Blog about "The World's best Shark Dive" by Beqa Adventure Divers.
Featuring up to eight regular species of Sharks and over 400 different species of fish, Shark diving doesn't get any better!
The pic above is by Andrey Narchuk.
He's a friend of Sasha who convinced him to try out the Fiji Shark Dive. This, I believe is from day 2 when he was put face-to-face with some really big Sharks for the very first time in his life. Very impressive pic - but then, Andrej belongs to the crème de la crème of the Russian UW photo scene where he alternates awards with Sasha, and I fully expect more equally stellar pics to pop up on his blog now that he has returned home.
And how about this!
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Yes this is again Tatiana aka Sharky!
She was here last week and contributes one further pic to this year's wallpaper challenge. We continue to be well on track towards my predicted one hundred by June and on a good day with good viz, we believe that we're currently identifying up to 70 Bulls - simply ridiculous and no, we do not really know whether it's 65 0r 75, we're at the point of where we have to totally guesstimate!
You-know-who, better start polishing that 80 megapixel gizmo! :)
But back to Tatiana.
You just must check out her latest portfolio on iDiveSharks - this from a mere 3 Shark diving days, and by a lady who tells me that she has just picked up photography 6 months ago!
Two of my favorite ones below!
I've been there a couple of years ago and can assure you that it is really like that, and even better, to the point that I've been trying to go back there ever since.
Many ages ago I landed myself a nifty little job as leader of exploratory dive expeditions and check-out diver for new dive destinations that led me to explore some of the remotest, most memorable and sometimes scariest dive sites long before the advent of organized mass tourism - and Fuvahmulah still conveys that rare feeling of exploring new frontiers where every dive is still an adventure harboring the possibility of unique and unexpected encounters - see e.g the other videos on this page.
And at a time where diving has been largely commodified that's just simply awesome.
Even Fuvahmulah itself is totally unique.
Dubbed The Galapagos of the Maldives, it sits all by itself, completely exposed to wind and offshore currents in deep oceanic water and thus acts as a beacon and pit stop for large ocean wanderers. It is also not your archetypical Maldivian tourism island that only sports a single sprawling hotel installation on a atoll motu, but is instead fully inhabited and merely features a few charming small family-owned guest houses along with a few modest eateries - but that too only adds to its charm.
The people to go with are these folks, hands down.
I had heard about the place from clients who mentioned a crazy Russian and her partner - but Tatiana and Panda are everything but. And this is me saying it so you better believe it!
Instead, these are smart, extremely knowledgeable, responsible and highly experienced people running a highly professional dive operation together with a great team of super motivated locals, and diving with them is both great fun but also super safe.
And lemme tell 'ya: the latter could not be more important.
The simply fabulous Thresher Shark dives are (drift) diving for grown ups in oceanic conditions and often substantial depth and challenging surge and currents, followed by open water decompression and live pickup - so you better have guides who know exactly what they are doing. And they most certainly do!
And when it comes to the world famous baited Tiger Zoo dives that often feature dozens of large Tigers, following the correct protocols is everything - and these guys sure have it down pat. And yes this would again be me saying it, the more as they've shown me the protocols that are spot on and exhaustive, including the all-important evacuation procedures and first aid training!
Which brings me straight to the title of this post.
It's much like what happened in Playa where Chino did all the pioneering work, only to have a hoard of moochers fly in and piss on his parade, or Bimini where everybody rushed in and as a minimum spoiled years of research by the Sharklab.
Now that Tatiana and Panda have done all the heavy lifting and pretty much single-handedly put it on the tourism map, Fuvahmulah is being overrun by dozens of local copycats and wannabee Shark whisperers with little more to their credit than a GoPro, an Instagram account, an opinion and a mouth.
And like last year in Playa, this can only end up in tears - especially at the Tiger Zoo which in the high season is already operating at the very limit of sustainability. When I see those arrogant idiots and their clients wanting to change those excellent procedures and even institute free diving, in baited conditions and at the entrance of the island's only harbor with scores of vessels zipping around overhead I can only shake my head in disbelief - but then again, this is so pathetically same old same old isn't it.
Rule number one: never, ever let the inmates run the asylum!
So folks, don't be fooled by the images and the hype.
Especially in Shark diving, there really is no substitute for experience, professionalism and quality - and being a local, and giving stupid discounts, and showing you nice pictures and video, and spinning some nice eco-BS are all no substitutes for that. Not in Fuvahmulah, not in Playa and also not here in Fiji where we too continue to hate on each other but at least have our own dive sites.
Incidentally, Playa has improved dramatically.
