“One day when I got some great Manta Ray footage the dive was definitely ‘unusual’ – in part because I was wearing only a small tank, and I actually ran out of air intentionally! When I put on the small tank, I had no plan to encounter a six-meter big Manta Ray, but once I found it and started filming I just could not stop. The Ray seemed to be curious about me, but mostly it was focused on the service it was getting – it was at a “cleaning station” underwater, a spot where small cleaner fish were patiently picking out and eating parasites from the large fish’s body, for both their benefit and the benefit of the Manta Ray. It was a great shot, and I had no desire to cut it short. Finally, though, I had to stop filming after 45 minutes – my air ran out, and I learned that these new air valves are very efficient: When the air flow stops, it really stops! Although I was about 20 meters from the surface, I wasn’t really worried – I had trained for situations like this. As I swam toward the surface from that depth, the water pressure decreased with each meter I moved up, and as that happened the air in my lungs gradually expanded. I could exhale some air, and yet I still felt like my lungs had more air in them. That kept happening during the 20 meter ascent, so I was fine, and best of all I had a lot of great footage in my camera!”