The Big Five-Oh - simply phenomenal!

Epic - this is Blunt, one of our biggest females.

Doug's Water Column has just turned 50.

Well what can I say.

The man is one of the most respected, accomplished, most diligent (and never being happy with the results, most obstinate) underwater photographers out there, and quite possibly the best Shark photographer - and his unequaled articles are the result of countless hours of meticulous research and preparation coupled with more hours spent chasing those elusive images. We've only met relatively recently and the beginning has been challenging - but he has persevered, we're now older and maybe a fraction of a tad more tolerant, and I now count him among the people I trust and respect the most, and call him a close friend.

Here's the laudatio by DIVE Magazine - click for detail.

Totally agree!

You can read his brilliant essay about Shark feeding here, and here is his article about Shark conservation - both some of the best ever published on the respective subjects!

But above all, check out Water Column # 50!

Subscribing to DIVE is free and once you've done that, you can download, or simply check out the interview and Doug's incomparable portfolio of sea life, from the biggest to the tiniest.

Enjoy - I'm sure you will be amazed!

Douglas David Seifert on Shark Feeding

From this February's DIVE Magazine.

I've patiently waited for them to post it online, as they usually do, alas to no avail.
So there, I'm probably breaking some copyright - but I do it for a good cause: this is, by far, the best opinion piece about Shark feeding, ever and it must be read by everybody!
Bloggers: please re-post!

Doug is obviously a friend and a very, very fine human being on top of that.
But that's not the point: having been everywhere, he knows the industry inside out and on top of being one of the very best Shark photographers (just look at those images - again!), he has also garnered an incredible wealth of knowledge about diving with Sharks - and this from personal experience during thousands of Shark dives on every corner of the globe, not from having watched TV from the safety of his couch! Add a razor sharp analytical mind that is able to distill the details into the big picture and draws the right conclusions, and you get this brilliantly written article.
Can you sense that I maybe like it, and the guy as well? (:

Fabulous stuff, and no, not because we are being mentioned - because everything he says coincides one hundred percent with what I believe as well!
Totally!

So, without further ado - click for detail and enjoy!

Yum-Yum Yellow!

No, not Rusis world-famous hood!

But that's certainly what unites the two: a predilection for yellow dive gear and a profound love, understanding and respect of Sharks! I'm of course talking about my friend Douglas David Seifert, unrepentant Shark feeding green-washer (which in my book equates to being a good guy!) and according to many, one of the world's best Shark photographers.

Case in point: the picture on top!
Click on it, it's a feast for the eyes! I've seen literally hundreds of pics from Shark Reef , many of which excellent - but this one is really special! Talk about powerful!
And then, there's the words and yes, they're finally online!
Nobody has ever captured "that" moment like he has!

A man in all-black scuba gear - with the notable exception of a bright yellow hood - crouches next to a metal box placed at a depth of 20m on the slope of a rubble-strewn coral reef. The yellow hood is a deliberate choice, to separate this diver from all others in the perspective of the gathering sharks.
He is the Feeder.

With the grace of a matador, the Feeder - his name is Rusi - removes some bait from the metal box and presents a tuna head to a bull shark approaching from the depths.
Rusi watches the shark attentively but without fear; he has done this many, many times. The shark approaches, its yellow eyes locked on the bait. Rusi releases his grip and the tuna head tumbles forward, completing a few slow rotations in the water; he then withdraws his hand and arm, and the shark closes the distance to the tuna head. It opens its mouth wide and its jaws gape outwards to their maximum extension, finally exposing the big teeth in its upper and lower jaws. It inhales the tuna head and closes its mouth, the teeth hidden from view once again as it swallows the bait with a slight shudder and a pronounced gulp.

Douglas: thank you!
Not only for the kind words in the article - I know this has been a challenging assignment and you have earned my respect and my gratitude for having seen it through as gracefully and humbly as you have. And for having agreed to wearing a dark wetsuit! (:

The staff send their love - come back soon!

On sale at dive shops, WHSmiths, Tesco and all good newsagents Wednesday 20 May

That would be the latest issue of DIVE Magazine!

Check out the cover, and you'll see WORLD'S BEST SHARK DIVE, by our friend Douglas David Seifert (yes I know the link is old but it's the best one I can find) - and I think I can also decipher "Fiji"!
Doug was with us in February (sans, believe it or not, his trademark yum-yum yellow wetsuit, for which he has earned my eternal gratitude!) and I'm quite certain that it's a piece about us - and hopefully, he's got something nice to say about what we do!
And killer pics - this I know for a fact!

Alas, snail mail being snail mail, we're only likely to get a copy, if at all, in weeks or months.
I'd be grateful if somebody could copy the article and send us a PDF or preferably, a nice hi-res JPEG. I'd love to write a post about it and above all, about the author!

Vinaka Vakalevu!