SHARKS ALIVE! - GREAT BARRIER REEF 2012 - PART 4

GREAT BARRIER REEF 2012 - Part 4 – Sharks Alive!

“A shark just chased me out of the water!  I’m thinking there was no genuine threat, but a grey reef shark dropped its pectoral fins, waggled its tail and swam at me at full speed!

I expected it to veer at the last minute, but it didn’t and kept coming until it ran into my strobe arm.

I left the water quite quickly.”

 

 – my notes after diving at ‘Amazing’, Holmes Reef.

This trip was full of firsts… my first trip on a liveaboard, my first dive on the Great Barrier Reef… and my first dive with sharks (well, sharks I knew about).  So, it was fitting that on my first dive with sharks, I should get chased out of the water by one that was a little too interested. 

The dive started with a couple of fish heads placed inside crates, to act as an attractant for any sharks in the area.  Sure enough, as I dropped down to the sand, I could see a small group of sharks swimming over the sand.  ‘Wow, sharks!’ I thought.  ‘How cool.’

I tried to remember everything I’d read about photographing sharks – get low, lots of strobe, and pan.  Sure enough, I started getting a few shots that looked half decent.  I could see a couple of different species and tried to shoot each one.

There was a particular shark that stood out.  On its right side were black scars, around the gill covers and behind the pectoral fin.  I managed to grab a shot, but panned too fast and cut off the tail.  Oh well, chalk another one up to experience.

 

 

On the sand near the bait, rebreather divers were getting a lot closer to the sharks than I could.  My bubbles made the sharks wary, and they would pass several metres away, but passed much closer to the bubble-less rebreather divers.

 

 

The rest of the dive I swam around the coral bombie, which formed the anchor for Spoilsport’s mooring.  On top of the bombie were anemone fish.  Another first for me, I found Nemo.  I also found one of his cousins.  I’m not certain of the species, but it looks like something that’s not common to the east of the Wallace Line.

 

 

Getting towards the end of the dive, I followed the mooring line towards the boat, doing my safety stop on the way.  Far below me, I could see the outline of a couple of sharks.

 

One shark took a particular interest in me.  It turned, dropped its pectoral fins and started swimming with big tail sweeps… straight towards me!  I remember seeing the black scars and recognising it as the shark I’d seen earlier.  I was thinking that it was cool and I should get my camera ready, but the shark accelerated and kept coming. 

 

I glanced over my shoulder to the ladder, knowing I had about twenty metres to go, but didn’t want to turn my back on the shark.  Next thing I knew, I was fending the shark off with a strobe arm.  I thought one push would do the trick, but it swam to one side, trying to avoid the arm and I had to give it another tap on the nose.  By this stage, I was at the ladder and quickly exited the water, much to the amusement of the very helpful crew.

 

My trip was off to a great start!  On only the first day of diving I was notching up firsts... and there were more adventures to come. 

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Read earlier posts about my Great Barrier Reef trip:

 

 

GREAT BARRIER REEF 2012 - PART 1

GREAT BARRIER REEF 2012 - PART 2

GREAT BARRIER REEF 2012 - PART 3