Pour nos Amis Francophones!

I just got this message. 

Le film Vu sur Terre, Iles Fidji sera diffusé sur France 5 le mardi 12 aout 21h30, le samedi 16 aout 16h10, le 1er septembre 0h30, le 4 septembre 16h30. 

This is a production we're proud of. 

Vu sur Terre is one of the premium programs of Patly Productions, and the Fiji episode explores the daily lives of a surfer, a rugby player and a Shark feeder, our Manasa, or Papa.
This is by no means a film about us, and Shark diving plays only a secondary role - instead, it accompanies Manasa and his son, feeder-in-training Tumbee from Viti Levu to Rukua, Manasa's village on Beqa Island, and from the Shark feeding dives at Shark Reef to the church service where Manasa officiates as pastor and a fire walking ceremony for which the Beqa islanders are famous. 

I haven't yet seen it, but having met the producer Scott Schneider, I am sure that it will be respectful and insightful, with stunning images by cameraman Manu. 

You can watch a short sequence here, by clicking on SEASON 5. 

Enjoy!

More about Scarface!

Well, gee Wolfgang!

Thanks for telling Everybody – with friends like you, one sure doesn’t need enemies! :)

Anyway, yes, I really did nearly soil my pants!
Keep in mind that this was in 2003, meaning way before everybody and his dog would flock to Tiger Beach, plus it was our first ever face-to-face encounter. Previously, I had only encountered one big Tiger who chased my out of the water when I took a bucket of fish down on Osprey Reef in 1977, plus I had experienced a few short flybys that were equally totally unexpected, frightening and ultimately, disappointing.

After the encounter, I ran home and sent this to Ron and Val.

So, the tigers are the good guys, huh ... just push them away you said...

(Ron had just sent me a message stating, remember, Tigers are good guys and if he comes too close simply push him away. Bulls are much more dangerous than Tigers.)

Just came out of the water and here's what's happened: the 4.5m tiger turned up at the hand feed, snatched the bin and took it to 30m. There, she tried to get into it but was too big and got all pissed off as there were scores of bulls trying to steal its fish.
Remembering what you had said, I went down with Manasa and Rusi and was peacefully filming away, as she decided to have a go at us. Manasa had a fish and so did Rusi but when she came for me, all I had was the camcorder. She bit it twice and tried to wrestle it away (camera running), after which she then had a serious go for Manasa who had taken back the bin. She was really going for him and he was zipping around that bin trying not to get caught til she finally gave up.
Got it all on camera as well!

The following day, having somewhat calmed down, I wrote well, for panicking or getting aggressive there just wasn't enough time.. all i was trying is to hang on to my housing which was half-way in, monitor and all, with those teeth much too close to my hand holding the handle - and you know how they are, she would have just gobbled it down. It came out pretty rumpled but thanks to Gates, in perfect working condition (and still running).
Re-looking at the tape, I now think that having gotten the fish from Manasa and Rusi, she was assuming that I wanted to give her something as well.

Yes the camera kept running and you can all watch it right here: Papa's dance around the bin at 0:58 and the bite, at the very end at 6:51!



As to Doug’s picture, it is obviously stellar!
This is the very start of the bite and you can see her pushing on the monitor. Doug had what then was the best digital camera (you can see him at the end of the bin dance sequence), but it was slow to recycle and he missed the bite proper – still, to this day, the pic graces the Gates website and they can boast to build Tiger-proof housings!

In terms of size, I am 2m so she was about 4.5 meters long. And she has continued to grow!
Once it became clear that she would become a regular, we named her Scarface after the many scars disfiguring her mouth and exposing her teeth.

Initial encounters were rather problematic, which made for many entries in the Naughty File.
She would continuously try to steal the bin (4:15) and attempt to scare us away by gaping (0:28), which is Tigerese for piss off, this belongs to me, and when we wouldn’t acquiesce but fight back, she would get seriously angry and become outright dangerous, like on 6:31 where she is actively snapping and trying to cause harm.
No mellow and docile here - huggers: learn from it!

We did, abandoned our attempts to steer her with the prods which he hates with a vengeance all the way to wrestling them out of our hands and then spitting them out (3:43) and now keep the food in a large aluminum box that we have dubbed the Rubik’s cube for Tiger Sharks and that her best and incredibly persistent attempts will neither dislodge nor crack.

