Surfing Reefies - Paper!

Source.

 

Very cool.

But first, watch.

 

This is DV footage from 2005, from an old edit.

I was staying at Sané and Annabelle's epic Tetamanu Village and was fortunate to catch the magic moment when the sun reflects off the Sharks on an early morning incoming tide - and for you insiders, the first two clips are from the challenging trou aux requins in Apataki.

Notice how the Sharks are barely moving? 

They are literally surfing the current - and here's the according paper courtesy of Yannis, Johann, Serge, Charlie et al, inclusive of how they use a conveyor-belt positioning system to ensure that the groups remain stationary over the most advantageous spots.

Story here.

 

Enjoy! 

 

GHH vs Blacktips - Video!

Same-same but different: this is a huge GHH nailing a Grey Reefie in French Polynesia - source. Remember the paper? Click for detail!

Check this out, amazing.

But, the predation at the end?

Why is that Blacktip so lethargic - maybe because that shoot is staged = because that Shark had been caught and was being used as bait, which would also explain why the drone operator was able to conveniently zoom in before the action unfolded?

Honi qui mal y pense!

Anyway.

Incidentally, note how the Blacktips use the shallow water to escape - paper here, synopsis here.

Enjoy!

Grey Reefie - Agonism, and Attack!

Source - click for detail!

Watch.

So this is it.

This is the infamous, highly ritualized agonistic display specific to the Grey Reefies.

And incidentally, other Shark species feature other agonistic behaviors that are quite different. And for you Shark whisperers out there, yes pectoral fin depression does play a role - but only when it is sustained and bilateral, and coupled with other agonistic elements: in the overwhelming majority of cases, a Shark depressing one or both pecs is in fact either braking or making a tight turn!
Just saying!

But back to that attack.

It was totally preventable and the divers should  have heeded the obvious warning and turned around as soon as they saw the Shark's behavior - but it appears that they just didn't understand, and I must say that I'm deeply impressed by the sang froid of the victim who despite being bitten, losing his mask and losing his main gas supply in 80 meters managed to complete his 2 hour decompression!

Anyway, great illustrative video.

Enjoy! 

H/T: Daniel: thanks!
 

Reef Shark Competition - Paper!

Reeftop hunters: Blacktip Reefies. Fantastic image by Tom!

And talking of those Reefies.

Here's another great paper.

Assuming I understand it correctly, it illustrates how Grey and Blacktip Reefies segregate spatially and are thus able to partition their habitat and consequently, its resources = prey. 

Whereas I've always believed that the Greys would always outcompete the Blacktips based on size and aggression, the paper conclusively illustrates how the segregation is based on the the fact that each species derives a competitive advantage by being better adapted to specific spatial niches, i.e. the forereef for the Greys and the backreef and lagoon for the Blacktips - incidentally, much like is being illustrated at Shark Reef!

Once again, I'm impressed by the scope and the rigor.

Well done Yannis and Co - and impressive lineup, too! :)

Required reading - enjoy!

 

Reefies and SCUBA Divers - Paper!

Grey Reefies in Palmyra - source.

Nice!

Reefies and divers can co-exist!

Darcy and Yannis aka the intrepid slayers of the inverted pyramid myth have penned this nice paper where they show that frequent SCUBA diving does not appear to have any notable long-term effects on the behavior of the Reefies of Palmyra. I must say that I'm frankly not terribly surprised considering that a) particularly the Grey Reefies are feisty and generally show no problem approaching divers - this especially considering that b) those divers in Palmyra are mostly researchers who tend to behave themselves!

But nicely hypothesized and nicely tested!

And this is certainly true elsewhere and with other Sharks!

Like a very wise old man once said, it's not WHAT you do, it's HOW you do it! -  and provided that there's not too many divers, and provided that the divers behave in a respectful way, regular diving with Sharks in un-baited conditions is certainly possible, to wit those Shark aggregation hotspots like e.g. Cocos, the Galapagos, Tetamanu and Malapascua where the Sharks appear largely unfazed, or even, gasp, habituated to divers thanks to many years of responsible Shark viewing tourism!

But the contrary is also true. 

Cattle diving multi-user destinations like Ras Mohammad in Egypt or Richelieu Rock in Thailand that were once famous for their Shark encounters have largely lost their Sharks, and it is only fair to speculate that those Sharks have likely fled the masses and the continuous harassment and have relocated to more peaceful locations.

