Shark Diving with Salmon Sharks!

Source.

Watch.



Very cool - and great images!
Alaskasharks here!
 

The Most Awesome Stupid Thing!

Indeed!

This is a real nice testimonial, thanks!

I especially did like the part about how the dive did motivate them to learn more, courtesy of the always awesome Shark conservation talks by Ben and Manoa.

Way to go!

And this is the video of that dive.

Enjoy!

Fiji Shark Diving - Award in China!

SRMR - happy Bull Shark, happy customers. Great pic by Allen!

I just got my hands on this press release by Tourism Fiji.

Chinese Dub Fiji as Best Shark Diving Destination 

Nadi, 08 April 2015 – Fiji’s shark dive has gained incredible momentum in the Chinese dive industry and has rightfully received the ‘Best Shark Diving Destination’ Award at the Dive Resort Travel (DRT) Expo in Shanghai. 

The DRT Expo, the only professional diving exhibition in China, is an event developed for the diving industry of Shanghai and attracts exhibitors – enthusiastic diving resorts and live-aboard operators – from all over the Asia-Pacific region. 
The three-day event, from 20-22 March, provided the exhibitors a chance to actively participate and exchange information pertaining specifically to the dive industry ranging from destinations to best diving techniques and equipment. 
Fiji was voted as the Best Shark Diving Destination after EZDIVE Magazine carried out an analysis of its members (the Chinese divers) and Fiji came out on top. Tourism Fiji’s Marketing Manager for the Asia Market, Ms. Kathy Koyamaibole who attended the Expo and received the award on Fiji’s behalf shared, “Fiji’s shark dive was definitely ‘top of mind’ for most of the dive clubs and visitors to the expo.” Ms. Koyamaibole adds, “Receiving this award was a formalization of that. Where in the world can you dive and expect to see more than seven species of sharks in one dive while also feeding them without cages! 
That’s why Fiji is no doubt the best destination to experience shark diving.”

Nice!

And the Fiji Times, bless them, doubles up with two pieces here and here.

I got to attest to Patricia that it appears that she has done her home work, and that most of what she says is correct - and yet I am irritated. It is us the dive operators, not Fiji Tourism, that have done all the hard work here on the ground, that have spent hundreds of thousands of our own money on marketing our product abroad and that have put Fiji on the Shark diving map - so why not talk to the people who walk the walk, and maybe, gasp, even do a Shark dive, the more as Pacific Harbour is a mere 30 minutes away from the Fiji Times offices, and the NGOs are based just around the corner?

It's called reporting, real journalism. Stanley used to know what that meant. This is just lazy.

Oh well.

Anyway, we love our Chinese customers.

To paraphrase our home page, they are neither adrenaline junkies nor shark huggers, don't know everything better and don't demand preferential treatment only because they own a big camera and have once gifted some ordinary images to a dive mag. And many of them smoke! :)

They just come to see Sharks, love our product, buy plenty of DVDs and t-shirts, and are happy to follow our instructions, and thankful that we are keeping them safe. And the extra bonus is that our Shark awareness and conservation speech during the surface interval is reaching the very people that can make a real difference once they return home!

So China, bring it on!

Fiji's Shark diving industry is welcoming you with open arms!

Shark Selfie - fail!

Not cool, and pretty darn stupid on top of it - source.

Read this.

I fully concur.

I do like Peter, and the selfies per se are cool - but showing how one recklessly leans out of the cage is not, and the messaging is once again just the usual tired pseudo-conservation clap trap. Belittling the danger posed by GWS actually does them a disservice by not respecting them as what they are, apex predators - and absolutely not, not all strikes by GWS are investigative and/or mistaken identity!

And should you have any doubts that it was just simply stupid.
I got a friend who got nailed in the head when engaging in the exact same antics, and who only got away, with according copious loss of blood and major drama, because the Shark bit the skull and didn't injure the neck! And what would have been the head-lines, pun intended, and the according setback for Shark conservation, had the accident not been successfully hushed up?