When it comes to our private and very much personal relationship, it certainly improved - which is easy!
After that first attempt, she never, ever tried to bite the housing again. But on every visit, she would make it a point to pop by and give it a good sniff, resulting in some truly memorable footage. As an example, in one scene (mellow and thus not in the file) she comes from the left and positions herself inches away from the lens; then the whole body behind the head pivots from left to right and finally, she departs back to where she came from, without ever having touched the housing! In other scenes, I would have to lightly push her away, as in 2:40 and 6:08 where it looks like it is her touching the camera.
Stellar stuff!

Since I started lugging around the Boat, matters have alas become a tad more impersonal.
Now, it’s me who has to sneak up on her or position myself close to the feeder, where she barely deigns to acknowledge my presence by giving me a quick glance. Obviously, the size and electronic signature are completely different as the Fathom Imaging lens is one huge piece of inert material – or, horribile dictu, I may just be losing my sex appeal in line with what is happening in my terrestrial existence!
But despite of the snubbing: the love and the excitement will never falter!

Check her out (click to enlarge): here she is straight from the footage 3 days ago, beautiful and quite, but not yet terminally pregnant – meaning that she will stick around for another while before going walkabout, possibly for a couple of months.
So, what are you waiting for…. !!!


As to Wolf wanting to meet her?
I don’t usually share my girls but for him, I’ll make an exception.
He knows that and has long had an open invitation to come dive on the house – with one caveat: he will have to strap on a tank and do it on SCUBA!

So, what’s it gonna be?
DaWolf, will you make a small, insignificant compromise in order to meet a truly wonderful lady? Piece of cake for a waterman like you! Or will you remain the usual stubborn old fart and continue whining about the missed opportunity?

Am I putting you on the spot?
Well, altes Haus: wie Du mir! :)

Johann about Shark Provisioning!

Nice one!

But first.

Mike did not set up BAD but only became a shareholder later, after bailing them out following a shareholder dispute. And Mike did not set up the Shark dive on Shark Reef.
 

The dive was already in existence but the site was not protected.
Mike mediated the talks between the Fijian government and the village of Galoa that led to the establishment the SRMR, a locally managed MPA, and where BAD were simultaneously appointed as trustees and the only dive op allowed to conduct baited Shark dives there.

Last year, the SRMR was then designated Fiji's first National Marine Park.

Also, Rusi and Manasa are not BAD's only Shark feeders.

They are the original feeders but since then, we've trained several new feeders among which Rusi's son Mavoa and Manasa's son Tumbee.

But the gist of the story is correct! :)

But I'm digressing.

Johann is an experienced Shark diver and knows what he's talking about. Of course there are localized effects but the principal statement as I see it is

Si l'activité est bien gérée et j'insiste, si elle est bien gérée, il n'y a pas de risques majeurs pour l'homme.

Echoed by Rick who correctly states

Hand feeding data from the studies that have been done do not show any long-term changes in behavior. There are temporal changes in activity around feeding, but after feeding sharks appear to go back to biz as usual. I'm not an apologist for shark feeding... I remain skeptical as well. But the data to date does not appear to indicate negative behavior change IF STRINGENT PROTOCOLS ARE FOLLOWED.

Indeed!

As people are regularly and painfully reminded of, it's not WHAT you do, it's HOW you do it!

And I repeat my assertion that Shark dives may well be safer than normal dives, this because we in the industry know of the risks and are extra vigilant!

Anyway.

Bravo Johann, nice job! :)

More excellent Sharky Stories by the Fiji Times!

Adi, by MPO - yes those are links!

Today's Fiji Times features a stunning two-page spread on Sharks.
This is a continuation of their stellar advocacy of Shark protection in cooperation with CORAL The Coral Reef Alliance and the Pew Environment Group's global shark campaign.
Thank you Shark Defenders for having re-posted the articles.

How Jaws made the shark a monster in our minds is authored by Lee-Anne Lee of the Fiji Voyaging Society.
She's aboard board the drua Uto Ni Yalo and about to reach San Francisco after an epic voyage of close to 11,00 nautical miles. On board is also Moala Tokota'a of CORAL and it just so happens that our Arthur was one of the crew of the 2010 maiden voyage and that Ratu Manoa is very much involved in the undertaking, hence the connection to Sharks conservation.

