Wallpaper Bulls!

Told you that there would be more pics!

From today's dive.
And yes those Sharks would be up to three meters long - click for detail!
Need I say more!

Shark City - epic!

Click for detail - and marvel!

Huge kudos to Ozzie Sam, especially considering the poor viz!

This is now the clear frontrunner in the ever ongoing Bull Shark wallpaper challenge - and lemme tell 'ya, theoretically, it is possible to one-up it! :)

Which begs the question, how many Bulls are in this frame?

Please answer here and not on FB!

Bull Shark Soup - Two!

Yup that would be 30+ big Fiji Bull Sharks!

Remember?

Here's the video- nice! :)



Wanna experience that?
Martin is coming to Fiji in May which is the start of the busy season!
Details here!

Bull Shark Soup!

Click for detail!

Wow.

Re-posted from Martin Graf's business Facebook page. He has posted it straight from his camera without correction,  whereas I've taken the liberty to marginally increase the contrast and add a watermark.

Now THAT's what I call wallpaper Bulls!

This is from today's dive, Martin's last.

Lousy viz and overcast, but the action was fast and furious - and yes, those would all be big Fiji Bull Sharks of between 2.5 and 3.5 meters in length coming to say goodbye!

I count 34 but it may be more - and that's only a partial view! 

Bravo!

Conservation International - Fiji Bulls!

Yet another stellar pic of wallpaper Bulls by Lill - click for detail!

One more video with our Sharks!

LOVE it, for obvious reasons!
Yes this would once again be Shark Reef!
Apart from watching the various videos, you can read more about Conservation International's Shark work here.

Enjoy!



And... did you notice something? :)

PS: Sharks mean business here!

A World without Sharks?

Douglas' contribution to this year's wallpaper challenge - click for detail! Depicted among others: Sickle, Brenda, Tipless and Long John

Sharks evoke the true meaning of the word ‘awe’.
They instill a sense of wonder, admiration, reverence… and a bit of fear. Few other aquatic animals, except perhaps great whales, can evoke such emotions. But beyond ‘selfish’ love of nature for its own sake, self-interested man surely must appreciate that without sharks, ecosystems collapse, collapse fully and completely, and they do not rebound. Unlike terrestrial national parks, predator reintroductions are not possible with sharks. There is no successful captive breeding program.
Once they are gone, they are gone for good.

Awesome!
Once again, this is excellent pro-Shark media by Douglas David Seifert, one of the world’s top shark-watchers and award-winning shark photographers and I may add, passionate Shark conservationist and dear friend.
Having participated in literally thousands of Shark dives, Douglas understands Sharks like few others and what he has written here is a testament to his love of the animals but also very much to his meticulous research and erudition.

This article needs to be savored like a good glass of Bordeaux.
Lean back, relax and learn about Shark taxonomy, biology and life history, about food webs and trophic cascades - but above all, about the threats facing Shark populations and the absolute need to preserve them.
Enjoy and be amazed!

MPO - THAT's how you do it!

The winner - so far!

Fabulous picture - click for detail!
We're currently hosting Michael Patrick O'Neill and this is one of a series of shots (another one here) he has managed to bag today, and this on his first Shark dive! Yes he's been here before and knows what to look for, yes he is a full pro and was thus positioned in my very own choice spot and yes, this is of course highly subjective - but my personal verdict is that this is the clear winner of the 2011 wallpaper contest!

So far that is.
Michael is here for several more Shark dives and (!) I'm yet to receive the submissions by the saffron pimpernel!
No pressure! :)

Anyway, great dive!
Excellent viz, nice crisp current, heaps of Sharks, and the video could have been simply stellar - were it not for somebody blowing in bubbles from my very own choice spot just a couple of meters up-current!

Busy- click for detail!

Fiji Times on the Guardian of the Sea!

Wallpaper Bulls by MPO - coming up soon!

Bravo Fiji Times!
As far as I know, this is Fiji's largest daily newspaper and it is highly gratifying to see that they have decided to align themselves with Pew and CORAL in publishing a series of articles highlighting the enormous importance Sharks have for the country, this both from an economical and ecological but very much also from a cultural aspect.

