Jake Seaplane

A Japanese Aichi E13A reconnaissance floatplane (Allied code name Jake) rests on a gentle slope near Koror, remarkably whole for an aircraft eighty years underwater. The three-seat fuselage, wings, and engine sit upright; the cowling has slumped to show the radial engine's cylinders, and props curl where they met the water. It photographs beautifully in ambient light at this depth, and because the dive is shallow and calm, there is time to circle slowly and take in the details: cockpit frames, float struts, coral colonizing the wing roots. A gentle, thoughtful dive rather than a dramatic one.

اللحظة التي جئت من أجلها: An intact WWII floatplane at leisure-dive depth; the exposed radial engine; easy conditions for long, slow photography.

التضاريس: Sloping coral and sand at about 15 m

التيار: Sheltered lagoon water; occasional light drift.

نقطة الدخول: Short run from Koror; often paired with Chandelier Cave as a half-day.

المخاطر: Few; mind buoyancy over the silt and give other groups room on this small site.

الحفاظ على البيئة البحرية: Do not sit or hang on the airframe: aluminum this old bends under a diver's weight.