The angry fisherman who turned into a shark is of particular interest to us here at BAD.
This is the story of the Fijian Shark God Dakuwaqa as told by Mika Tubanavau, storyteller of the village of Rukua. Rukua on Beqa Island is the home of our most senior staff Rusi, Manasa and Eliki, and of Tumbee, Manasa's son - and according to Beqa lore, a cave behind the village is the very place where Dakuwaqa resides!
I was fascinated by how the legend as told here complements the legend as told in Cakaudrove, with the tiny island of Benau off Taveuni being the obvious common link between the two. To this day, both tribes are engaged in a friendly feud as to who can claim to be the true people of Dakuwaqa.

And then, there is this Letter to the Editor.

I READ with great interest in your newpaper about the efforts of a number of organisations and people to protect the sharks.
Their efforts are great.
Yet, almost on a daily basis, I notice that there are middleman selling fish at the Nubukalou Creek cutting and packing sharks in plastic bags for sale.
I have noticed that they also get in baby shark - up to a metre - and just go on with their business. I think Suva City Council ought to do something.
And I request Mr Manoa Rasigatale to visit them and discourage the shark meat sellers.

JAGDISH LAL
Suva

This touches on the real crux of the problem.
Nubukalou Creek is a notorious site in the middle of Suva where fish vendors hawk the daily catches. Many of the fishing skiffs feature disproportionally powerful engines, a strong indication that they belong to those poachers who regularly raid the qoliqoli, or traditional fishing grounds of offshore islands. The Sharks that are being offered for sale are mostly Reef Sharks like Blacktips and Greys, and this nefarious practice is a direct and largely irreversible threat to our reef habitats and by extension, to the livelihood of entire coastal communities that depend on the ocean for their daily sustenance.
Right now, fishing for Sharks is perfectly legal and there is precious little that either the Suva City Council or even Ratu Manoa can do. This is yet another reason why it is imperative to immediately ban all trade in Sharks and Shark products in Fiji.

BAD Publications!

Speaking of DEMA, I was finally able to catch up on several published features about the BAD Boyz & Girls.

Apart from Bill Fisher's flattering article and Terry Goss' unmatched pics in Shark Diver #17 (thank you Bill! kudos Terry!), there is an equally flattering honorable mention in PADI's Sport Diver October issue (thank you Kate Siber!) and I found yet another pic of one of our Bulls in the latest AustralAsia Scuba Diver, equally a PADI-affiliate.
Plus, Russia's premier Octopus Magazine is about to publish a fantastic multi-page spread, courtesy of our friend Sasha. As so often, спасибо Vakalevu my friend - and привет Julia!

Last but certainly not least, I had the pleasure of viewing a brand-new piece of Bijou Entertainment by Stan Waterman and Nancy McGee featuring Rusi and Manasa (in one of his last feeds prior to the incident) interacting with Scarface and the ever-feisty little Adi.
Killer footage and as always, wonderful narration by the Great Man himself - not to be missed! It's a bonus feature on Nancy's DVD "Rajan, the Swimming Elephant"(not quite pictured above), to be ordered at Nancy's website.

All-in-all very rewarding and an indication that we seem to be doing something right.
Go get yerself a copy!

And to all authors and image hunters, my heartfelt thanks!

Sasha in Fiji!

Sasha and the BAD boyz - didn't know that Silio was such a poser!

The man is back!

That would be Alexander Safonov, proud Best of Show winner of the 2010 iDiveSharks Imaging Festival.
He is here to cash in on the prize, sponsored by you-know-who, and to upgrade his portfolio - with 30-40 Bulls and scores of smaller Sharks on each dive, timing could not be better!

Sasha is of course a repeat customer, friend, co-blogger and multi-awarded photographer and as such, we will always make a special effort to try to put him in the best position for the next stellar shot.
And lemme tell 'ya, I've had a peek at some of his raw files and I can confirm that he has already bagged some absolutely spectacular stuff! His laptop screen is not calibrated and we shall thus have to wait til he gets back to HK - but we're all in for a treat!

