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| © Karin Brussaard |
| The author snapped this picture of a lemon shark biting the domeport of her underwater housing, but got a pretty good souvenir in the process. |
Between two dives Abernathy suggests we'll go "lemon snapping." Ten surprised guests on board stare at the captain because no one knows the meaning of the term. Turns out that the crew attracts the lemon sharks with bait towards the rear end of the boat. The sharks will snap at the bait and at that point we get the opportunity to take pictures of the wide open mouths of the sharks. To do so we have to hold our cameras half under the surface and at random make shots hoping for the best. It's not easy to make pictures on a rocking boat with snapping sharks at the height of my feet. It's certainly provides me with a lot of adrenalin going through my veins! But, the activity is absolutely safe according to the crew. At a certain moment I hear a loud bang and I realize that a lemon shark has bitten into the domeport of my underwater housing -- perfectly safe, for sure! Fortunately the domeport is made of an acrylic material and it's just a big scratch mark as a souvenir and the pictures I have dreamt of making on this adventure.
Great Hammerheads
During the last part of the expedition we will search for the Great Hammerhead shark and the bull shark. The Great Hammerhead is a very shy animal and it will not show itself easily to us. We are heading for a place called "The End of the Map." Again we dive at a sandy bottom but this time the seafloor is 23 meters down (about 85 feet). When we descend we immediately spot the first bull sharks. They can by recognized by their strongly muscled bodies.
And we're told to also keep an eye out for the ever-dangerous tiger sharks. I notice a large one is swimming right towards me. I can feel my heart pounding in my throat. The shark hits the port of my camera with his nose and I make a turn following the movement of the shark. I have to make three turns with the shark stuck with its nose to my camera before the shark continues on its way -- luckily away from me. Abernathy makes clear that I have acted in the right way, and I'm happy to have escaped this close encounter unharmed.
I have no time to relax a bit after this adventure because I hear someone shouting through his regulator. I think I hear "Hammerhead! Hammerhead!" When I turn around I see my first Great Hammerhead shark ever!
This shark moves in a very different way than all other sharks I have ever dived with. The movement starts in the head and the body follows. I am very impressed by this animal. I have always wanted to see Great Hammerheads and I never managed to actually see them. This moment makes me a very happy diver and an even happier photographer!
Later that day we balance behind the boat for our safety stop and three hammerheads come and take a look at me and my buddy. When holding your breath they approach you at short range but the slightest movement makes them disappear as quickly as they've arrived. Because the sharks swim just under the surface we need not worry about our decompression time. We dive in two groups and take turns every two hours until twilight to enjoy as much as we can of these amazing and magnificent animals. When the light fails and it becomes too dark for photographing we realize this exciting and very special expedition has come to its end.
And all I can think is: I can't wait to get back to my computer to check out the amazing photographs from a truly once-in-a-lifetime expedition.
-- For more of Brussaard's underwater photography, visit her website, www.karinbrussaard.nl.
Editor’s Note: This first-person account of free diving with sharks aboard the M/V Shearwater was submitted for consideration to PopPhoto.com in late 2007. It was first published on the site on February 11, 2008. The author has just informed PopPhoto.com that on February 25, 2008, 49-year old diver, Markus Groh, Vienna, Austria, died after a shark bite during an M/V Shearwater Expedition similar to the one described herein. Extreme adventures and pursuits, with or without a camera, have the very real potential to lead to serious bodily harm or death. We strongly recommend using caution and good judgment before undertaking any potentially dangerous activity.
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