The pandemic has weeded out the worst assholes, and most others have finally discovered the virtues of cooperation, leading to a solid season with acceptable Bull Shark numbers (thanks Chino for the baiting!) and somewhat reasonable revenues for everybody.
And yes, Bimini has become much more orderly too.
When it comes to Fuvahmulah, it'll take a while.
Assuming the safari boats come rushing in as usual, the high season will likely be a bloody clusterfuck, after which business volumes will dry up and many of those folks will thankfully go bust and hopefully wander off in search of greener pastures.
And should you be on a safari boat, do insist that they do, too, instead of trying to do it on the cheap with some local pal, the more as the victim of that fiasco would be you!
Just sayin'!
Enjoy - because you most certainly will!
PS - Oh FFS.
I've barely posted this, and here they come - and it's even worse than I feared.
The inmates have already taken over and are free diving at the Tiger Zoo, and developing some inane pelagic Tiger Shark dive, obviously baited like their illegal dive in Hawaii. And they are obviously empowering women and helping the poor locals and fighting marine pollution - something that has already been done by others for years, and this without it being used for self-aggrandizement!
And of course it's all about Shark conservation - in a Shark sanctuary!
And talking about eco clap trap
for generations we have recycled the fish scraps into the sea to fertilize the fisheries
Seriously?
Literally all fishermen who clean their catch throw the scraps into the ocean, and this everywhere!
Recycle and fertilize my ass!
Lord have mercy...
And we're back to square one.
Like a wise man said years ago - incidentally about the very same folks
It stopped actually being "about sharks" a long time ago. It's about the individual and what the sharks as a vehicle to notoriety can do for them
And I can most certainly leave it at that.
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Had a quick chat with Radio New Zealand International. If you don't mind enduring the irritating accent, the podcasts are here: the Shark piece is at 22:51 on Tagata o te Moana and on Dateline Pacific, at 4:14. I have no idea about how these things work, so better listen now before they load new programs. You will also hear excellent quotables by Matt Rand, Director, Global Shark Conservation at the Pew and by Angelo the Saipan blogger.
Great job by Moera Tuilaepa. RNZI is broadcast and much loved all across the SOPAC - so here's to some of the right people tuning in!
Enjoy!
PS I may have succeeded in embedding the file of Dateline Pacific below - fingers crossed it works! As I said, interviews start at 4:14.
Our newest (and so far unwitting) contender: Tatiana aka Sharky!
A formidable lady in more than one way, she was here last week and has already posted some remarkable images, along with a very flattering review. Thank you!
And, it will get better!
We're currently averaging (meaning that we're sometimes seeing more!) 40+ big Bulls and the good news is that we don't know half of them - meaning that on top of the current 111 named Bulls, there's a continued influx of new ones.
I stand by one hundred in June!
Fiji's Shark population - still in good shape but increasingly threatened. Another stellar wallpaper pic by Tatiana!
Fiji is talking Shark Conservation, and that's a good thing.
Quite a bit has happened recently. There is now a dedicated Facebook page, Fiji Shark Defenders that mirrors the highly popular Shark Defenders, the Econesian Society has launched a pro-Shark petition and even the venerable Islands Business has posted an article about how the Pacific island Countries are leading the way in Shark conservation.
That's the backdrop for the call from Tevita Vuibau of FijiLive. The immediate aim was to get an opinion about the petition. As always, it's a difficult one when one has to comment on the efforts of good people trying to do good things by pursuing the wrong aims. The MoU on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks is just that, a non legally binding Memorandum of Understanding that is not even flanked by any proper management plan. You can read its wording here. To me, it's not much more than a lot of blahblahrahrah and if its ontogeny (as in years of preparation including delegate meetings in Mahe' and Rome, no less) is any indication, it will be yet another one of those useless documents that will save no Sharks but provide for welcome committees (Intersessional Steering Group on Migratory Sharks - wow!), experts and global meetings where scarce resources are squandered on flights, posh hotel rooms and meals, and a never ending deluge of bureaucratic paperwork.
Case in point, Mrs. Maruma Mrema's brazen quote that Although not legally binding, this Memorandum of Understanding actually has a better chance of helping to save the species than a legally binding document … this is because action will happen now when it is most needed: sorry what????
But I'm digressing as always. Tevita's story got longer and longer, to the point where he tells me that the editors have decided to have it posted in several installments. So there, here is part number one, albeit with one caveat: of course, I'm not at all (only) advocating a Shark finning ban. What I am advocating is a complete ban of all commercial fishing and trading of Sharks, this at least for as long as it is being conducted at present completely unsustainable levels - but I shall be happy to reverse my stance once Shark stocks have recovered, i.e. in several hundred years! :)
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