So far, he's published the one below - and he tells me that it's actually not so good. Right...

The comment being, courtesy of Babelfish (sic):

Bula of from Of fiji!
In Pacific Of harbour cost extraordinarily remarkable weathers, and practically each day in me is a possibility of [semki] in the rip shoal, which is accessible only into the calm. A quantity of rip sharks from last year as me seemed as the minimum it was doubled, to [beloperok] of those being attempting to get in armpits and constantly giving out slaps by my tails I no longer turn attention. Much I ex-changetar with light and [semki] technique [fishaem]. Excellent company here was gathered, [vrochem] about this I perhaps will describe only later. But thus far one of the photographs on which is imprinted not only swift [beloperka] (its snout it is found in 10 cm from the port) but also the legend of [dayvinga] in Fiji Of [manasa] of " [Papa]" To [bulivu] - one of the founders of [akulego] preserve into [Benga] of lagoons.

I couldn't agree more!

Anyway, Sasha, great that yer back!

Third Party Endorsements!

Papa and Whitetip, stellar pic by Sasha

This why we love doing what we do!

We surfaced, cheering out loud from the adrenaline and then hop up into the boat fast since the tiger is still beneath us somewhere, and we know we are still in her realm.
On the way back the Divemaster tells us a story that went something like this: “One day the tiger shark, Scarface, showed up and she was agitated, angry, I could tell. She circled and circled above me and finally showed me the problem. There was a large metal hook in her mouth, right through the skin. She kept circling and so I knew what I needed to do. Scarface knows me, I’ve dove with her so many times, so I swam to her and put my hand on her mouth and stopped her, and I pulled out the hook.” The Divemaster goes to the front of the boat and pulls out a huge fishing hook, he keeps it in a box onboard as proof.

When deciding to go shark diving I had a lot of reservations, not only about the safety but about the fact that if I participated I was making a conscious decision to feed the sharks, to disrupt their natural patterns. In the end I’m glad I did the dive. I understand now more the power and beauty of these sharks. The divemasters say the sharks don’t come around every day, the tigers go missing for weeks at times, so they are still in their natural behavior, they still leave to mate and feed.

This opportunity has also provided the divemasters, all Fijians who believe they are protected from the sharks, the chance to intimately get to know these sharks and give us insight into their patterns. These divers can tell when a shark is pregnant; they know each shark by name. They have also started a tagging program for the bull sharks, to gain insight into their movement. While I didn’t feel the need to repeat the dive in Fiji, I think going once is a great experience. I don’t have a list of sharks to see and won’t be chasing them on a bunch of shark dives, but as our desire to see the world first hand and preserve the animals in it increases, we all need to decide where we stand on feeding or tracking or swimming with all animals. For me, seeing these animals once was enough to appreciate them more, I’ll never forget that dive – but from now on I will leave them to cruise the oceans on their own.

More by Mariah Boyle here - about darn Damsels!

I sometimes just go and search the web for comments by our clients.
They are completely beyond our influence and as honest as it gets, and thus constitute excellent feedback. Of many I discovered for 2010, here's a nice one about us and the fabulous Uprising Beach Resort, a glowing endorsement (yes, Nani rocks!) but what is obviously a very happy customer and a short trip report with video.
Among more "editorial" stuff, I found a really good writeup about the Shark dive, a more general piece featuring the fabulous clip by the BBC, a very (!) insightful description by a travel agent and finally, a fantastic series of pics by Sasha on CNTV!

And then, there's this video clip.
It's actually got nothing to do with us but depicts BLR over on Beqa Island and irritates me because somebody has just ripped one of our DVDs and stolen the footage, like on 3:12ff. The man with the yellow cap is of course Rusi .
But then again, it shows some nice vistas of reef diving in Beqa Lagoon and above all, it features historical footage and audio on 4:00ff. Yes this is Manasa aka lucky man Papa, probably about 10 years ago! He truly is the friendliest, most goodhearted, most positive, most wonderful person, ever!
And before you ask: yes, he's doing great!

Enjoy!

The real Deal - Fiji's Shark Diving Pioneers!

