Grumpy Bull?

Click for grumpy detail!

H/T: Sasha!

Sasha: heroic as always!

One more of Sasha's toothy shots!

Dunno how I managed to miss this!

Yes it's rather an oldie but still a goodie.
This is a collection of stellar pictures by Sasha, garnished with some interesting words by Ben Cooper, probably of Sasha's agent Barcroft Media. But fear not: our adrenaline seeking extreme diving Russian hero did manage to survive the Shark-infested patch of water with hundreds of aggressive testosterone-laden (not!) deadly predators - but only just and with a new hair cut! :)

And anyway: what's a couple of hundred bloodthirsty Bull Sharks compared to SA's killer Gannets and man-eating Sardines!
Enjoy!

Wallpaper Bulls - more and more!

Sharky last week!
Sasha in January!
Yesterday's dive!

The challenge is still on!

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!

So, what are you waiting for!

Vitaly - absolutely amazing!

Click on pics for detail - notice the faint Bull in the center?

Remember the Russian heroes?

Just got some pics from Vitaly and all I can say is WOW!
Now before you get all excited, YES they have obviously been changed in post production - but still, talk about absolute mastery of that art! More split images by Vitaly aka Willyam here - and below, there's one more where the tweaking is less obvious - being on the menue, the Grey's rarely if ever venture into Bull Shark territory!


As to why his website is now carrying a mature content warning - go explore for yerself!

And there's more.
Having rummaged some more, I also found more wallpaper Bulls, along with this description - yes you guessed it, it's once again totally heroic!
Translation by Babelfish - very funny and I'm sure you get the gist! :)

Of beqa Of adventure Of divers” www.fijisharkdive.com [Dayving] is passed without the cell.
Instead of that old checked, wiser by life of one of the [fidzhiyskikh] leaders to me during that day as the defender was reached young young fellow (name, unfortunately he forgot). I do not know, first sharks were on the platoon, then whether my [bodigard] yawned and looked not to that side, but Sharkey, after ceasing to obtain into the snout iron stick they suddenly became to actively manifest to me interest. Them it became all around more and it is more. Especially they actively to move began precisely when to the back of the head it approached panic “oh, [mlya], [nakhren] I here climbed up”… As they felt. Although why “as”? Word “as” it is here better to use in the bond [s] “even as”. Certainly they feel fear. And climb-climb- climb. But in spite of entire ambiguity of situation I then tried to be abstracted and as the protection from the sticky horror he tried to think about the construction of sequence, periodically hiding camera from the sharks for the pebble - already painfully it them interested. Largest plus certainly in the fact that into the sequence of shark they jumped in groups from all sides with such venemous [ulybochkami], pier “remove me! Remove!!!” How I used with the variable success - after the fact and arrived indeed. Such here, merry [tusovochka] came out.
PS: personnel are lined as are - framing did not adapt.
Objective 20 mm fixed price.
Canon 400d in the underwater boxing.


Which begs the question, what about Sasha's crop?
Having asked, his response is Soon :) Photos are like wine, need to keep them locked for some time – they get better.

Well, then, I expect unbelievable stuff!
No pressure!

Wallpaper: getting there!

Is this wallpaper Bull Sharks?

Hell, no - but getting there!
As anticipated, Sasha has started to post the pics from his last trip to Fiji and in his own words, this is rather initial take on this challenge - meaning that he has indeed picked up the gauntlet!
Can't wait for the continuation!

And what about the chewing on those strobes?
The shark scientists and shark veterans DO know: my dear friend, u gotta either change strobes, or mask the electric signature of those YS-250s - or very much get the hell outta there! This will certainly improve as after the first frenzy at the beginning of the season, the Sharks are usually less ravenous and do calm down substantially - but if you want to continue operating in the front lines, those strobes are an unnecessary additional safety risk that needs to be addressed. Maybe this is fate telling you that it's time to upgrade?
Mind you, just a hint! :)

But other than that...
Not bad at all - for the beginning!

Bulls-Eye!

Awesome pic - click on it!
May we deduce that Sam must have been pretty close to that Shark?
We may indeed! :)

Yes the Bulls are running fast and furious!
We're currently hosting some of the usual suspects who have flocked in to witness the spectacle, and the inevitable socializing schedule has been keeping me away from the blogosphere - so here's a brief re-cap before I mosey over to the next event.

