Click to Enlarge After dealing with the formalities at the customs in West End Jim Abernathy, owner of Abernathy's Scuba Adventures, provides us with a thorough briefing. Jim informs us how to act as a group in the presence of sharks. "Safety first" is his mantra and anyone ignoring the safety rules will receive a stern warning. A second warning will mean immediate and absolute expulsion from the trip. Our diving gear and its details and trim are not allowed to be finished in bright colors. And we are ordered to wear gloves because white hands can be mistaken for fish by sharks. A shark could "accidentally" bite a diver, we are told. We are instructed to slide cautiously into the water and immediate descend to the bottom of the sea. Leaving the water should also be done quickly as the greatest danger for the diver is on the surface. Tiger sharks often attack their prey, such as sea turtles breathing for air, on the surface. As a result of that snorkeling is not an option on this trip.
According to Abernathy most of the sharks in these waters are not dangerous to humans. The one exception being the tiger shark. Whenever a tiger shark is near it's very important that the divers work together as a team. Divers should point the out the shark to each other so every diver can turn towards the direction of the predator. Tiger sharks will approach pretty much anything they meet and everything of their interest will be investigated with their nose. When the shark determines that the object is not edible it will simply continue on its way, Jim tells us reassuringly.
A safety precaution is therefore to hold an object between yourself and the shark at all times. Jim Abernathy provides everyone with a three foot long PVC tube. The divers who aren't shooting photos are instructed to hold the tube vertically in front of them. Photographers can use the PVC pipe, or, of course, use their cameras to protect themselves from curious tiger sharks. Finally we receive one very important instruction: never look through the viewfinder for longer than five seconds and immediately search the area in a 360 degree angle to be absolutely sure no tiger shark is sneaking up on you. It's all good advice, I'm sure, and again I'm wondering what I am about to do.
I'm sitting on the diving platform for my first dive and I can see lots of Caribbean reef sharks in the water beneath me. Before entering the water I have to think twice. During the dive reef sharks are circling around the divers. They're making movements towards the bait boxes -- boxes with fish remains meant to attract the sharks. I slip into the water and find myself in another world, with the reef sharks all around. I'm beginning to deal with my fears and I am actually starting to enjoy the dive.
When the third dive is about to start I'm the first diver in the water! At first I was a bit cautious but now I'm letting the sharks approach me at short range in order to make good pictures -- it's showtime! I work with the Nikkor AF-S 12-24mm f/4.0 G DX IF ED lens on my D80, which is a perfect lens for taking pictures of the sharks. Because they swim so close to me, my lens is constantly at 12mm. The biggest problem with underwater photography is that the deeper you go, the less available light and color there is. That's why I shoot all my pictures in manual settings, with two strobes. With the strobes I can bring some light on the sharks, and that's why I'm here.
The scent of rotting fish remains is spreading in the water and more and more sharks are attracted. The second species we get to see is the lemon shark. The lemon shark is recognizable by its yellowish to lightbrown/grey color. They look very impressive because of their crooked, snaggled teeth. They approach the divers even more close than the reef sharks and they seem to ignore the divers presence completely. Now and then I feel the lemon sharks touching my fins on their way across the divers. My confidence is growing with every encounter. And the the first tiger shark shows itself at a distance of about ten meters. I'm so awed by the five meter long (about 16 feet) creature that I seek protection behind Abernathy! The shark ignores us and graciously swims on, exactly as Abernathy predicted in the briefing.
The next day we meet more tiger sharks and, as crazy it may sound, I'm now getting used to the presence of these massive predators around me. It's almost a common activity to dive in between a school of the second most dangerous shark species of the world. During our late afternoon dive just before sunset we spot four large tiger sharks. The divers work as a team and we make pictures in turns.
At a certain moment one of the divers is approached by a shark from behind -- guess why? He didn't see the shark because he looked through his camera too long! Abernathy takes swift, decisive action: he pushes the shark away using his camera but the shark is not amused. The shark opens its enormous mouth, grabs the camera and aggressively swims away with it. I feel very uncomfortable by the situation and again I wonder why I was so keen on making this trip. Fortunately the shark drops the camera before disappearing into the depth of the sea.
Back on board Abernathy asks whether anyone managed to make pictures of the frightening scene. "Are you crazy," I ask the man. But that night I find out that one crazy person had indeed made those pictures and that crazy person happens to be me! We talk a lot that night about what happened and, more important, how a repeat of this scene is to be prevented. I realize more and more that we are dealing with lethal predators. I must not think lightly about it and I feel forced to sharpen my attention for the safety precautions.
The next day we dive at tiger beach. If you're thinking sand, palm trees and tropical drinks, think again. During the whole expedition we only saw one island and that was uninhabited. Sunbathing and relaxing under palm trees is not what this trip is about at all.
Tigerbeach is a dive spot on a sandy shallow bottom. Depending on the tide we dive at a depth between three to five meters (ten to 20 feet, roughly). There are countless tiger sharks at this spot and meet Emma, a very large six meters long tiger shark. She is called the Supermodel by the crew because of her gracious movements in the water.
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