GoPro Dropped 30 Feet Below the Ocean Records Stunning Visuals of an Underwater Sunset

When someone thinks of a sunset, the first image that comes to mind is that of the giant ball of fire turning bright red before descending into the horizon beyond the ocean. But few ever think of what a sunset may look like, from an underwater perspective. For years, a GoPro camera has been the constant spiritual companion for Brittany Ziegler (@divedivelive), who has unveiled her unprecedented sightings of the mystical underwater world. Time and time again, Ziegler throws the camera into the dark, mysterious depths, where it sits and records visuals most humans can never see. At these immeasurable depths, when there are no humans around, the colorful world comes to life with creatures that are as creepy as ethereal. A squishy fish, a sinister shark, and a sea turtle attempting to gobble up the camera as if it were a snack appear in the footage.

The enlightening camera has recorded more than 200 hours of underwater footage. In one of the recent videos, the diver shared footage of the “most beautiful sunset ever” filmed 20 feet beneath the surface. “Saying goodbye to our GoPro, so it can film an underwater sunset without us humans around,” the 34-year-old scuba diver from Hawaii wrote in the overlay text of the video. At 30 feet below the water in Maui, Hawaii, Ziegler waved goodbye to her camera and swam to the surface leaving behind a trail of bubbles for the camera to record.

The seafloor suddenly came alive with movement and sundry creatures patrolling the territory, emerged into the picture. At first, a large shoal of golden brown fish gathered on a backdrop of a purple-pink sunset that was shining through the twilight zone of the water. With yellow fins shining in the filtered sunlight, the fish glided above the carpet of corals. In a moment, a blue ulua, the reef’s top predator, dashed across the screen, flitting away as quickly as it arrived. Then a curious orange fish, resembling “Moorish Idols,” wriggled in front of the camera, making a brief appearance, and then darted off into the open waters, probably in search of Nemo as Ziegler said.

The sunset piercing through the water cast scintillating starlight patterns in the purplish sunset. Meanwhile, a moaning and groaning sound reverberated through the water, layering the sheer silence and pops of bubbles that made the footage’s background score. Ziegler described that this high-pitched song was actually from the humpback whales that were somewhere close to the camera. Then a cute brown turtle came to say hello. “The little turtle is missing one of her back flippers,” Zeigler described. There was also a distant glimmer cast by the silhouette of a shark. For the reef fish, however, she said, the Uluas are much more dangerous than a shark.

Soon enough, rogue whales and unicorn fish swam towards the camera, like rainbow-hued fashion models, getting photographed along the way. “The reef is a little tense tonight as a small pack of wolf-like Ulua hunts the area. The green sea turtles keep the peace though,” Ziegler said. At this point, the recording ended and the GoPro was pulled to the surface.

Thousands of people were awestruck by the vibrant beauty of the dreamy macrocosm hidden in Hawaii’s underwater belly. “I want to go snorkeling now,” commented @herbaljill. @x_sheenita_x said, “Absolutely gorgeous. The whales sound like ghosts though,” and @erinaree wrote, “When that first turtle swam across it was like ‘art!”

You can follow Brittany Ziegler (@divedivelive) for breathtaking underwater videos.