Check out the Video.
It was shot by the then manager of Aquatrek, Kiley Skipper at the end of 2002 and features our unequaled feeders Rusi and Manasa handing some juicy tidbits to what could very possibly be a much younger Scarface on Shark Reef - with no gloves (let alone steel ones) but certainly, with the same big smiles and the same pride in what they do!

Enjoy!

Marketing by lying?

Here we go again!

You gotta check this out.

I'm not blaming the journo for publishing those statements.
But the fact is that Shark Reef Marine Reserve was negotiated and established by myself (my 2003 project paper here - testimony here) and Manasa “Papa” Boulivou, period - with the cooperation and assistance of the villages, the then Minister of Fisheries Konisi Yabaki and his men under Aisake Batibasaga .

Certainly not by Aquatrek Beqa who were actually adamantly opposed to it; not by “me, Brandon Paige” who resigned from Aquatrek Beqa in 2002 and was then working on Taveuni; not even by Beqa Adventure Divers who however became the trustees of the reserve once it was established in 2004 and have been collecting the Marine Park Levy ever since.

By all means, don’t take my word for it: here are the relevant documents - click to enlarge.














The Fiji Shark Corridor comprising the Qoliqoli or fishing grounds of the villages of Galoa, Wainiyabia and Deuba and encompassing Shark Reef Marine Reserve and Lake Reef was established by Beqa Adventure Divers in 2007 and the three villages have since been compensated by us (only) for keeping it Shark Safe.
Here are the relevant documents
















q.e.d. - I rest my case.
How pathetic having to post this!
And yes, I wish I were a bigger man - maybe in another life!

International Year of Biodiversity – Fiji!

Papa and one of the Whitetips - great pic by Sasha, click for detail.

Bravo Emma !
After her epic Coral Gardening sequence for the BBC, she has just finished The Last Blue Wilderness, a production for the United Nations’ International Year of Biodiversity .
It’s a great piece that for once does not feature any of the usual supercilious Caucasian talking heads but instead, only indigenous people that tell their stories in their own unmistakable way.

We are honored to be included with a short sequence about Shark conservation.
The teller is of course none other than our own lucky man Manasa Papa Bulivou and I must say that, bias or no bias, I’m deeply impressed by his narrative. Papa of course hails from a Spokesperson’s Clan and is thus very much endowed with the gift of the gab – still, experiencing his genuine pride and enthusiasm makes me real proud, and once again highlights how personally rewarding this whole conservation project is for all of us here.
Were you as moved as I was?
Very well done indeed!

Enjoy!

The Last Blue Wilderness / Save the Sharks from Emma Robens on Vimeo.

David - Teaser-Trailer # three!

Yes this would be a stack of 3m Bull Sharks - fabulous pic by DaMary!

This is just awesome!

Yes of course I'm biased.

So once again, I'm not gonna dwell in superlatives but instead invite you to refer to my assessment of Mr. Diley here - I cannot but fully confirm, and then some! And, do check out this post on David's blog!

Bravo!

Only this.

I fully concur that the letterboxed version is by far the better one so please please pretty please, do edit the movie in Anamorphic! And more importantly: I really want to thank the many people who've kindly agreed to be interviewed and are now providing awesome quotables - in this particular case Ratu Leone and Alfie from Uprising, Manasa, my dive buddy Rusi, the ever formidable Helen and the unequaled MPO. And of course the forever Facebook-status-changing Nani!

Vinaka vaka levu!

So without further ado, here it is!

Enjoy!

AND, here's one more post!

A Miracle, Culture Shock, Sex, Mayo, Midwest, Sailing and DEMA. And Jam!

First the Good News:

Manasa is making a miraculous comeback after a near-fatal Heart Seizure!

Expect Papa to be back on board shortly, where he will continue to entertain, frighten, amuse and intrigue you. As for being allowed to go back to his beloved Sharks, fingers crossed! Because that's where he belongs!

Our heartfelt thanks go to the Suva Private Hospital, Dr. Pawar and especially, Dr. Ian Linton who flew over from Oz to zap him back to life. And to all of you who were kind enough to send him your support and best wishes.
Vinaka Vakalevu, from the bottom of our hearts!

