GoPro Left Underwater Captures Rare Seal and Whale Songs
Most scuba divers bring cameras to document their underwater adventures. Brittany Ziegler and Bettina Aelley tried something different—they left their GoPro behind.
The result? A silent witness to moments few people ever see.
A GoPro left underwater captured rare footage of a Hawaiian monk seal.
Filming Without Being Seen
Ziegler and Aelley, both based in Maui, Hawaii, have been sharing their dives live on social media for years. But about a year ago, they began a new experiment: setting a GoPro on the ocean floor, pressing record, and swimming away. Without bubbles, light, or human presence to disturb them, marine animals started acting naturally.
Sea turtles approached the camera with curiosity. Stingrays swept past slowly. Sharks hovered nearby, unbothered. And in one unforgettable clip, a rare Hawaiian monk seal—one of fewer than 1,500 left in the wild—glided into view. According to Newsflare, this species’ appearance stunned the duo when they reviewed the footage later.
Marine animals behaved more naturally when no humans were nearby.
The Reef Without Witnesses
One video, filmed 26 feet below the surface at sunrise, captured the reef as it awoke for the day. The light shifted, fish stirred, and the seafloor buzzed with life. What struck viewers most wasn’t any one species—but the peaceful coexistence of all of them.
As DeeperBlue reports, the GoPro footage showed marine life in its most genuine state: unaffected by people hovering nearby. The footage changed the way even seasoned divers viewed ocean ecosystems. Without human presence, behaviors became more intimate, more revealing.
The project started as an experiment and turned into a revelation.
Curious Creatures and Camera Mishaps
Leaving a camera unattended isn't without risks. Fish have guarded it. Turtles have carried it off. Free divers have mistaken it for lost gear and tried to return it. But the tradeoff is always worth it.
The women have caught scenes that simply wouldn’t happen if they were present: green sea turtles interacting playfully, stingrays brushing the lens, and humpback whale songs resonating through the open water. One clip even featured a fish hovering near the lens as though it had claimed the camera as territory, MSN reports.
Letting Nature Speak
The GoPro series, now a recurring part of their dives, allows Ziegler and Aelley to share the ocean as it truly is. The videos typically run between 30 and 80 minutes and are filmed at sites they know well, ensuring they can retrieve the camera safely afterward.
One of their goals is to foster respect and love for the ocean by showing it unfiltered. Unlike live-streamed dives, these videos feel quieter and more intimate—almost like eavesdropping on an ancient world.
In one recent dive, a sea turtle inspected the lens, paused, and swam away—just as a school of fish darted into the frame. Then, a shark slid silently past. The entire scene unfolded like a nature documentary, but no crew was involved—just a camera and a reef going about its business.
@divedivelive My jaw DROPPED when I got home and saw this footage. How many sharks did you see? How many sea turtles? So, so much more on the full 62 minute long video! Check it out, unedited, on the tube of the you. #fishtok #nature #sunrise #wildlife #turtletok #sharks #fishies #beautiful #fyp #gopro ♬ The Song of Angels - Before the Throne
The Camera Rolls On
Since they began this project, Ziegler and Aelley say they've never retrieved a camera without discovering something incredible. From rare seal sightings to whales singing in the distance, the GoPro has become a quiet witness to the ocean’s daily rhythms.
These moments reveal something deeper: the sea is teeming with life we often overlook. Sometimes, the best thing divers can do is step aside—and let the camera do the watching.
