Shark Expedition Blog Nov 12, 2010 to Nov 18, 2010
Saturday, 27th of November 2010 - Blog written by Nikole
Shark Expedition Blog Nov 12, 2010 to Nov 18, 2010
Nov 13: Our first day in the Bahamas with a wonderful group mostly from Brazil started off on the very first dive with a great hammerhead and two tigers. We spent the whole day with them as well as a few lemons and two dozen reef sharks! We dove really hard and then crashed early from all the dives.
Nov 14: Our second day we started at Tiger Beach where we were blessed with two of our super models, Emma and Jamin. We also enjoyed roughly 2 dozen lemon sharks.
Nov 15-16: Today we started out at one of my favorites Hammertime. We did have a hammerhead as well as many tigers. I am not even sure how many different ones their were. Emma and Jamin were there as well. All the lemon sharks followed us from Tiger Beach and roughly 30 reef sharks join in on the fun also. We all enjoyed it so much we stayed a second day as well.
Nov 17: We spent our last day at a section of Tiger Beach I call Crystal Tiger. Here we enjoy roughly fourteen tigers through the day although I was only able to capture twelve in the frame. Below is the weekly high def production I made from just four of the days worth of shooting, because I had to fly out to receive the Wyland Icon Award in Las Vegas!
*NOTE: Printable images are NOT included with this slideshow.
Anti Shark Fin Soup Protest
Sunday, 21st of November 2010 - Blog written by Jim Abernethy
After the DEMA show, Jim Abernethy, Shawn Heinrichs and a group of about 25 people decided to voice their opposition to the fact that one of the restaurants in the Las Vegas Hilton where many DEMA delegates are staying was serving shark fin soup.
After entering the restaurant and being seated, Jim came in and made a speech that he would not eat at a place that served shark fin soup. They all exited the restaurant as they protested to the staff of the restaurant. Several other DEMA delegates that were eating, but hadn’t realized that shark fin was on the menu, accompanied the group on their exit. Once outside, Jim gave an interview to Scuba Radio, and other diners were deterred from entering the restaurant by our presence. It seems ironic that the Rolex and NOGI awards have taken place in a complex that serves shark fin.
Nov 2-9, 2010 Shearwater Trip
Friday, 12th of November 2010 - Blog written by Nikole
DIVE LOG by Erika Marchino
November 3, 2010: What a fantastic first day for a shark trip! The word must have gotten out that our boat was full of shark conservationists, because the sharks certainly came to show their appreciation. We had 4 different species of sharks today: Caribbean Reefs, Tigers, Lemon, and a Great Hammerhead.
Dive Site: Ginormous
We arrived on the reef and Mike dropped down to set the bait crates. There were at least 4 Caribbean Reef sharks visible from the surface right away, following Mike as he set up each station.
As we descended, there were at least 15-20 Caribbean Reefs swimming calmly and gracefully around the top of the reef. Right away, we were treated with a visit from Jamin, the Tiger shark. She approached us very timidly and remained at a distance of about 20 feet, swimming in large circles around the reef. The closest she came was about 15 feet from the divers, and those that know her well say her behavior has drastically changed in the last couple weeks.
More Caribbean Reef sharks joined us throughout the dive and we moved out into the white sand beyond the reef. With about 8 divers in the water, I was completely surprise and elated to see a Great Hammerhead come in to get a closer look of us. She passed a few times before disappearing into the blue, giving us all a nice show and returned on a few other occasions through out the day.
The conditions were nice with great visibility, slight current, and lots of sharks, so we stayed at Ginormous all day.
For those of us still in the water at dusk, we were given a treat…4 different Tigers, and somewhere around 15-20 Lemons. The Tigers each had their own entourage; one with a Cobia swimming in it’s shadow, one being lead by 4 pilot fish, one covered in recent mating scars, and the last with a frayed dorsal fin. The combination of all 4 being present at once, along with a Lemon causing a ruckus with the bait crates really got our adrenaline pumping.
As the sea grew dark, we slowly ascended and boarded the boat, with a reaffirmed excitement for the rest of this adventure.
November 4, 2010: The morning was filled with high seas, ominous cloud cover, and wind. Despite the grim conditions, our boat was surrounded with large Lemons and that was enough intrigue to jump in and test the waters.
Dive Site: Tiger Beach
We started out on Tiger Beach, hoping that the conditions would improve. To our dismay, it was even worse underwater. We had about 10 Lemon sharks right away, but visibility was about 15 feet, the currents were flying and the boat was hard to keep in sight.