With Andrew over in Orlando for DEMA (Booth 2049 - and don't miss our brand-new spectacular edit at Gary Adkison's presentation!), the Staff are bravely manning the fort. The current Indians hail from frigid Moskow - talk about culture shock, both ways!
Будем!

When I rushed over at the beginning of October, I couldn't resist hopping in to check out who was still around.
The bulls were still plentiful but kind of standoffish and immagine my surprise to discover the first tell-tale cuts on Crook (click on image) and Granma who both turned up with male escorts!
According to our database, that would be at least one month early. After last year's mild El Nino, Fiji is experiencing a mild La Nina phenomenon and the water was warmer than expected. Are we maybe witnessing an early mating season? Does that mean that they'll be back early, too?
A Xmas running of the bulls?

In any event, we're ready.
Juerg is coming for a full three months in December to conduct an array of experiments and lectures; John Earle will do a new fish count; Gary and Brenda will host several film productions and generally be their usual combination of Wisdom, Chaos, Love, Testosterone and Midwestern Heritage - as in toasted Peanut Butter- Bacon- Lettuce- Mayo- Camembert sandwich with plenty of Ketchup! And Jam!

All-in-all, plenty of opportunities for everyone to learn heaps whilst having loads of fun! And for you image hunters out there: January and February are hot, I mean HOT, with heaps of action, warm water, often calm seas, sunshine and good viz. This is when the pros flock in to get the killer shots (and inevitably succeed).
Need I say more? Drop us a line and book your dive!

And last but not least: there's a feisty newcomer!
She hasn't hand fed yet but judging from the way she's been courting Rusi, it's only a matter of time until she joins the ranks of the regulars. We've named her Topsail, for obvious reasons.


Welcome to the Club young Lady!

More protection for our Sharks!

Ever since having established the Shark Reef Marine Reserve in 2004, we have been striving to further expand the protected area. As the data provided from our satellite and radio tagging experiments tell us, the Bull sharks and Tiger sharks tend to roam a much larger territory in this region.

The southern coast of Viti Levu adjacent to Shark Reef comprises the Qoliqoli, or fishing grounds, of the Villages of Galoa, Wainyiabia and Deuba.

After more than one year of sometimes difficult negotiations, we have finally succeeded in signing an Agreement with the relevant Chiefs and Mataqali representatives of Deuba Village stipulating that any catching or otherwise harming of Sharks within the entire Qoliqoli of Deuba Village is henceforth banned.

Galoa and Wainyiabia Villages, our partners in the Shark Reef Marine Reserve, have since joined in by also declaring their own entire Qoliqoli to be banned for Shark fishing.

To compensate for any losses in income, Deuba Village will be entitled to a share of the Marine Park Levy collected on Shark Reef, for which the Swiss Shark Foundation is very kindly providing a minimum income guarantee.
To that effect, the Marine Park Levy on Shark Reef has been increased to $20.

In April 2007, the Fiji Department of Fisheries has sanctioned all relevant Agreements, making them legally binding and thus enforceable.

The protected area, which has been named the Fiji Shark Corridor, comprises approx. 30 miles of coastline and thus hugely expands on the original Shark Reef area. In fact, when you visit Shark Reef, the entire coast as far as you can see in either direction is now protected!

Our special thanks go to

• the Villages of Galoa, Wainiyabia and Deuba for their kind assistance in making the above possible
• Manasa Bulivou, our spokesperson, for his tireless Village diplomacy
• Gary Adkison and Dr. Alexander Goldknecht, of the Swiss Shark Foundation, for their unwavering moral and financial support
• Dr. Juerg Brunnschweiler, for collecting the relevant scientific data
• Aisake Batibasaga, Principal Research Officer and Acting CEO, Fiji Department of Fisheries, for his assistance and guidance
  

15 Years of BAD Videos - the Beginning!

Oh my - how time flies!

Behold a small selection of videos from the very early days.

These are from approx 2003-2007 when we did a lot of experimenting and frankly also crazy shit, to wit the selection of bloopers and close calls in the "Naughty File".

 

Featuring Rusi and "Papa" Manasa but also David and Mini!

And this is our very first, very cheesy marketing video! :)

And talking about crazy shit.

How about Rusi a) removing a hook from, and then at the end b) mouth-feeeding Scarface!

And here's the famous BBC clip from 2006!