So folks, be nice to those Sharks, and enjoy!

And, do read the paper - story here!

Fakarava - Inverted Trophic Pyramid?

Bingo!

Remember Michael Domeier's comment to this post?

Turns out that the man was prescient - and this literally: being one of the authors, he undoubtedly knew that this was coming!

Watch.

The paper is here - read it!

And here and here are some synopses - and since I find them partially misleading, here's what I understand.

• Fakarava Atoll has two main passes, Garuae in the North and Tetamanu, where this research happened, in the South.
  Like in other atolls in the Tuamotu archipelago like e.g. the spectacular trou au requins in the pass of Apataki, they are home to aggregations of resident (and semi-resident) Grey Reefie comprising, if memory serves me right, adult females and numerous juveniles/subadults of both sexes. The passes are great Reef Shark habitat because the Sharks can remain quasi-stationary by lazily riding the currents whilst engaging in ram ventilation, and because especially Tetamanu with its comparatively mild currents supports a good numbers of resident Fishes and acts as a migratory corridor for other prey species that regularly enter and leave the lagoon in line with the tides and the seasons.


• Yet, the researchers postulate that since the pyramid of productivity inside of Tetamanu is inverted, the available prey biomass would not be sufficient to sustain even only the local population of highly resident Sharks. This means that in order for the Sharks to be able to reside there without having to forage farther afield, their food/energy requirements would somehow need to be subsidized.


• That subsidy happens over several months during the Austral Winter.
  Then, huge numbers of several species of bony Fish successively aggregate in the passes in order to spawn = in essence, as the prey representing the productivity of the adjacent lagoon travels to the Sharks, the Sharks don't have to travel to the prey.
  This opportunity attracts the majority of transient Reefies (= likely the adult males) along with the less resident ones, meaning that the Grey Reef concentration in Tetamanu nearly triples. Still, during that time, the biomass of prey is vastly larger than that of the Sharks and all Sharks have ample opportunities to feed.


• Once the spawning season is over and water temperatures, and consequently, the Sharks' metabolic requirements increase, the Reefies gradually disperse again, and residency at Tetamanu decreases as even the highly resident individuals are forced to sometimes roam in search of prey.

My takeaway?

• There is no inverted trophic pyramid in Fakarava Atoll.
  Yes in the passes there are local Shark aggregations and because of that, the trophic pyramid is locally skewed -  but just like in the case of Sala's remote islands, there are external subsidies and the Sharks also roam, meaning that the relevant area one has to consider is far, far larger than the mere area of the passes. And over that whole area that comprises the lagoons but also the outer slopes, the pyramid is clearly normal as the biomass of Sharks is orders of magnitude smaller than that of lower trophic levels.
  Incidentally, that's not that dissimilar from our feed on Shark Reef where the astounding temporary predator biomass is in no way representative for the trophic pyramid of Beqa Lagoon let alone the whole of Fiji!


• For me, these latest findings mean that until somebody comes up with solid evidence in line with the data collected by Johann et al, I will continue to call BS on Sala's hypothesis of there being inverted trophic pyramids on pristine reefs!

• And yes, we need to protect the prey and not only the predators!
  And the prey of the prey, and the prey of the prey of the prey, etc! And the habitat they reside in!
  In brief, Shark conservation needs to migrate away from a focus on species towards a more holistic approach = yes healthy reefs may need Sharks, tho the evidence is scarce and increasingly contested;
  But Reef Sharks definitely need healthy reefs!

Enjoy Johann's paper!
 

Tetamanu - Wall of Sharks!

Really nice.
Enjoy!

Grouper Spawning in French Polynesia - must-see!

Johann alerts me to this post.

This is simply sensational stuff.

I've witnessed the Grouper spawning aggregation in Tetamanu ages ago and it remains one of the highlights of my diving career. Last year, a group of French and Swiss researchers and cinematographers did embark on a major mission to document the event, and this is finally the program depicting that expedition. Featuring renown marine biologist and adventurer Laurent Ballesta, it will also document a 24-hour rebreather dive at the height of the spawning cycle when the local Grey Reefies go on a rampage (and here!) among the Groupers.

This being Arte, I expect nothing short of epic - so make sure you don't miss it!

And here's the trailer.

Enjoy - and I mean it!

Shark Soup!