Needless to say that my pal has learned his lesson and is not anymore doing any of that!

Anyway.

Maybe the operators should examine the size of those camera ports and ensure that those overly eager photographers are being prevented from taking those unnecessary risks?
 

Shark Escape!

Happening at Guadalupe right now!



Pete Thomas here!

Malapascua - Video!

And talking of those Pelagic Threshers.

I really did like this.

Monad Shoal close to Malapascua Island is where divers get to experience those Sharks being cleaned, whereas they have been filmed hunting at Pescador Island.

Enjoy!

360-Degree Shark Dive in Yap!

Source.

This is way cool!
Use the mouse to change your perspective.
Yap is a Shark sanctuary.

Enjoy!

Shark Diver is coming to Fiji!

Check this out!

This is really prime time for seeing heaps of Fiji Bull Sharks.

All our record numbers are from May and June, and sightings continue to be on the increase, albeit more slowly likely due to the alas unabated fishing pressure on our coastal Sharks.
Plus, this is the beginning of the cold and dry season, meaning that the water and air temperatures are still decent whereas there is a marked improvement in both the weather and the viz.

The dates are May 2-11 and 9-18.

And the price?

No idea - best ask Martin who's also gonna lead the trips!

So, what are you waiting for!

C'ya in Fiji!

Anniversary Offer!

Time flies!

Believe it or not - BAD will be turning ten years old in April!

Boy has this been an interesting adventure...

We want you to join our celebrations, so there:

• For the whole month of April, 2014, we're slashing our prices to FJD 200.00 for two-tank Shark dives and FJD 150.00 for two-tank reef/wreck dives!


• Only precondition: you must make a direct booking with us


• All other applicable costs (e.g. marine park levy, fuel surcharge, rental gear, nitrox etc) remain unchanged.


• Cannot be combined with other discounts, perks and specials.

And April will also be the next Great Fiji Shark Count!

Cool? :)

Gorditas!

Source.

Pero un poquito pequeñitas! :)

As always, great job by Chino and Charlie!
And... I'll just pretend I didn't notice those force fins...

Enjoy!

Guidelines - à la Poubelle!

Just enjoy!

Take it easy.

Sharks are way cool.

They are also unbelievably shy, and being able to observe them in their natural habitat is a rare privilege indeed.
In 99.99% percent of the cases, you will be diving with a local dive operator - so choose well and then follow his recommendations. He knows his nick of the ocean better than you ever will, and will be happy to share any advice you may require.

It's that simple - so chill and enjoy.

And throw away this crap - the anxiety it foments is totally unwarranted, and the content is so bad to be an embarrassment.

Bimini Hammers - more great Stuff!

Click for detail!

Behold!

Once again, this is as good as it gets.

Like suggested, this will provide for great diving, it will support reputable local businesses and the SharkLab - and as an added bonus, you will get to meet some of the nicest folks in the industry, foremost of which the simply unmatched Howard and Michele! 

And, you can win yourselves some prizes!

Highly recommended!
And coming right on the heels of the SharkLab program, it could even be an extension of that experience!
Do it!

Bimini Hammers - the Best of the Best!

Source - click for detail!

Remember?

And the next season?

From what I hear, the barbarians may be in for a surprise - but worry not, you can still go and witness those fantastic Great Hammerheads! Reputable resorts like the Sands and the Club host local operations that will be happy to take you diving with them - but above all, there is the awesome program by the Sharklab, see at the top! And, go and check out the Sardines!

Way to go!

And since we're at it!
I sure hope you know whom to stay away from - and if not, educate yourself here!

GWS Diving - Infographic!

Still my favorite Shark cage pic! Source.

Just got the following.