To be continued! :)

Lucky Men

Meet Marty Wolff!

According to one of his pals, Marty has a streak of sea luck a mile long. I'm surprised the tiger didn't show.
Well, none did - but whereas Timbo had to make do with a few, albeit large Bull Sharks, Marty came for only one measly day of Shark diving and got swamped! 25 Bull Sharks at the end of September is just simply unheard of!

He may have been incredibly lucky - but once presented with the opportunity, being the consummate photo pro he obviously is, he sure knew how to capitalize on it! Mind you, nobody gets close to the biggies on his very first day of Shark diving - and yet, Marty did manage to capture some truly memorable Bull Shark vistas which I'll be certainly using on this blog.

For now, I've chosen this remarkable capture of Manasa and his Grey Reefs - click on it, it's just simply fabulous!

Titled Passing Fancy, it is a whole story in itself.
Among many other things, it is also a tribute to Papa's incredible luck, willpower and discipline. Yes, it's now two years since he had a fatal heart failure and was very fortuitously resurrected by the prompt intervention of a passer-by. What followed were months of treatment, some of which radical, and a complete change of lifestyle and dietary regime.

Papa is now back where he belongs, among his beloved Sharks.
Being relegated to the shallows only, he has made the best of his predicament and re-modeled the small Shark feeds from what was essentially an afterthought into a stunning show where clients have the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of our most visually stunning little friends - to the point where the 4m feed may well be called the coolest safety stop in the world!

Two very lucky, and nice men linked by a picture.
How cool is that!

The Sanctuary (that wasn't)!

Rusi and Granma - click for detail!

So here it is.

A short film commissioned to celebrate the incredible efforts of the Fijian people and their Government in creating the first ever Melanesian Shark Sanctuary which would have provided the most stringent and detailed protection for every Shark and Manta Ray in Fijian waters.
Unfortunately the decree did not pass and was rejected in July this year (2012)

"The Sanctuary" features interviews with leading shark experts, conservationists and the people who have dedicated their lives to understanding and protecting these magnificent animals every day.

We offer sincere thanks and the utmost respect to:

• Rick MacPherson
• Ron & Valerie Taylor
• Douglas Seifert
• Arthur Sokimi
• Cristina Zenato
• Manasa Bulivou
• Angelo O'Connor Villagomez
• Rusiate Balenagasau
• and let's not forget that tattooed dude whose name escapes me!

This film also features stunning underwater footage filmed on Shark Reef on the island of Viti Levu from the upcoming film "Of Shark and Man" which will be released in 2013.

• Underwater Footage: Mike Neumann, David Diley, Hugh Fairs
• Music: "Laserdisc" - Chris Zabriskie
• Edited by David Diley
• Produced by David Diley (Scarlet View Media) and the The Fiji Shark Conservation & Awareness Project

Story here.
Again, there is nothing to celebrate - but David has invested an inordinate amount of time into completing it, and some wonderful people have agreed to participate. Now, this has become a tribute to their passion and generosity, and a testament to David's dogged perseverance and remarkable talent.
Thank you so much!

Enjoy!

Balmy!

It's winter in Fiji and the water is bloody cold, especially considering that The Shark Dive is predominantly stationary.

Not a problem anymore!
Andrew has already blogged about it, but this is the first time they're really being put to the test, and the dive suits have passed with flying colors! The Staff are wearing Merino Elastiprenes 5 mils (truly the best wetsuit I've ever owned, wonderfully warm, incredibly soft and with great stitching!) and steamers; the Kaivailangi guests, 4/5 mil Fusion Merinos.

Kudos to Pinnacle Aquatics for a great new line of products!

And for the many friends who have asked: here's Manasa!
One year after his near-fatal collapse, Papa is back in the water where he belongs. He's now in charge of the shallow feeds and has upgraded them to a brand new show featuring the Greys, Blacktips and Whitetips. It has to be seen to be believed!

And!: check out this post by Sasha........ very funny!
"Sharky"??? Moi???

The Arte Clip!

Well, here it is!

I had no idea that there would be an embed code, nor do I know whether this is only going to last 7 days like all programs on Arte+7 - so better watch it right away.