Sasha has come and gone (and yes, Aleksey and Olga did make it out of Moscow in time!) and I very much look forward to a massive dose of Russian heroism once he gets home! Suffice to say that some of his dives have been, for lack of a better word: quite spicy, and that he could write whole dissertations about the electric signature of a particular brand of underwater strobes!
Meaning that I also expect him to post a whole new crop of terrific sharky pics!

Ozzie Sam is still here - and about to get rained in as always! :)
But not to worry: as witnessed above, he's already gotten the shot! Plus, the man lives just a stone's throw away and I have no doubt that he shall be back for more (Sharks and rain!) very very soon indeed!

Which cannot be said of Juerg!
Viewed from Fiji, Switzerland is about as antipodean as it gets and ever since becoming a pater familias (yes, Marlen may beg to differ!), his visits have alas become a rare treat. This is to be savored, the more as like always, he has come bearing gifts - and not in the Greek way!
The goodies: heaps of inegschmuggleti Mettwuerscht vom Bell!

But I'm digressing.
As always, we got plans - and as always, ah aint telling you quite yet!
Suffice to say that we're about to start something new and that Juerg is profiting from the unequaled (!) Fijian tranquility to put the final touches on a whole array of new papers - so as always, keep watching this space!

Time to go - talk soon!

Bulla!

Click on it - and there's more in the link below!

No, not a typo!
Sasha has posted this gallery of toothy Bull Shark smiles and once again (this is getting boring...), all I can say is Wow!

A couple of caveats though!
First and foremost: dear customer, before you run off to pack your super duper wide angle rig & book a trip to Fiji, read this!
By dishing out copious amounts of Vodka to the staff and patiently listening to the ramblings of one of the owners, Sasha has earned himself superstar status and is being granted special privileges, notably the right to take up residence in the infamous pit. It's a symbiotic relationship: we let him do rather stupid things - he publishes stellar pics and reviews!
And no, we do not usually do this - this is strictly a one-off!

Secondly, this is so yesterday! :)
The challenge this season: wallpaper Bull Sharks!
Today, we had again 40+ Bulls which is pretty much unheard of at this time of the year - and despite of our best efforts, we've managed to only identify approximately half of them, meaning that many are totally new! With that in mind, and yes I may be repeating myself, we are very likely aiming at the magical number of one hundred Bull Sharks - yes on a single dive, meaning that this is just the beginning!

So far, this is the picture to beat!

The good news: for this, you do not need to be sitting in the pit!
The bad news: for this, you do not need to be sitting in the pit!
Meaning: no more haircuts! :)

And finally: yum yum yellow, dorky or not? That's a big fat нет-нет!
Yum yum yellow is the exclusive signature of one UW photographer and plagiarizing is punishable with instant excommunication from Wetpixel, Flickr and all related media! Plus, even the great man himself has had the courtesy to observe protocol!

Ceci dit: Sasha, we eagerly await your return!
The staff, with great anticipation - me, with the usual dose of apprehension! :)
See you real soon!

PS just checked out Vitaly's blog and found this.
Getting there! :)

Sardine Run - by Sasha!

Forget the Sharks - these birds are lethal!

The man is just insatiable!

Having just digested his latest portfolio from Fiji, here comes a batch from South Africa!
I'm of course talking about Alexander Safonov, aka patsOn, aka Sasha, good friend, very (!) suspect financial markets geek, prolific blogger and above all, gifted and ever more successful UW photographer. Ever since discovering his pics when he first came to Fiji, I've been a great fan of his talent and his perseverance - as have obviously others!

This I believe is his second foray to the Sardine Run - or is it his third?
Anyway, like in Fiji, the pics keep getting better - whether due to experience, luck or his new mega-super-duper wideangle lens, or all of the above!
Or is it the fact that like in Fiji, he's becoming ever more reckless in risking his life when confronting the surrounding army of big predators, close and personal - especially the Piranha-like killer Gannets, pictured above?

Just kidding!
The man is no fool and the descriptions are probably good marketing by the agent, garnished with a dash of the inevitable and endearing Russian heroism!

Well done мой друг - and come back soon!

Peekaboo?

Please click to enlarge.

This sure is an unusual picture!

Some novel, previously unrecorded behavior?
Is that Reef Blacktip really turning its head to look at Sasha, as is being speculated in the post? My personal interpretation is that this is most probably a freeze frame of a Blacktip shaking its head after having grasped a piece of bait. That's what they usually do and it would also account for the open mouth and the entire s-shaped body posture.
Still - great shot!

Or - may it be a reflection of Fiji's famous multiculturalism?
As in this?

