Bill DiPaolo
Zooming in with his camera-toting drone, Paul Dabill spots some of the stars of his videos swimming in the turquoise waves off Coral Cove Park in Tequesta.
“There. Three sea turtles. And look! A school of tarpon. There’s a bull shark,” he said, pointing to the screen on his drone control showing the creatures barely a football field offshore.
Why it’s important: The Tequesta resident has turned his underwater and photography passions into popular social media pages that celebrate Palm Beach County’s waterfront wonders. He has more than 250,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram and videos that have drawn millions of views.
What’s happening: Moonlighting from his day job making sandwiches — Dabill and his brother, Tom, formerly owned Jimmy John’s franchises in Palm Beach County — the Minnesota native launched Paul Dabill Photography in 2013.
- His stages are the piers in Lake Worth Beach and Juno Beach and the reefs in between, where he drops waterproof cameras into the waters when they are clearest at high tide. Cast members are graceful dolphins, swift sharks, sharp-toothed bluefish and silvery snook.
The aha moment: Dabill got the notion one day to attach a GoPro camera to his spear gun. Lobsters, moray eels, dolphins and sailfish were suddenly closer.
- A drone was the next revelation. Online followers love his overhead videos. More joined his page.Share
“If you have good content, people will find it,” said Dabill, a fit 49-year-old whose eyes light up when he talks about his adventures.
Most exciting: “A mile out of the Jupiter Inlet, we saw the floating carcass of a 250-pound goliath grouper. Tiger sharks were feeding on it. Two of us got in. I had my speargun ready. I shot a 25-pound cobia. I got it in the boat. It was a wild, wild moment. My adrenaline is still pumping,” says a breathless Dabill on the video from the boat.
Stunning stats: About 500 followers join his Facebook page daily.
- One video — a mullet run off Delray Beach — has drawn 19 million views.
- Videos, averaging about three minutes, get the most engagement.
- Dabill does not use scuba tanks; his tools are a face mask, fins and a snorkel. He has free-dived to 141 feet.
What else? Dabill said he is often recognized around town. He and his wife Joy, an interior designer, have three young children.
What he says: “I get such satisfaction showing off the underwater beauty of my home.”
