Filmmaker shares Micronesian shipwreck dive experiences

Photojournalist and filmmaker Mike Gerken shared his experiences diving among the famous World War II shipwrecks in Chuuk to an audience of interested history buffs and diving enthusiasts last Friday at the VFW Post 3457 in Garapan. (CHRYSTAL MARINO)

Photojournalist and filmmaker Mike Gerken shared his experiences diving among famous World War II shipwrecks in Chuuk to an audience of interested history buffs and diving enthusiasts last Friday at the VFW Post 3457 in Garapan.

With a visit to friends bringing him to Saipan, Gerken was invited to the VFW to share his experiences diving the Micronesian shipwrecks of Chuuk, and his amazing collection of underwater footage that also led up to one of his several documentary films called The Wrecks of Truk Lagoon (2011). Gerken showed an excerpt of his film, which gave an in-depth look at WWII’s Operation HAILSTONE, a 1944 battle in the outer island of Chuuk called Tonowas or Dublon, and the many ship and several plane wrecks that resulted from the U.S. attack on the Japanese station there.

Gerken shared that, as a captain of the Truk Odyssey for Odyssey Adventures, he would constantly travel back and forth to Chuuk and conduct countless diving tours in the wrecks for work, but it was during the COVID-19 pandemic—when he was stuck on the island because of border protection and with an immense time on his hands—that he really went further in exploring the wrecks and capturing a more of his amazing footage. Gerken also shared some rare footage he’d taken when he explored “ghost-like” ships, from dozens of cargo with unexploded ammunition and bombs, to intact Japanese trucks and unassembled plane parts that were being transported aboard the ships. He took lengthy footage inside the ships’ tight-spaced engine rooms, with much of formerly used equipment still standing in place even after decades of being underwater. Diving among the wrecks were also memorable, with beautiful marine life highlighting the soft corals, Gerken said.

In a span of two years, Gerken not only had the opportunity to further explore the wrecks and collect footage, but also helped the Chuuk government in distributing thousands of COVID-19 vaccines throughout the islands in the lagoon. “After a year of being stuck in Truk, my boss volunteered the Odyssey to the state of Chuuk to deliver personnel and vaccine supplies to the dozens of islands inside the lagoon, and it was a monumental task because of the isolated geography of all these villages, the sheer number of them. So suddenly I had a purpose again, I was feeling a little bit depressed and now I had a job, I had purpose, and we set out for the next two years vaccinating nearly the entire population of Chuuk,” he said. “I tip my hat to all the different teams that came out on the Odyssey. They worked hard to protect their population and it worked. Eventually Truk Lagoon, Chuuk, reopened with minimal casualties…”

Before closing his presentation, Gerken shared a comparison of drone footage of the Dublon island right after the World War II attack versus how the island looks currently.

Gerken is a professional underwater photojournalist, documentary filmmaker, as well as a boat captain and expedition tour leader for Evolution Underwater Imaging & Dive Travel. To reach out to Gerken you can contact him at mike@evolutionunderwater.com, or go to www.evolutionunderwater.com.

The Truk Lagoon, or Chuuk lagoon in FSM is among one of the top destinations for shipwreck-divers as it has more than 40 World War II-era ships in its waters.