Talking of which, some minor cultural challenges persist - alas!
Enjoy!

The Running, and not, of the Bulls!

Now THATs what I call dangerous - click to enlarge!

Pamplona is about to unleash!
A big Bula Vinaka from Fiji, and may everything go well!

As to our own Running of the Bulls, it actually happens in January.
But as the El Niño has fizzled out and may well be slowly evolving into a proper La Niña, the numbers continue to be impressive, with a constant 30 to 40 big Bull Sharks on every dive!

With one exception last May.
For a whole week, numbers were positively dismal and the few scattered animals that deigned to turn up refused to feed, as described in this post by Sasha (translate it here and yes, that's yet another stellar pic from this year's crop!). And would you believe it - at the same time, the Manta Rays disappeared from neighboring Kadavu! And, I hear, from the Yasawas!
And then, just as suddenly as it started, all was back to normal and kept getting better until reaching our all time record in June.
Go wonder!

We've been scratching our head ever since - but may this be correlated to the weather phenomena that happened in May and are described in the link? And may Richard have experienced something related when he got skunked in the Bahamas?

Just goes to show how little we know!
Which by the way, is totally part of the fun of what we do!

Russian Heroes!

This is really as good as it gets! Click on all pics to enlarge

Bless Babelfish and its Russian to English translations!

Many people have described the Fiji Shark Dive – but our Russian friends sure always manage to add a special dimension of poetic heroism!
This is a completely different breed of underwater photographers who pair excellent technical skills with a degree of raw enthusiasm and passion we seem to have all but forgotten – very refreshing indeed, like in the old times!

Case in point:

As this is not paradoxical, but the terrible photographs of sharks with the opened wide mouths and by the [torchashchimi] are not in different directions teeth so terrible in their production.
The majorities of such photographs - result of specific [orkestratsii], in which the command of [dayverov] with the aid of the special features of underwater landscape feeds to shark sequential fish head directing it straight to the photographer. Is thus far in shark occupied mouth all its thoughts only about being removed home into the open water, and unimportantly how closely it will approach - and usually all this concludes " haircut" when either belly or fin catches the head of photographer - it is sufficiently small chances to the increased interest in the equipment and the body.

Another matter when shark in which mouth is not occupied with anything they suddenly manifest interest in the body or the equipment - here already we leave a little to another level of contact with these animals during which it is high the probability of the need of applying the physical interference - namely the defensive position with one of the flare rods of those advanced in the attempt to forward give to understand to animal that to eat here something.
Further usually follows the most powerful header the often bringing down photographer from the balance, and dissatisfied turn to 90-180 degrees that accompanied by the underwater wave of that caused by the motion of powerful tail which it squeezes into the wall from behind if it certainly is. At these moments you understand by what enormous force they possess these 3.5 meter [zverushki] you are penetrated to them by an even larger respect.

The large part of the problem consists in the fact that similar thrusts of curiosity they occur always suddenly - type swim- will swim to itself [akulka] peacefully and it is smooth - and then once - with lightning speed it is turned to 90 degrees to the towards dear camera - so- that ear it is necessary to hold always [vostro] - and if we are located not next to the wall, but on the free space what is 30- meter arena - to still have rather well a bodyguard from behind Zh)

In the photograph higher to me absolutely unexpectedly were fixed two bulls, but analyzing their trajectory and the expression of the snout of face I it understood that head-on collision to [udastsya] to avoid - and instead of the defensive counter made this sequence - 10.5 mm, [krop] [otsustvuet] - appear sufficiently peacefully if we forget about the fact that in the photograph two enormous monsters of occupying the second line in a quantity of murders people after oceanic [beloperykh] sharks….

Even having an experience of contact with the large predators including in [beyt]- Balls always it is required several seconds in order to restore respiration after each [razrulivaniya] of situation - and when this occurred with me it for the first time usually stored up air it volatilized for a few minutes plus to remove by the shaking hands already nothing it was obtained - but when this was! Zh)

This is by none other than our good friend Sasha, a Fiji veteran and master Shark photographer – and surely aimed at impressing the groupies!
And this would be he in “action” in the pit, photographed by his good friend Vitaly - talk about a close encounter!


And here’s the quid pro quo: Vitaly saying hello to Mrs. Jaws – photographed by Sasha!


Vitaly at least has the excuse of being a Bull Shark rookie.
Having been tested and found worthy, we took him to the Arena and positioned him right into the path of the feeding bulls, an experience he describes as follows.
I like it!

