December 14th
This evening our guests boarded the boat from all over the world once again including France, Sweden, Italy and America. Everyone seems very positive and ready for the trip. We always love seeing our repeat shark lovers and this trip we were lucky to have Michael from Sweden doing his 8th trip with us. We also had the pleasure of having a film crew here from Italy including the host, Chiara Parina and her cameraman, Carlo Cianti.

We also had the pleasure of having roughly 30 turtles to release from Florida Atlantic University’s Turtle Research Program. For the last three months these green and loggerhead turtles have helped scientists gain the knowledge they need in order to help save the species. The film crew filmed an interview with Dr. Jeanette Wynekin and her story will air all over Europe on the network “Sky”, on the channel “Yacht & Sail”. Hopefully we will get a copy as well so we can enjoy it here in the US. In addition to helping the species in the future these turtles also have the distinct advantage of being in the best of care at Gumbo Limbo Nature Reserve. Without any predators as well as very healthy meals the success rate is incredibly higher than the wild ones on the beach. The turtles arrive in fantastic health with a big jump on life by being much bigger than they were when they were born. After the boat briefing everyone went to sleep in preparation of an eventful week.

December 15th
After crossing the Gulf Stream and clearing customs we released the turtles with a final good wish of health and to perpetuate the species. While I gave the long shark briefing we proceeded to the first dive site, Ginormous. At this beautiful reef we enjoyed the company of 25 reef sharks as well as  one lemon and three tiger sharks. The conditions were perfect, crystal clear, flat calm and sunny. After extensive bottom times were accumulated we quickly ate a wonderful dinner and went to sleep very early.

December 16th
Waking up very early as I usually do, I was able to enjoy a perfect sunrise at a place I consider home, Tiger Beach. The conditions were even better than the day before. Not a ripple in the ocean with no air movement what so ever. The sunrise with the high level cirrus clouds was spectacular. We entered the water at 7:30am and dove all day as well as the night dive. Emma was the first tiger to show up, although at one point we had 7 different tigers visit us. I am not sure how many were there during the day.  This was the type of day that the crew who lives here 11 months of the year only sees once a month.

During the dirty water at low tide the visibility was still over 150 feet. At high tide the visibility was at least 300 feet. Lunch was more of an interruption than something we all took time to enjoy, despite the fact that the hot meal was delicious. Many of our guest spent 90% of their awake hours in the water rather than on the boat. Many of the guests who frequent liveaboard diving trips knew how fortunate we were to be here on this day! Words are quite simply not available to express what my eyes and mind was trying to take in. Simply amazing day for everyone. Everyone did extremely well also. After a beautiful night dive everyone went to bed quickly once again.

December 17th
This morning our guests were a little later getting up which is a wonderful sign of a great vacation. We started out by diving a section of tiger beach we call crystal tiger. Here we enjoyed several tiger sharks as well as lots of lemon sharks and a few reef sharks before moving to a new location. The second location was the south end of shark tooth ridge. The winds had picked up and a cold water was on the bottom 30 feet of the site so I moved all the sharks to the top of the water column for some beautiful blue water shark images. Most of the sharks were lemons although we did have some reef and tiger sharks as well. The wind continued to pick up and we headed to Breaching Tiger Splashing Dragon for the nights rest.

December 18th
This morning weather was terrible so we dove at Breaching Tiger Splashing Dragon with at least 5 different tigers and one lemon shark. Visibility was poor, but the encounters were amazing. After four hours in the water we decided to believe the weather report and avoid being in the Bahamas for the following days very windy forecast, so we changed our customs appointment to one day earlier and headed home.

December 19th
After clearing customs we started diving Palm Beach for our last day by enjoying the macro creatures of the Blue Heron Bridge. This world class dive always excites even divers coming here to shoot wide angle. If you are reading this before your first trip with us, always bring every lens, because you never know what opportunities will arise. After this we moved on to the beautiful Breakers reef. The group was so impressed they wanted to see the same reef again so the second reef dive we included the Turtle Mound as well. All in all it was an excellent trip with very unique and interesting guests.

Our good friends at the SharkTaskForce.com have put together a video to spread a little Christmas cheer à la Tiger Beach style. We hope your holidays are filled with joy.

December 4th, 2009
This week we departed with guests from Austria and Germany for another shark expedition. The group seemed very nice and excited to see the beautiful sharks of the Bahamas. After somewhat of a rough crossing we started diving at Crystal Tiger. Although the visibility was still poor we did see at least three different tiger sharks including Emma.

This was the third week since we first saw Emma after she gave birth hopefully to many healthy tiger pups. Each week she has had a new set of mating scars. This week they were under her left side as well as on top behind the dorsal fin. We have not observed a male in the area, but hope to soon. Everyone did well so we traveled to a calm anchorage for the night.

December 5th, 2009
The next day we started out diving at Classic Tiger Beach where we first discovered the abundance of tigers in this area. We enjoyed the company of at least 7 different tigers during the day and then moved on to a reef called Shark Tooth Ridge. At this location way too many tigers showed up too early in the week and at least one of the individuals was  uncomfortable with so many there at once. We spent the night at 16 Gig in preparation for a rough day.

December 6th, 2009
Today the wind was at least 30 knots all day leaving only two options. Either we sit at the dock or we stay at sea playing with sharks at the surface. We decided to stay at sea, which is always the case as the Shear Water doesn’t do land very well. The vessel is just not set up well for sitting at the dock when outstanding shark encounters are so close, even in rough seas with low visibility. We played with at least 5 different tiger sharks during the day as well as 6 different lemon sharks. One of the lemons was one we rescued and named “Lucky”. Lucky had a line wrapped around its neck and although we attempted to save it several times we were not successful until April of 2009. I am happy to report that Lucky’s wounds seem to have healed up completely. You can see from the images that she is doing very well now. All the crew was very happy to see this. Hopefully we will be able to do things like this again in the future.

December 7th, 2009
With a very early start we started diving at Classic Tiger Beach for most of the day. At least 10 different tigers showed up during the day. At one point I could count 7 at a time. Emma and Begonia stole the show staying up close with the guests all day long. One of the guests actually told me that he loves her. It is amazing what personal encounters with these creatures can do to someone. Hopefully she will turn more of our guests into ambassadors saving more sharks. After a full day we decided to do a night dive as well. On the night dive in addition to the sharks we also had a large school of reef squid. The night dive is so relaxing and enjoyable. I was especially pleased to see 6 of the 10 guests enjoy it. Usually the guests are way to tired to participate.

December 8th, 2009
This morning we started early at the sugar wreck as some of the guest wanted to just see some of the marine inhabitants of the area other than sharks. After two wonderful dives on this site we moved to Carcharious Cut. During the day one of the guests saw a great hammerhead. Unfortunately it did not hang out with us. A tiger showed up as well, but not one of our regular girls so it stayed at a distance observing us. We anchored for the night at a calm place which was really needed after a great day of diving.

December 9th, 2009
Our last day we stayed at Tiger Beach once again and our prayers were answered. Everyone wanted to see our favorite super model Emma once again! Everyone every single week falls in love with this very special shark that has such a wonderful personality and is known world wide as the gentile giant that she is. We crossed the Gulf Stream at the end of the day and fortunately many of the guests are already talking about when they will be able to come back!

One of the nicest advantages of running a vessel of this size is the opportunity to meet such wonderful people as well as make new friends that will hopefully last a lifetime!