Leatherbacks can dive to a depth of more than 1000m in search of their prey, jellyfish. The smaller species are unable to dive to such great depths. The Leatherback is adapted to deep dives because of its unique morphology. Unlike other sea turtles, the Leatherback lacks a rigid breastbone/ lower chest, allowing the chest to collapse during deep dives.

The Great barrier reefs best diving is in the top 20m. All of our sites offer this. Our first dives are approx 18 meters with the second and third dives being 14m and 12m respectively in accordance with recommended diving guidelines.

Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA), coastal Alaska Natives living along the North Pacific or Arctic Ocean are the only people who may harvest sea otters. When the act was passed, Congress recognized the cultural importance of marine mammals to Alaska Native peoples, and included an Alaska Native exemption for their take for subsistence or handicraft, provided that marine mammals are not taken in a wasteful manner.

Through body contact, nosing one another, head-jerking and vocalizations. Sea otters, in comparison to sea lions, for example, are not extremely vocal animals. However, adults use a soft, low cooing sound, and grunts to exhibit "contentedness," among other things. Pups use a high-pitch squeal to communicate with their mom. Some other sounds in the vocal repertoire of sea otters include whistles, whimpers, squeaks, whines, growls, snarls and hisses.

All sea otters in the United States are classified as "depleted" under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. The California sea otter is also listed under state law as a "fully protected mammal."

Abalone, squid, snails and other molluscs; clams; mussels; crabs; lobster; urchins; sea stars; sea cucumbers; chitons; marine worms; and about 40 other marine invertebrates; and on occasion, marine birds; and in Alaska, certain fish.

Sea otters generally do not spend more than two or three minutes diving for food. They use their sensitive paws, whiskers and vision to make their way through the water to find food. Sea otters then return to the surface with their prey, lie on their backs, place the food on their chests and break open the prey using a tool of some kind (rock, bottle, etc.).

Sea otters are considered to be "opportunistic feeders" – that is, they feed on many prey items. They are carnivores, and, at times, omnivorous, meaning they feed on both animal and plant food. They are the top-end predator in the nearshore marine ecosystem.

Great white sharks are the primary predator in California. Ongoing studies in Alaska recently revealed that orcas (killer whales) are eating more and more sea otters in that region, possibly because the usual prey (seals and sea lions) are in decline. Other factors that may be influencing the orcas to eat more sea otters may include natural disturbances to the ecosystem that occur over space and time, as well as overfishing.

Sea otters have three basic ways to escape predators: fleeing; taking refuge in the kelp where they live; and coming up on land. They also have strong teeth they can use in interactions with other sea otters.

California sea otters average 4 feet in length and 50-60 pounds in weight. Northern sea otters are slightly larger.

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There are no U.S. Federal government restrictions on the taking of sea otters for coastal Alaska Native subsistence as long as such practices do not contribute to the demise of the species. However, any Alaska Native Tribal Government has the ability to develop regulations on when and where hunts may occur. It is important to check with the local Tribal government to see if any regulations exist.

Our Deep Flight submersibles are designed to customer specifications. Typically, our recreational/adventure submersibles are requested for 100-300 meters operational depth; however, we have tested and proven the Deep Flight winged submersible technology to 6000 meters.

The ability of a penguin to dive is related to its size - the bigger the penguin, the more oxygen it can store in its tissues, the longer it can hold its breath and the deeper it can dive. Blue penguins (the smallest) can only manage 2 minutes and a maximum of 60m, while Emperor penguins (the largest) can dive for up to 20 minutes and get to 550m.

The deepest dive ever recorded for a bottlenose dolphin was a 300 meters (990 feet). This was accomplished by Tuffy, a dolphin trained by the US Navy. Most likely dolphins do not dive very deep, though. Many bottlenose dolphins live in fairly shallow water. In the Sarasota Bay area, the dolphins spend a considerable time in waters that are less than 2 meters (7 feet) deep. Other whale and dolphin species are able to dive to much greater depths even.

Sites are generally deeper and steeper along the rocky shoreline and dives of all depths are available from 5 meters up to 30 meters plus. Numerous Tech Diving sites of 40-meters plus are also available for training or those suitably qualified. In fact the late John Bennet broke the world record in the nearby Verde Island Passage to 308-meters!

The depths given are maximum figures, which should not be exceeded. The protecting-housing will not start leaking at greater depths, but the handling of the camera / camcorder will restricted. As the water-pressure increases, the foil wraps around the camera like a skin. Due to this, the foil can start to press the start-/rec-button, other buttons or even stop the tape from moving (in the case of camcorders).