This is timely and necessary.
Now that the cat is out of the bag, there will be backlash as witnessed by the disappointing statements from the fishing industry. But I remain optimistic: the arguments in favor of a total ban are absolutely compelling, there already exist smart solutions that greatly reduce bycatch whilst actually benefiting (!) the fishing industry and last but not least, there are going to be provisions that will ensure that the coastal communities will not be deprived of their right to pursue sustainable livelihoods. Plus, there's an awesome team working on this and I am confident that in the end, all parties will agree that protecting our Sharks is in the long term interest of everybody - including the fishing industry!

Very much looking forward to a lively debate! :)

Rather ridiculous!

Click for detail!

Yes I know I know... :)

Still on Target!

Yes these are all Bull Sharks - click for detail!

Quick-quick: rather ridiculous dive today!

Stellar viz, ripping current on the first dive, at least 60 Bulls, probably more.
Which of course bodes well for June!

New Wallpaper Pics!

Click for detail!

Behold!

The pic above is by Andrey Narchuk.
He's a friend of Sasha who convinced him to try out the Fiji Shark Dive. This, I believe is from day 2 when he was put face-to-face with some really big Sharks for the very first time in his life. Very impressive pic - but then, Andrej belongs to the crème de la crème of the Russian UW photo scene where he alternates awards with Sasha, and I fully expect more equally stellar pics to pop up on his blog now that he has returned home.

And how about this!

Click for detail!

Yes this is again Tatiana aka Sharky!
She was here last week and contributes one further pic to this year's wallpaper challenge. We continue to be well on track towards my predicted one hundred by June and on a good day with good viz, we believe that we're currently identifying up to 70 Bulls - simply ridiculous and no, we do not really know whether it's 65 0r 75, we're at the point of where we have to totally guesstimate!
You-know-who, better start polishing that 80 megapixel gizmo! :)

But back to Tatiana.
You just must check out her latest portfolio on iDiveSharks - this from a mere 3 Shark diving days, and by a lady who tells me that she has just picked up photography 6 months ago!
Two of my favorite ones below!

Click for detail!

Impressed?
Me, too!
So, what are you waiting for!

Scarface from Malaysia!

Stellar portrait by Lill - notice the spiracle?

Despite of my usual reservations: cute PSA from Malaysia!

And!
It features footage of Scarface along with the smaller Adi and our oldest (but not anymore biggest) Bull lady Granma, all from the Fiji Shark Dive on Shark Reef!

<

The bad news: we haven't seen Scarface since November!
No I'm not hinting that something has happened. She was heavily pregnant and may have just gone walkabout to give birth - and judging from what we know from research in the Atlantic and Hawaii, that may have been a long long way away!

But there's also this.
There may just be too many Bulls!
The population of Bulls keeps increasing and we have certainly noticed a corresponding decrease in the number of the other deeper water species like the Nurses, Silvertips and Lemons. My personal explanation for it is that

• Bulls prey on Sharks and those impressive numbers may just be to high for comfort,
• as the Bull Shark numbers are ever increasing, I'm observing (and recording) clear signs of inter-specific aggression whereby the Bulls ram and sometimes bite other species of Shark (but not other Bulls!) that compete for the bait, and finally
• those other Sharks have a much decreased chance of ever approaching the feeder and that they are consequently not being adequately rewarded for the risks they incur
  

Yes I'm speculating and yes, Juerg is looking into it!

The same is apparently happening to our Tigers.
In the past, the dozen or so Bulls would slink away whenever one of them would turn up - but not anymore! Even Scarface with her impressive 4.5+ meters appears increasingly hesitant whereas the Bulls are becoming positively cocky, to the point where I've recorded them simply shouldering her away!
Yes size matters - but numbers apparently matter more!

And the good news?
There is no such thing as too many Bull Sharks!
After the usual slight dip at the beginning of April, we're back to 50+ individuals on each dive and well on track for my predicted one hundred in June! The last couple of Shark dives have been, hmmm, hectic and as a consequence, we are now strictly enforcing the pit ban, and this also for long term good friends! So if you are eager to take up the wallpaper challenge, make sure to read our protocols as right now, there will be no exceptions - seriously!

And on this happy note: what are you waiting for!

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!

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! :)