Dear DaShark

Shark Cage Diving is fast becoming the number one Extreme Travel Adventure and most talked about outdoor experience, and South Africa the best place to do it.
As a result, Marine Dynamics would like to share this awesome Infographic ‘The Great White Shark Cage Diving Hotspots of the world’ as well as a once in a life time opportunity. The infographic shows the few places in the world where people can safely shark cage dive with great whites. It includes a competition with a prize to the value of R25 000 (US$ 3400) and the possibility to enjoy a ‘Luxury Shark Cage Diving Adventure’ in sunny South Africa.
And-so-on-and-so-forth...

It's obviously a marketing gig for Marine Dynamics.
Now, were I to go GW cage diving, I'd go to Lupe - this because of the viz, because of the cool cages all the way to the SPSC and because I got friends operating there. But I'm posting this anyway, because the graphic is cool, because MD supports the excellent Dyer Island Conservation Trust but above all, because MD employs Michelle Wcisel who has impressed me by taking on the dipshits with an opinion and a keyboard!

You can click on the graphic to view the animated version.
Enjoy!

Cristina, bravissima!

From Cristina's first blog post.

If you are in the position – based on experience – to question why you are asked to behave or not in a certain way and feel that the rules are not pertinent to you, then abort the dive and seek out a different operator that works better for your needs.
If you enter the water behaving against the instructions of the dive leader or operator, it is not only disrespectful, but could be dangerous, potentially jeopardizing your safety and that of others sharing your trip, the operator and the sharks.

Mamma mia - absolutely brilliant!!

But then again, I expected nothing less.
La Zenato is one of only a handful of people I totally respect for how they understand and handle Sharks. I've had the great pleasure of observing her on our dive and with our animals, and from day one is was glaringly apparent that she just got it, quel certo non so che.
Compared to the real Shark people, I'm still very much a rookie and as a consequence my opinion really doesn't count for much. But the boyz were blown away and even Rusi was totally impressed and can't wait for her to come back - and lemme tell 'ya, having had to personally labor for more than a year before earning my first smile from him, that really is the highest endorsement I can possibly think of!
In fact, he has asked Cristina to become our first and only guest feeder, ever!

Anyway, I'm digressing as always.
Enjoy Cristinas post here - and above all, pay close attention to what she's got to say because as always, it is as good as it gets!

One Week with Cristina!

Total serendipity!

We're finally ready to announce Cristina's two trips and it just so happens that today is her birthday! From all of us here at BAD, tantissime bellissime cose, salute e soprattutto Felicità!

What can I say about Cristina that hasn't been said already.
Yes she really is the First Lady of commercial Shark Diving - and together with her new friend Rusi with whom she shares a deep, intuitive understanding, love and respect of the animals, she is also probably the best Shark handler on the planet. Being who they are, people who do things out of passion and not for fame, they would obviously balk at the notion - but if ever there were two people truly deserving the attribute of Shark Whisperer, it would be them, not the legion of self promoting wannabees out there!
Please don't tell her I said so, but all of us here really do like and admire her very much - professionally but very much also as a beautiful human being!

Anyway.
We are honored that Cristina has decided to come visit us again in 2012 - and you can join her for an exciting week of Shark diving and Shark education!
You can find all relevant details here and I hope that you will agree that this an experience any lover of Sharks can simply not afford to miss! One caveat however: as always, this is not about the adrenaline and what has been called extreme Shark diving. It is about learning about the animals and witnessing respectful Shark-human interactions, also by Cristina who is the only person we have ever trusted to do so with our Sharks - but again, do not expect to see her experimenting with tonic on the Bulls!

This is prime Bull Shark season and space is limited. Really!
Total numbers on our dive are strictly limited and we already have other bookings, so please, do book early in order to avoid disappointments!

See you in May!

Dyker med hajar på Fiji!

Stellar pic by Jean-Marie - click on it!

What a nice surprise!