Great pic by Vincent Truchet.
Tetamanu, Gruper spawning?

Tetamanu - Grouper Spawning and Predation!

Much upgraded since I last was there - Tetamanu Village, the place to stay. Source.

This is one of my very favorite dive sites.
Enjoy!

Grey Reefies - Gang Bang!

These are Blacktip Reefies in Thailand - source.

From the days when Discovery was legit.

This is the holy grail of Shark imaging.

Being able to capture images of mating Sharks, in natural conditions (likely a pass in French Polynesia like Tiputa) and this for several minutes is absolutely spectacular, a less than once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

So this is how they do it - brutal stuff.

Stunning images and also, brilliant commentary!

Enjoy!

Reef Sharks - new Papers!

Grey Reef aggregation - likely in Apataki's Trou aux Requins - stellar pic by Chip!

Great stuff!

This first paper is about Grey Reefies.

It's by the authors of the Fiji Shark tourism paper and really a nice piece of research - and kudos to Gabe on the first authorship!

Rather surprisingly, it caused quite a kerfuffle on Patric's blog - but as I said there, Patric's comments are a tad harsh, the more as that particular species is not a frequent target of the long liners. 

But the general gist, i.e. that publishing data about philopatry carries some inherent risks is of course correct. I did blog about it here and came to the conclusion that such data should be used for conservation and management purposes and only be shared widely if there is robust and above all, fully enforced local protection - something that certainly pertains to Palau, especially for the popular and highly visited stretch between Siae's and New Dropoff!

Nice re-cap here

And yes Patric - Palau lays east of the Philippines (not north, south or west)! 

And... ? :)

This paper is about Blacktip Reef Sharks.

Inter alia, this one is by the authors of that Lemon Shark paper who continue their observations and in-depth analysis of the Shark Population of French Polynesia as part of the ORP and CRIOBE.

It investigates the genetic makeup of the Blacktip population in several of those islands and describes that it is highly fragmented, meaning that gene flow (= Sharks traveling between populations) is low. The conclusion it draws is that in order to protect Sharks, it is better to establish Shark Sanctuaries rather than to try and protect them via MPAs.

Well, yes, that is certainly true in general - the bigger the better!

On the other hand, as a staunch lumper, I cringe at the recent trend of splitting everything. There are several ignominious examples from Avian, Amphibian and freshwater Fish taxonomy where the designation of many sub-species hast resulted in a plethora of tiny local populations, and subsequently, in the squandering of scarce public resources in the quest of preserving every single one of them - and this fatally reminds me of those occurrences. 

With Shark conservation being as difficult as it is, I'd be quite happy to see progress at the species-complex level - the more as otherwise, most of those tiny populations would succumb to the requirement of prioritizing one's resources by applying conservation triage!

But yes those Sanctuaries are great - at least for as long as Shark fishing remains so poorly managed!

And what about the implications for us here in Fiji?

The first one is that with such high residency levels, the Shark Corridor offers a substantial degree of protection much like in the case of our Bulls.

Other than that, we don't know - yet!

In Juerg's research, we've so far concentrated almost exclusively on the Bulls. But we have also recorded many observations about the other species, and our data base undoubtedly contains the answers to several of the same questions - that is, if somebody had the time to analyze them! But fear not, Juerg's next paper is already in the works, and it will contain much more info about the other species!

Of interest and contrary to all other Grey Reef aggregation sites I have visited, the SRMR harbors more males than females who however also appear more transient much like the Bulls and also leave for what we believe is the mating season in mid year. 

The Blacktips on the other hand appear to be very much resident, and it will be interesting to explore whether the females go walkabout to some nursery area like those in Moorea - which is highly likely as contrary to the Whitetips that appear to give birth in situ, we see zero small juveniles!

Anyway, I'm digressing as always.

Read the papers - it's great stuff, and kudos to the authors on a job well done!

Great Hammerhead vs Grey Reef!

Remember this video?

Like I hinted then, the scavenging scene was staged.

The pictures above, likely screen grabs, are however most probably genuine.
Johann is a very serious researcher and I am sure that he has done all the required due diligence before publishing his take.

Stellar stuff!

Short paper here.

Grey Reef at Cleaning Station!

Click for detail!

Heureka!

Sam this one's for you!

This is from today's Shark dive.