“JAWS” on the photo-site Photograph of [sdelann] in Pacific Ocean into Beqa of lagoon of shark of reef next to the Is. of Fiji.

Bull shark at the moment of swallowing fish head is depicted on the photograph.
The size of shark - is more than 3[kh] of meters, this is sufficiently large copy. Objective of 20[mm] - fixed price. Distance from me to the shark somewhere from one to one-and-a-half meters. In order to obtain the clean photograph (without [melteshashchey] around the small fry) in the spirit JAWS to photographer necessary at the moment of ingestion by the shark of the piece of the food/of output to prove to be on the path of motion of shark;) In this trajectory entire small fish, that so interferes during the photographing, in panic it usually throws in all directions. Camera I hold low- near the bottom, as to he serves as outstanding bait for other competitors (in the time of diving my technology it repeatedly underwent the attacks of predators)

In addition the hands (and other extremities, which you value) must be always in sight in the field of sight.
Therefore camera gunnery it is necessary to conduct at random, slightly [prifigev], being slanted back (in order to on the head not of reserve) It is here necessary to note that when to you rushes this torpedo with the opened mouth for some reason instead of panicky fear you feel this combat ardor as on the ring. I.e. terribly only so that to be completely assembled and ready for everything. It is considered that at the moment is thus far in shark occupied with the food of companies it is not dangerous.
…..

By the way fear is suppressed by two things - respiration (into the regulator necessary to breathe evenly) and… by camera;)
When you remove - you do not think about that which is here dangerous. Yes, it is dangerous, but completely to itself moderately. When the [ogromennyy] bull approaches up to the distance of the elongated hand panic in the form of hot wave in the back of the head at first rolls, but panic is considerably more dangerous than everything else and therefore control, respiration and… survey! :) Plus these monsters, besides the electrical and the biofields excellently feel fear. The more you fear, the more of them there are all around is assembled =))))

Well yes agreeably, under water all ended well, hand- feet were entire and unharmed, at the pocket lie two [akulikh] teeth (Mike's gift) and now (in any case before the following trip) with the sharks I to be met do not plan.

Quite – and all of which resulted in this stunning portrait of Maite - and yes, being one of our biggest, she is certainly at least 3m long!


Very well done guys - and I’m sure that the groupies agree!

Sasha and the Bulls!

Click to enlarge!

This is way cool!

Sasha is back home and has started publishing a whole host of stunning pictures on his blog and lemme tell you, this is by far not the best one!
What however makes it special is that he has put it into context by simultaneously posting some video of precisely the same encounter as captured by one of our videographers. The footage is slightly overcranked to 60fps and the action is consequently slowed down by 20%.



The feeder is Papa’s son Tumbi and the Sharks are two of our biggest females, Naughtylus who gets the first Tuna head and Maite who comes back for her own snack.
As witnessed by his perfect reaction (keep the camera between the mouth of the Shark and yourself) and calm demeanor, Sasha is now a veteran of the Fiji Shark Dive and has thus earned himself some special privileges.
This is the Arena at 30m, one of the locations where we will allow very experienced customers to position themselves under supervision, and you can see Eroni keeping a watchful eye on proceedings in the background.

As to whether this is One additional by anything not remarkable photograph with the artistic value of that being approaching zero (thank you Babelfish), you be the judge of it.
I happen to differ – but then, as always, I’m fatally biased.
Great job my friend!

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!

Bravo, Bravo, Bravo!

Sorry for neglecting the blog!

It's just that we're currently incredibly busy with projects and then, I got sidelined into trying to formulate a major policy post in an acquired language. Challenging and time consuming to say the least!
In any case, there's much to report - this week, promise!

But first things first.

See the pic above? Click on it! Fabulous!
That's the Best of Show of the 2010 iDiveSharks Imaging Festival - and did, or did I not tell you that we needed to keep an eye on Sasha? Did you click on the last link: is that a photo blog - or what?
Well, with us being the sponsors of that prize, we'll have the pleasure to welcome him back sooner rather than later - the more as he now lives in Hong Kong and will thus be able to profit from Air Pacific's newest direct flight at unbeatable prices!
Can't wait, it's been far too long!

And more than that: the Best Wide Angle is a portrait of a Fiji Bull Shark, Nick, by our friend Sam, and the Best Portfolio includes my favorite pic of Scarface, by our friend Terry!

Bravo guys - yer making Fiji proud!

The Contest!

Very Bruce! Stellar pic by Sasha - yes this is a link!