Mattias Goldman has posted a real nice piece about us to Minplanet.
Mattias is one of our Shark diving customers and an employee of Tricorona, a company that deals with carbon trading and offsetting, and he was obviously interested in our mangroves project. Minplanet, which probably means "My Planet" (?) is apparently the Swedish climate site of WWF/TV4. For those of you who do not speak Swedish, copy the article into here and you'll get a pretty good translation.
Tack så mycket Mattias, much appreciated!

On a side note, Mangrovesforfiji is progressing very nicely indeed!
Keep an eye on the website to keep track of our new partners and plantations, and keep watching this space, as we shall be posting great news real soon!

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

2010 - so far, fabulous!

The BAD team and Royalty - click on it!

Wow - what a start to the year!

Summer is traditionally Fiji's "slow"season - but I promise you, not for us!
Maybe because of the El Niño, the number of Bulls has been nothing short of spectacular, to the point where we've had to add a new category to our database, as in Too many to count: certainly more than 40 and very possibly, more than 50 Bull Sharks of all sizes on selected days! We now have more than 90 named individuals - and still counting!

Needless to say that Juerg is delighted!
He was here in February to essentially wrap up the first phase of the small scale movement research using acoustic monitoring and to start concentrating on our work in the rivers. Going forward, we will complement our DNA sampling for Mahmood with other research on the riverine life history of Bull Sharks, this involving acoustic transmitters and video. On Shark Reef, we continue sampling DNA but will only resume any tagging once we've addressed some technical matters.
But that's another story for another post - keep watching this space!

The traditional Fish count yielded another 30+ species.
This means that Shark Reef harbors more than 460 species - and believe it or not, this isn't the end of it! This time, we had the pleasure of hosting he of the squeaky voice (trust me, you DO want to open this link!), non other than the infamous Richard Pyle himself!

Richard is quite a guy - and he loves Sharks!



He is John's regular deep diving buddy and they and the Geek turned up with Poseidon Cis Lunar Mk6s, very nifty, small and user-friendly Nitrox rebreathers which are rated to 40m.
So far, I've been extremely wary of those gizmos but I must say that I'm impressed: despite of Richards best attempts at rigorous testing (and yes that would be a euphemism!) they did what they had to do and provided him with the correct gas mix throughout the dive. I hear that there will be a new model allowing for deeper dives and once that happens, I'll be the first one to buy one.
Very nice toys indeed!

Apart from the science, we hosted several film productions (with several more forthcoming), welcomed many diving journos and VIPs and initiated some truly ground breaking exciting conservation projects which we plan to roll out later this year. Some of them are BIG - and you're going to like them!

Other than that, we've been literally swamped - and yes, it's a great problem to have!
The immediate consequence has been that we now schedule afternoon coral dives on Shark diving days, this in order to accommodate a maximum of Shark aficionados on our two boats. It has also prompted us to hire more staff, purchase a second big compressor and add more rental gear.

Where we will not compromise, however, is on safety and quality.
We will continue to limit the number of divers on the Fiji Shark Dive to 20, this principally because of safety considerations but also, because we want our clients to have a first class experience as opposed to having to fight for space on a cattle dive. Likewise, we will not relax our procedures, especially not those concerning the separation of clients and animals - ambitious image hunters are once again reminded of the consequences this entails.

And finally, the BAD Boyz and Girls have turned six years old.
We were honored to celebrate in the company of Ron and Valerie who have been staunch supporters of the Fiji Shark Project since its inception.

And the adventure continues!

Awesome!

Love it!

We've made it into countless dive-related media - but who would have ever thought that we would be featured in the venerable New York Times!

Greg Winter dove with us quite a while ago and if I remember correctly, was merely having a vacation and not on assignment. Great to see that he enjoyed the experience and also, great to see that he chose a completely different angle and choice of words to describe the Fiji Shark Dive.

The pics are by lucky man Marty and once again a testimony to what talented people manage to achieve within the shortest period of time at Shark Reef. Don't miss to scroll through his pictures in the slide show! Awesome!

Marty will be back in July and I look forward to great diving, great conversation and more stellar images!

Thank you Alex for the heads-up.