They're at it already!

Click for detail!

Behold!

Yes those would definitely be mating scars!

This is way, way early - but then again, this has been a very warm year likely leading to strong fetal development and a very early pupping season, too! To wit, Fold, Tip and Bum are already back from the nurseries all gaunt and ravenous, and busy bulking up after more than a month of fasting!

Long story short, the Running of the Bulls may be upon us very shortly indeed!

So, what are you waiting for! :)

Yes they are running!

And this is why we love this dive so much.

Shark Reef - still at it!

From today's dive.
And yes, forget what I said the other day!

The Running of the Bulls - Full House!

Bingo!

Didn't I say that they would be running soon!

We're still being niggled by the tail end of Ula, and diving has been challenging - but the action is fast and furious, with more and more of the big females popping by for a snack. Already sighted: Crook, Hook, Bum, Monica, Chica, Bumphead, Curly, Maite, Pointer, Blunt, Tip, Nani, Shorty, Junior, Fold, Nick, Pecker, Mrs. Jaws, Lefty, Saddle, Steps and Taryn - and this in only 3 days of Shark diving!

And the mating?

I'm still stumped as all we see are healed scars, like the ones on Nick at the top. And even more surprisingly, today we were visited by none other than Whitenose, meaning that the party may well be already over!

Or may this be merely a temporary lull like last time?

We shall see!

In any case, we're already at 45+ bulls, tendency very much increasing.

So, what are you waiting for!

Very early mating - El Niño?

Who knows - but it is definitely happening!

The whole thing, at least for me, is rather puzzling. 

Contrary to what you may have assumed, the current severe El Niño has brought us way colder, not warmer water - and with the Bulls being poikilothermic, this appears to have delayed fetal development insofar as all of the pregnant females are still sticking around for a bit longer instead of having already absconded to give birth in the river nurseries.

And the mating?

I would have thought that it would be triggered by some environmental factor - but compared to a "normal" year, the water is definitely still on the cool side, and precipitation is also sub par = I would have thought that mating, too, would have started later.

But then again, who am I to say!

This is where the males are trying to latch on with their teeth - click for detail.

Anyway, all very interesting!

And with Bull Shark numbers already climbing back to several dozen, the proper Running of the Bulls may be only a few weeks away!

So, what are you waiting for!

 

Brenda - Shenanigans!

Need I say more!

Naughtylus - Nomen est Omen!

Click for detail!

I was wrong!

The mating season is not over quite yet!

Behold Naughtylus!

She derives her name from generally being a tad naughty - and she has been very very naughty indeed, see at top! 

And, she's a real submarine like Captain Nemo's ship, see below!

The culprit? 

Who else but Whitenose who was swimming around with a big smug grin on his face!

Shark Reef - the Party is over!

Recognize the dude?

Yes this would be Whitenose - for obvious reasons!

This is the very first Bull Shark I've named 12 years ago, and he's still going strong! I wasn't on the dive but El Diego who sent me the picture tells me that he was making sure that everybody knew he was back!

Remember what that means?

Indeed - together with the fact that we're not seeing any more fresh Shark bites, his visit officially concludes the very early, and very short mating season!

Now, the action will slow down as everybody quickly assumes the correct rank within the newly established hierarchy - and then we wait. In four-five months, we'll know who's pregnant and who is not, and compare that to our observations from the last five weeks.

Oh, and Alex:
Guess who was there, too! :)

 

Gracias Diego - much appreciated!

Last Shark Dive of the Year!

And what a dive it was!

Suffice to say that this is the first time I've seen El Diego duck!

Like last Saturday, the Bulls were plentiful and simply unhinged, and the poor viz meant plenty of close passes and plenty of work for the bodyguards.

In brief: great fun! :)

Spotted for the first time: Maite - and Hotlips has been obviously partying like there's no tomorrow, see at top!

So, Happy New Year everybody!

Shark Reef - The Running of the Bulls!

Bull Shark love - not for the fainthearted. Click for detail!

Brilliant brilliant brilliant!

Gareth is absolutely correct.

Even by our standards, yesterday's dive was nothing short of epic - especially considering the time of the year! The weather sucks and the viz was not perfect - but we did count a minimum of 40 Bulls, and many of the big mamas are already back in fast and furious action!

Having checked my video, I can discern Granma (our oldest) and Tiny Stumpy (still a juvenile) that look great and are obviously not partaking in the general partouze. Nick, Pointer, Colombiana, Chica, Tip, Ms Jaws, Funnygirl, Moana, Brenda, Bum and Tail on the other hand are busy partying, frankly look like shit and are ravenous - much like Nica that contrary to Blunt who left early, came back first and has been bulking up nicely, is still looking gaunt after having given birth. And check out poor old skinny Monica who has obviously managed to pick up some skin infection whilst in the river!

And the males?

They are busy trying to knock up anybody they can get their teeth, and obviously, other parts in - and  as long as the ocean is carrying those irresistible female pheromones, it is quite obvious that they are totally impervious to the attraction of bait, juicy as it may be! In fact, many years of experience teaches us that the mating season won't be over til we get to see Whitenose, the biggest Casanova of them all!

All in all, simply fascinating stuff.

So, what are you waiting for!

More mating Scars!

This is a new Shark we've named Steps

Thank you Daniel!

Daniel is the lucky winner of the 1m draw.