I love it, especially the incredible poise, eloquence and always friendly charm of Manasa - but I'm obviously biased!
And of course, great footage and wonderful, and intelligent editing by Martin who impresses me for having understood a lot in very short time indeed!

Enjoy!

Shark Reef: simply miraculous!

Shark diving in the Reserve gets better and better, with no end in sight!

Common wisdom had it that the Bull Shark numbers peak in February and then slowly decline until all activity peters out in November when the pregnant females leave for the birthing grounds and everybody else gets caught up in the mating frenzy.

Not this year!
January was just phenomenal but then came April with an absolute record of 40plus, this on a single dive! Even August was excellent and even now, mind you on a very lucky day, we are recording a dozen or more individuals! True, they are mostly sub-adults and they are at best finicky when it comes to accepting food - but still, our customers love it!

Are we witnessing a trend?
I sure hope we are, as the old-timers continue to be faithful and more and more newcomers are learning the ropes. Very very rewarding indeed and a clear indication that our model seems to be working!

As to the other suspects, we now boast three Giant Groupers and scores of other Sharks. And not to forget, close to 400 species of tropical Fish!
Right now, the Greys, Silvertips and Blacktips are all over the place and present great photo-ops on the shallow portion of the dive. They are clearly on the menu of the big guys and seem to sense a temporary truce. This is the realm of Papa Manasa and he sure has it down to an art - to be seen to be believed, dozens of Greys behaving like lambs in the presence of a binful of bait!

And the biggest of them all is even bigger yet, truly enormous!
Yes, Scarface is very very pregnant and looks like she's gonna pop anytime. In fact, on her last two visits, she staid high and circumspect and Rusi had to go meet her up in the water column in order to push a tuna head into her mouth. She deigned to accept it but then didn't swallow it right away, preferring to parade it around for a while before taking off into deeper water.
Very unusual and very interesting too - may this be some incipient feeding inhibition prior to giving birth, like the one displayed by the pregnant bulls?

Assuming that Tigers may choose some safe birthing ground and knowing about their impressive range, we fully expect her to take off and not be back for a while. Last time, friends who know her spotted her in the Yasawas, several hundred miles away, so we could be in for quite a wait.
In any case, all very interesting and loads of fun!

With January-March already flagged for plenty more action in Conservation and Science, along with a plethora of diving celebrities, this is the perfect time to make a booking! Space is filling up fast (really, and this despite of two boats!), so drop us a line and reserve yourself a ringside seat on the Best Shark Dive in the World!

Chris - Thank You!

Scarface and Rusi, by Terry Goss - still one of the most iconic images ever captured in the SRMR. Click twice for detail!

I must confess that I am quite touched.

A person named Chris has left a comment on David's post.

I totally ignore who that may be - but after all these years, this is without a doubt one of the nicest and most insightful statements about us I have ever read.

It says.

Then there are the dive operators that do it right. 

They've figured it out. 

One is obviously Beqa Adventure Divers in Fiji, and the other is run by a friend of mine in Roatan, Honduras. Both have, through their dive offerings, accomplished real research and advancement of conservation goals. The dive in Honduras even got the government to change laws pertaining to finning and fishing after proving to them the touristic worth of a live shark. 

The Fiji operation is something special though. 

It should be a model for every conservation group on earth. My theory is that this is due to not only Mike's passion and realistic approach towards his chosen subject, the shark, but also due to his background in international business which has allowed him to really put something workable together and then MAKE it work. 

In both cases the dive environment has benefited from the presence of sharks; the coral is healthier, there are MORE lower level prey species and grazers, and the dives are just spectacular. 

The BAD/ Fiji dive in particular is still one of if not THE best dive I have ever done. 

It's the perfect dive. And you don't feel guilty afterwards. You feel like you've contributed to an effort to save a reef, and protect and understand a species.

This is really, really nice - thank you so much for that!

But the praise really goes to our core team of Fijian staff, and friends - Nani, Manasa and Rusi. 

It is they who took a huge risk in taking a leap of faith and quitting their job for what many thought were the pipe dreams of a total lunatic, and they have remained steadfast and loyal throughout the hardest of times. I will pass on the compliments to them as it is things like this that keep fueling our passion.

A huge  Vinaka vaka levu from all of us!