: Sea of Cortéz, México
Award: Bronze
Category: Environment and Conservation
Competition name: DEEP Indonesia 2010
About photo #2:
Title: "Atunero 2"
Photographer: John Trone
Source: http://underwatercompetition.com
Location: Sea of Cortéz, México
Award: Gold
Category: Environment and Conservation
Competition name: DEEP Indonesia 2009
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