I've been trying to get this shot for quite a while but have always run out of bottom time before the Reefies would develop enough trust to perform in close proximity - but thanks to the Nitrox, this is not an issue anymore! :)

Interested?

Remember, you got to book in advance!

Behold the Bottle!

Silvertip by Ozzie Sam - note the underside of the pec - click 4 detail.

And now compare to this Grey Reefie, pic by Lill!

Oh, the fond memories - including the Shark strike!
Check it out.



Here's what the caption tells us.

Myself & my dive buddy were diving off Pidgeon Island in East New Britain Papua New Guinea.
The two days previous we had been shark calling (rubbing a plastic bottle to create vibrations and sound that attract sharks) at around 30-40 metres looking for silver tip and grey reef sharks.

We were pretty keen to see if we could get some bigger sharks and so decided to go deeper.
I will point out that both of us are very experienced divers and fully knew the risks of diving so deep (and without the right kit too!). We descended fast down to around 57 metres , it was about 3 minutes into the dive when my buddy turned to see a big Silver Tip Reef shark charging in at him fast. He managed to roll over as the shark hit him and unbelievably he was unharmed. Apart from a severe headache he was completely unscathed having not so much as a scratch on him. My buddy had said that when he saw the shark coming in at was going very fast but then slowed down just before hitting him, also it's mouth wasn't fully open and it made no attempt to bite.

We think that what happened was that at that depth the shark would have been hunting and zoned in on the vibrations to go for a kill, upon realising we weren't food but a couple of idiot divers it turned round and went away.

I'd like to point out that my buddy has done this literally hundreds of times before without incident as have a number of divers in the area over a period of years. What's different about this particular dive is that it is the first time it had been attempted by us below 40 metres.

A Silvertip? Hmmmmmmmmm...
I've now watched it over and over again and that sure aint a Silvertip. Although I can't really discern whether the tail has a black terminal band, the dark underside of the pec makes me intuit that it's a Grey Reef, a species that is very easily attracted - but then again, Silvertips are so distinctive that a mis-identification is all but impossible.
JSD - whatcha think?

But back to the bottle.
I must confess, I'm kinda feeling guilty here.
Thing is, the bottle is a gizmo we developed during the infamous Pelagian Voyage of Discovery in 2002, and yours truly and our dive master Didi did spend the better part of one year and close to a thousand dives perfecting it. We managed to raise heaps of Reefies and Silvertips, two Tigers and a Silky, whereas it proved to totally freak out the Whitetips and Reef Blacktips.
We always refused to teach it to the customers, but scores of local divemasters in the various destinations saw us do it, learned and propagated it further, as did some friends like the Saffron Pimpernel and others. And yes, should you have seen it there, I'm also guilty of having played with it in some French Polynesian passes - and lemme tell 'ya, that's an interesting experience! :)

And on Shark Reef? Never ever!
The dive sure is plenty exciting as it is without having to try and amp it up by getting swarmed by highly excited macro predatory Sharks.
Also, the thing is actually pretty useless in a commercial setting like ours as after 3-4 attempts, the individual Sharks catch on to the fact that they are being duped and completely stop reacting, something called Habituation and yet another indicator for the fact that they're smart as hell.

Anyway, the thing is plenty tricky.
No, no instructions here, the more as I concur with Patric that this is not something one should just go out and try (yup I know I know, look who's talking...) - but since people undoubtedly will, here's a couple of safety tips.

• Don't do this alone as somebody must be there to help you if there are problems - and trust me there will!
• If you're diving with other people, make sure that everybody knows what you're about to do. Being caught unawares by Sharks rushing in out of nowhere is a recipe for disasters!
  
• Everybody needs to be positioned so that his back is covered and with an unobstructed view of his surroundings - especially you! Head on a swivel!
  
• You need to keep the bottle on a 1 meter lanyard. For that, make a small hole in the conter of the cap, insert the lanyard, make a knot on the inside and attach the other end to your BCD. When you see the Shark rushing in, stop playing and let go of the bottle as the animal will strike it - better he bites the bottle than your hand!
• And finally: don't be stupid!
  

Enjoy and keep safe!
Head on a swivel!

Natural Predation - Wow!

Grey Reefs above, aggregating Groupers below - great pics by Paul McKenzie!

Check this out.