By now it should be obvious that if you're a Shark diver, you need to sign up to Mark's iDive Sharks.

Case in point: the iDive Sharks 2010 Shark Imaging Festival.
As announced in this week's roundup, Mark has miraculously managed to cajole a full week of diving with the BAD boys out of our Scottish keeper of the purse strings. This will normally include four two-tank dives on the Fiji Shark Dive, plus many more wreck and reef dives in famous Beqa Lagoon.
Pretty damn awesome huh - and I may add, never has it been more enticing to be the runner up!

So, what are you waiting for!
If u got some spectacular Shark imagery like the one above, sign up and join the contest!

Good on 'ya Sasha!

Great piece, great pics!

People are increasingly discovering Sasha's talent - and it could not have happened to a nicer and more modest guy! Enjoy his fabulous portfolio on Mail Online.

I just checked his blog and found the above.
Terrific - and very "Bruce"!!!

Poking Bull Sharks

How serendipitous.

I was just wondering about how to use this latest fantastic pic by Sasha - and here comes Mr. Fernandez!

Mr. Fernandez decided to poke a Bull Shark, always a real bad idea.
What really puts him up for an honorable mention at the Darwin Awards is that he did so whilst hanging on to a freshly speared grouper. As Shark Diver said, Sharks and Idiots are a real toxic mix. We've blogged about it for the past couple of weeks.

For now, Mr. Fernandez remains in the gene pool - but fear not, he's planning to go back!

But I'm digressing.
All I really wanted, is to showcase Sasha's pic.
Click on it - just amazing!

Scarface and Rusi

From Sasha's Blog.

Scarface - ultimate 5.5 m long pet of Rusi and the team of Beqa Adventure Divers.
She was absent for five months from the Shark Reef for birth giving, and finally returned again three weeks ago, right on time for my visit to Beqa Lagoon. I was lucky to be on one of the dives then she appeared in all her glory.
There is something surreal, gravity defying in interaction between The Feeders and this ultimate shark which guests have chance to observe - Rusi barehandedly guiding these monster, crouching and jumping around, and strong mental bond between two can be strongly felt even from the distance.
Scarface always inspecting everyone and everything on each of her visits, everyone on the dive has chance to look into the eyes of these gigantic shark from few centimeters away.

In Sasha's English, "barehandedly" translates into "with his hands - protected by a steel mesh glove"! Promise!

Anyway, this gives me the chance of posting the answer to that question: apart from many other peculiarities, Tiger Sharks have a visible spiracle!
Bet that until now, you haven't noticed!

More about Scarface and her favorite feeder very soon!

Whow!!!

What a picture!!!

Click on it: just awesome!!!
по-моему просто лучшее фото с акулами, что я видел!

Sasha is in Fiji and I just had a glance at his blog.
Must have been yesterday's dive because today, they had a visit by Scarface!

Talking of which - will anybody venture giving an answer to that question about Tiger Sharks?

Anyway, can't wait to see what he's gonna be posting next!!!

Sasha: Thank You and Well Done!

Sasha has just named me "one of the top experts on the Sharks in the world".

Very kind of you my friend - but also, way off the mark!
First, because I'm much too emotionally attached to the animals and thus fatally biased. The little I "know" about Sharks is a reflection of the insights "serious" people like Juerg and others have garnered over the recent years - often very much by dispelling a lot of the hopelessly anthropomorphic conjectures we Shark divers come up with!
And second, because I'm not at all interested in the "job": all yours, George, bullshit and all!

But back to Sasha.
Turns out he's been busy busy busy collecting trophies!
Check out the picture above and then, check out this:



Crazy!
Not in a million years would I ever go solo diving, in the open Ocean and amid packs of hungry predators! But Sasha has obviously no such qualms and the results can be admired in his portfolio "Bait Ball Symphony".

Plus, it was obviously well worth it!
The Sailfish & Blacktip pic has been showcased in the "Golden Turtle" Exhibition, the following amazing pic of a diving Cape Gannet (click to admire the detail! This is the cropped version, you can see the whole pic here) earned him prizes in a whopping three prestigious UW photo competitions around the world and yet another pic has been used by the BBC to announce the above program.


All very admirable!
And yet...... I have a complaint: not a single picture from Fiji!
This is undoubtely going to change as Alex has announced his imminent visit to our shores. With Shark Reef at its historical best, there's no doubt that we shall be graced with yet another stunning portfolio!

As always, watch this space!