Jim decided it best for us to find better dive conditions at another site…good idea!
Dive Site: Hammertime
Hammertime proved to be a much better site and we spent the rest of the day there. Visibility was good and there were lots of Caribbean Reef and Lemon sharks. We had tons of Tiger action with up to 6 tigers throughout the afternoon, including one male, and the visibility improved throughout the day, keeping some divers down until the sun set. Lots of action, and lots of smiles.
November 5, 2010: Another rough morning with very high seas, white caps, and no sunshine. But these conditions haven’t stopped us yet…
Dive Site: Carcharias Cut
What a gorgeous dive site! Tons of sponges and beautiful topography with a lot of life and a ton of sharks. What could be better? Visibility was great upon descent, lessening as the day progressed.
We had a swarm of Caribbean Reefs and were fortunate to get 2 Tigers by the end of the dive. These ladies were coming in close and were very inquisitive, even checking out Taro as he hung from the line on his safety stop.
As the visibility worsened, we all boarded the boat and moved to calmer waters to enjoy our lunch at “the Dock”.
The clouds disappeared, the sun returned, and we went back to Carcharias Cut for more action on the reef.
The visibility on this dive wasn’t as “crystal clear” as the first, but a beautiful dive regardless. The Caribbean Reef sharks were everywhere and we had visits from two Tigers and a few gorgeous schools of Horse-Eyed Jacks.
November 6, 2010: BLOWN OUT!
Despite an attempt to dive Ginormous again this morning, the weather and dive conditions simply wouldn’t allow it. We decided to accept the fact that there was no way to dive today, and instead try to capture shots of Breaching Tigers from topside.
We caught a barracuda to use as fresh bait and anchored in about 5 feet of calm turquoise water. Now we wait for the Tigers…
…and we wait…and wait…
We eventually have a couple Tiger encounters, one of which was a very small juvenile, however none of them stuck around for any length of time. We gave up and called it quits for the day.
November 7, 2010: Got an early start today to hopefully catch some clean water before conditions worsen. We still have high seas and cloud cover, but looking forward to better conditions under water.
Dive Site: Mt. Mokarran
An awesome start to a fantastic day, this site was spectacular! The reef was teaming with life and we had two frisky Tigers right away. Tons of Lemons and Caribbean Reef sharks came to check us out and by the end of the dive we had 5 Tigers. Most importantly, Emma showed up to the party! Naturally, she brought a lot of energy and turned the reef into her red carpet runway. The photographers were ready and Emma didn’t disappoint. She hung out for the rest of the dive and gave Jim a nice long “welcome home” kiss.
After lunch, we jump back in at the same site. The visibility wasn’t as good as the morning dive and a cold thermocline and green water moved in, but this didn’t stop us from having another great dive. Two Tigers came back this time, along with the Lemons and Caribbean reef sharks. Another beautiful school of Horse-Eyed Jacks swam through coming up from the deep and cutting across the reef and Lupo was finally able to cut the lure off of a large Reef shark after several attempts on previous dives. Emma returned at the end of the dive to say hello once more…hopefully, she’ll follow and join us tomorrow on our last day of diving.
November 8, 2010: Another fairly early start today, and since we had such great action yesterday we’re going right to the same spot.
Dive Site: Mt. Mokarran
Dropped down with great visibility and lots of sharks. Handfuls of Lemons and Caribbean Reefs with at least two Tigers right away. This site was even better than yesterday, and the excitement intensified as the dive went on. For the first 30 minutes things were fairly calm. We were able to keep our eyes on the few Tigers meandering about. Jamin, the shark, finally came in close and stayed at the bait crates for at least 10 minutes while Jim stood guard. Great interaction with a steady flow of Tigers. Then the real action started…and the Tigers came to the party! There were three, then five, then eight…each one continuously coming in to investigate the crates one after another for the next 45 minutes. And, here comes Emma! We had at least 9 Tigers in full view at any given time. This was truly a spectacular dive…and it wasn’t over until we were back on the boat. The safety stop was an equally stunning vantage point. It was beautiful to see so many huge Tigers and sharks everywhere, with seemingly tiny divers scattered about. I lingered on the down line for about 10 minutes before boarding the boat, and was thankful that I did.
It ended up being our last dive and a perfect finale to an incredible trip!
November 9, 2010: We are in port in West Palm Beach waiting for customs before we dock and get back to our “regular” life, fighting for the sharks rather than swimming with them.
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