Is this awesome, or what?
These are spawning Camouflage Groupers, Epinephelus polyphekadion and you can see how the Grey Reefs attack as soon as the Groupers start ascending in the water column, with one successful predation on 0:55. I found the video on MCSI's Facebook page and having met those very Sharks who have bitten two of my friends (=intrepid Gallic feeders with no gloves) on different occasions, I must say that Michael Domeier who has documented the event is lucky to have escaped unscathed in the process!


The site?
Ah aint gonna tell you, tho Shark aficionados may have divined it from the initial scenes - and no, don't comment! Although this species is very often ciguatoxic (especially in that place!) and may thus escape persecution, spawning aggregations are often targeted by fishermen with catastrophic consequences for stocks.
Case in point: the depleted Nassau Groupers where however the Caymanian authorities appear to be doing a great job:



And then, there's us divers.
Here's what I believe is an equitable look at the pros and cons of dive tourism interfering with such iconic events, this being the famous mating aggregation of Cubera and Dog Snappers, and of the Whale Sharks feeding on their eggs at Gladden Spit.
Very much reminds me of Hanifaru where the Mantas are at risk of literally being loved to death!



Remember the Anthropogenic Allee Effect?
More in an upcoming post!

Rangiroa: Grey Reefs mating!

Check this out, fantastic!

I’ve done quite a few dives in Tiputa Pass on Rangiroa but never witnessed this, the more as I usually dive there in January when the Great Hammerheads stalk the mating Eagle Rays. Very deep diving, but extremely exciting and rewarding, too – check out the end of the video, those are real submarines!
If I remember correctly, this usually happens in March/April – but Tiputa is a very serious dive in up to 4 knots of current and in order to capture those spectacular images of mating Grey Reefs, one really needs to sit down with a rebreather and have lots of time at one’s disposal. If you are a tech guy, talk to veteran and still gung-ho (and you’ve been warned!) pioneer Yves Lefèvre of Raie Manta Club and possibly, if he buys it, to Denis of Blue Dolphins who has been using rebreathers there forever, and they may be able to help you out.

Tourist SCUBA divers are advised to rather try their luck in Tetamanu, or Fakarava South at the same time of the year.
Tetamanu is, by far, my favorite pass in the Tuamotus as the current is always manageable and there is a profusion of coral and fishes as a consequence – plus, there’s a resident group of Grey Reefs that are easy to approach and can number in the hundreds. And if you stay with Sané and the formidable Annabelle you can get out right out in front of the restaurant and play games with Calin Calin, the giant and very tame Napoleon Wrasse!
And talking of pets: take along heaps of DEET!

As to the subsequent natural predation by the Great Hammerhead, hmmm.
Anyway, great footage!

Hat Tip: Pete Thomas Outdoors

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!

About our Sharks

Pic: Adi by Michael Aw

More Sharky stuff from our new website.

Welcome to our Shark Diving pages!

This is what has made us world-famous and this is likely the main reason why you have decided to consult our website.
Good choice!

First and foremost, forget everything you may have seen on other Shark dives!
The Shark Dive is like nothing you can experience anywhere else - guaranteed!

Contrary to regular SCUBA diving, there is no pre-determined set of guidelines governing Shark diving as all Shark diving protocols are always highly situation-specific.
Each operator must devise his own set of diving and safety procedures depending on the individual locations, the species mix and other variables, foremost of which very personal considerations - like one's experience and beliefs on the matter in terms of what one is aiming to achieve, how and why. For us, the latter is first and foremost Shark Conservation and Shark Research and the Shark Dive is merely a means to facilitate that goal.

All of that is explained in the following sections "About diving with Sharks" and "The Shark Dive" and also in the pages devoted to Shark Reef Marine Reserve and the Fiji Shark Project. We strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the contents in order to be best prepared for this unique and exhilarating experience!

When it comes to our Sharks, you have the chance of seeing the following 8 species:

Whitetip Reef Shark (Triaenodon obesus)
Blacktip Reef Shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus)
Grey Reef Shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhinchos)
Silvertip Shark (Carcharhinus albimarginatus)
Tawny Nurse Shark (Nebrius ferrugineus)
Sicklefin Lemon Shark (Negaprion acutidens)
Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas)
Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)

We are maintaining an exhaustive database about our Shark dives and as of January, 2009, we dispose of over 2,000 complete data sets. This enables us to run statistical models in order to try and figure out whether there are any recurrent patterns governing the presence, and behavior of our Sharks.
However, weather patterns in the South Pacific are subject to wide year-to-year variations due to the influence of the El Niño Southern Oscillation. It is only fair to assume that this will also influence Sharks as part of the Marine Ecosystem. Many more yearly data sets will have to be collected in order to hopefully once largely take this specific variable out of the equation.

