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WINTER 2012
FROM THE SAFETY STOP
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P U B L I S H E R ’ S N O T E
Get it While You Can
T E x T a N d p h o T o s b y s T E p h E N F R I N k
I
recently came home from teaching at a shark
photography event in the Bahamas. It was a great
experience to work with dozens of Caribbean reef sharks
each day in a variety of venues: reefs, shipwrecks and
even a shark cage that was intended more as a photo prop
than a means of protection. These sharks would come very
close to the photographers, sometimes bumping our domes,
but none of us ever really felt threatened — excited perhaps,
but never really frightened. We were all intent on trying to
capture a dramatic subject in some new and compelling way.
Unsurprisingly, the
shooters who signed
up for this event
were interested in big
critters and the places
in the world where
one might go to
photograph them. On
the bus rides from the
hotel to the dive boat
and in the evenings
at restaurants or bars,
the conversations
most often touched
on big marine life and
where the photo ops
might be. We spoke
of Tonga, the Silver
Banks and Alaska
for humpbacks; we
discussed the relative
merits of Guadalupe
Island vs. South
Africa vs. South
Australia for great
white sharks. Those
who had been to
Socorro offered their
insights about the manta rays, countered by those who’d seen
mantas by the score in the Maldives or Palau. Those who had
discovered any of the new hotspots for whale sharks such as
the Galapagos or Isla Mujeres or Indonesia’s Cenderawasih
Bay raved about the consistency and quality of the encounters.
We had shooters who’d gone to Bali to photograph
mola molas at the cleaning stations off Nusa Penida and
to Grand Bahama’s West End for tiger sharks and spotted
dolphins. Within our small group we even had those
who had snorkeled with sperm whales off Dominica and
dived with Humboldt squid in the Sea of Cortez. In all the
conversations about the where, how and why of these big
creatures, there was also a sense of urgency. Whoever hadn’t
been somewhere seemed eager to wring all the details out
of those who had, hoping to stage an expedition to see the
place and photograph it while it is still there.
I hear the same conversations in the Land Rovers
when we go on safari in Africa, so I know this problem
is not unique to the ocean. Someone will speak about
their overwhelming desire to get to Rwanda to see the
E L L I S ON GOME Z
GO ONLINE!
see photos from the Great bahamas
shark shootout at www.AlertDiver.com/
Shooting_Sharks.
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