Charlie with one of his girls. Source.
It was great.
Of course I dove with
GSD member Phantom Divers and I must really say that
Chino has created an awesome slick, professional, fun and above all, very safe Shark diving machine that is among the best I've experienced anywhere - and yes, witnessing
Charlie, and
Ramón with their babies has been a special privilege.
Plus, progress on the conservation front has been simply stellar.
Under the leadership of its new full time director
Luis Lombardo,
Saving our Sharks is progressing from strength to strength, with more than 40 dive shops and
dozens of boat captains observing the code of conduct and contributing funds, with substantial money going to fishermen in exchange for not fishing Sharks, with continued research and public presentations by Shark researchers, and with
massive outreach to the public and to schools.
Bravo!
And then there was that remarkable tooth.
A present by Ramón who collected it right in front of me, it looks totally different from any Bull Shark tooth we've ever found here in Fiji - and trust me, we've found a few!
It's the tooth on the left, together with two large Fijian ones - and considering that
those Caribbean Bulls are a distinct genetic population with individuals that are notably smaller than those in the central Pacific, its size is simply spectacular. But then again, those are
Mexican Sharks - small in size but packing a mighty punch! :)
Click for detail!
Anyway, nice to be home again.
It's the low season when the pregnant Bulls travel to the rivers to pup whilst the others are getting ready for mating and in turn appear to lose their appetite for juicy Tuna heads - but we've got heaps of other Sharks, and this also gives us a chance to focus on the countless Fishes.
It's already hot hot hot - so here's to a tropical depression to suck away some of the heat, as parts of Fiji are already experiencing dangerously hot surface waters.
But that's the topic of another post.
To be continued!