So far, preliminary insights can be summarized as follows.

Our Whitetips, Blacktips and Greys are resident and can be encountered at any time during the year.
Numbers vary between just a few and approx. two dozen depending on variables like weather and tides but also, the presence of other larger Sharks, foremost of which the Tigers.
Whereas the Blacktips are largely confined to the shallowest depths, the Greys and Whitetips are most prevalent at 10m but will occasionally venture down to the Arena at 30m.

The Silvertips, Nurses and Lemons are what could be called "regulars".
They probably live in close proximity to the feeding area (maybe deeper in the Beqa Channel) and turn up shortly after we enter the water. With the exception of the Nurse Sharks which are nearly always there, their appearance is more sporadic and not -yet- predictable.
As with the other Sharks, numbers vary: up to fifteen Nurse Sharks and up to six Silvertips or Lemons. Like the Bulls, these species are confined to the deeper reaches of between 15 and 30m.

Our Bull Sharks are the stars of The Shark Dive and we have devoted a lot of resources in trying to better understand their behavioral patterns (click on image for bigger resolution).
In general terms, they turn up in ever increasing numbers in January and are very consistent through August where numbers start to dwindle in view of their birthing and mating season in October-December where one is likely to see only a few individuals, most of which sub-adults.
Maximum numbers during January-April can be as high as 40 individual Sharks on a single dive and with 47 named Bull Sharks as of January, 2009, we may well be looking at a population size of in excess of 100 individuals.
As with the species above, the Bull Sharks are not residents of the diving area but ascend from deeper water once we start the dive and "call them in" by baiting the ever-hungry Giant Trevally and Red Bass.
We have learned to distinguish between "regulars" that turn up very frequently, and more transient individuals that are individually known but only turn up sporadically. In very general terms, we are however witnessing some sort of "rotation" by all Bull Sharks, whereby individual Sharks will turn up for one week to ten days and then disappear, only to turn up again weeks, or even months later. This may be an indication for the size of their range (probably not a territory, a term that implies that it is defended against conspecifics) or it may be an indication that they are not really bound to any range or territory at all but roam freely throughout the whole archipelago instead.
So far, the data we have collected via our satellite and acoustic tags are not sufficient to precisely interpret this rather surprising behavioral pattern, but they are nevertheless a good starting point for formulating advanced and testable hypotheses .

When it comes to our known five Tiger Sharks, the data collected so far are rather inconclusive.
Preliminary evidence suggests that they are less prevalent during the top Bull Shark period of January through April. The reasons for this are unknown and subject to speculation: it may be due to the overwhelming presence of the Bulls acting as a deterrent, or it may be due to some regular occurrence like their breeding cycle or other seasonal feeding opportunities elsewhere, like the flooding of rivers during the wet season, Turtle aggregations etc. Again, this is pure speculation and would have to be confirmed by e.g. obtaining further insights into their seasonal geographic movements via acoustic and satellite telemetry tools.
Once the Tigers turn up, they will make regular, although sporadic appearances, this probably due to the very large area they are known to patrol. Of interest, they mostly turn up during our second, shallower feed.

All-in-all, we believe that The Shark Dive is well worth a visit year-round.
What is certain is that every single dive is different - but always exciting, intriguing and highly rewarding!

Year of the Shark - Fiji: DVD!

Want to spice up your Shark Presentation?

We've produced a short DVD featuring the 8 species that frequent Shark Reef Marine Reserve: Tawny Nurse Shark, Whitetip Reef Shark, Blacktip Reef Shark, Grey Reef Shark, Silvertip Shark, Sicklefin Lemon Shark, Bull Shark and Tiger Shark.

As a Supporter of the Year of the Shark - Fiji, you can now order them at our dive shop: just call 3450 911 0r write to Info@FijiShark.com. We'll give them at cost and it's entirely up to you whether you hand them out for free as part of your Shark Awareness Course or mark them up and sell them instead.

However, please keep in mind that the footage is copyrighted to BAD and that you may not use it for any other purpose.
Vinaka!