He had already booked his trip so this came as an unexpected relief to his budget, something I'm sure is highly welcome as he is slated to be on the road for several more months. He has just sent me this link to his travelogue where he states some real nice things about BAD (thanks!) and where he has also posted a selection from his deluge of pics, among which some Bulls with mating scars. The images are yet to be edited, so I've taken the liberty to slightly sharpen and watermark the two above - click for detail!

More pictures here.

And btw I was wrong.

Daniel is not Swiss but German - and still, we had a great time!
So lemme set the record straight on the whispering campaign by some cretin out there. I'm the son of a German, incidentally Aryan-Protestant mother and an Austrian Jewish father, speak impeccable German and used to be a member of the executive board of Deutsche Bank in Switzerland. 

I got nothing against "the Germans". 

Aber ich bin allergisch gegen besserwisserische Nörgler und Querulanten, und das ganz speziell wennse zudem noch senile Trottel sind!

Alles klar?

They're at it!

Click for detail!

It's that time of the year again.

The Bulls are running, and the action is hot hot hot!

The males are mostly staying away, probably staying deeper in the Beqa Passage where they are likely performing the dirty deed - but we've got plenty of really large females, many of which sport the characteristic fresh mating scars, see above.

Sighted so far: Granma, Tip, Monica, Naughtylus, Pecker, Hook, Lefty, Nick, Curly, Blunt, Nani, Fold, Crush, Valerie, Saddle plus Sharkbite who's obviously still too young - plus very emaciated, and thus revenous Topsail and Gape that have obviously just returned from the nursery and will thus only mate next year!

And for once, the weather is great!

So, what are you waiting for!

Running Bulls!

Click for detail!

From today's dive.
Gates SWP44 Fathom Imaging Wide Angle Port, 119°.

Need I say more.
So, what are you waiting for!

Good Viz!

110-degree lens - these would be 2.5m+ Bull Sharks! Click for detail!

As promised - need I say more!

Oh yes they are running!

Click for detail!

Sorry for the lousy quality!

It's because of Evan.

We've had a lot of crap being swept down the rivers and the viz is just starting to recover - not quite there yet but at least we did see some blue water trying to creep over to Shark Reef from the open ocean. The way I see it, things should be back to normal in 1-2 days and if so I'll post something better, promise!

But boy what a dive!

They're big, they're hungry and they are definitely back!

Whilst the males are still lurking further off and likely fully engrossed in doing the dirty mating deed, the big females have turned up in big numbers. I don't see many mating scars quite yet, meaning that these are likely to be those females who have given birth and won't mate for another year, and maybe some that are not quite ready for sex - but they sure were ready to come and get a meal, and this uncomfortably assertively and close! For those of you in the know, we were not able to hand feed at all on the first dive and on the second, back in 15m, Rusi barely managed to hand out three Tuna heads before having to retreat behind the wall!

But of course I'm not complaining.

Great that so many old timers (Crook - 10 years now!) have made it back, and even better to see a whole new generation of youngsters who have likely followed the females out of the rivers and will now have to learn the etiquette!

So, what are you waiting for! :)

Shark!

Nice pic!

Found it on the Fiji Tourism FB page, with a link to here.

Matthew dove with us last week and appears to be a real interesting dude. You can read about his global adventures here and I look forward to his description of the dive - and of course, of Evan!

And the lonely Bull?

It's that time of the year where they are skittish - but having said this, at least one pregnant female, Curly, has returned from the nursery, and we're witnessing the first mating scars - meaning that the Running of the Bulls is imminent!

Keep watching this space!

Evan - thar he goes!

Woke up to a gentle breeze & sunshine.

We're now getting northerlies, meaning that we're being sheltered by the mountains - but the Navua has flooded meaning that some of the staff may be in trouble - as well as those in Galoa that is on the ocean and where I'm sure matters have been grim.

The sucker is gone, see here.

Now it's time for a clean up - not much damage at the dive shop but considering that the ocean is brown and covered in debris, we're likely to be back diving as of Friday.
Official updates here - I must say, great job by Government, really!

Mating scars!

Shredded - click for detail!

They're at it again!

The first ladies are turning up with mating scars, meaning that they're currently doing it down deep in Beqa Channel. Consequently, most of the Bulls that pop up are very small young subadults that have very likely not yet reached sexual maturity. 

This one is on the brink as she's rather small.

The scars will heal within the shortest time, at most 10 days - and then the bets are on as to who will get pregnant. And whilst the big Sharks are away, we're being literally swamped by Greys, Black- and Whitetips and even a couple of the elusive Silvertips!

It's really a great time of the year.

The weather is not yet stifling hot, the water already warmer and there's plenty cool stuff happening within the Reserve. And very soon there will be the Running of the Bulls where the big females and the males will swarm the feeding site and things will start to get really, really interesting.

So, what are you waiting for! :)

At it!

Sorry for the poor quality of the pics.

The viz has been horrible and that's the best I've been able to come up with.

Anyway, I wanted to share that the Bulls are running!
The big females have left early to give birth in the rivers and are already back - and the others are mating down in Beqa Channel, meaning that we (obviously...) see no males and that many of the females are featuring mating scars, like Lee below who appears to have gotten herself into quite a bit of trouble*. Viz permitting, we're already counting up to 35 individuals, which is unprecedented for early January - and with at least already 4 identifiably new individuals, 2012 already promises to be a spectacular year!

So what are you waiting for!

Lee - roughing it! Click for detail.

* Yes Juerg, we're keeping tabs - don't worry! :)

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!