Tabla de contenidos para 1/2018 en Scuba Diver/Asian Diver

There is no better time to assert the importance of sharks than now. At a time where at least 11 species are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as “Critically Endangered”, 15 species are “Endangered”, 48 species are “Vulnerable”, and 67 species are “Near Threatened”, we have no time to waste. While activists and conservation groups work tirelessly to protect sharks, we have chosen to celebrate these incredible animals in this Collector’s Edition – to celebrate their beauty and power, and the sovereignty they demand. It is our hope that through this celebration, sharks will be one step closer to breaking free from the shackles of unfounded stereotyping and merciless persecution. In these pages, you will meet some of the smallest, fiercest, friendliest, and rarest sharks. From…

Last year, I joined a trip to photograph sharks in the Bahamas. The idea was to first dive with tiger sharks in Freeport and then travel to Bimini to see the great hammerheads. Unfortunately, the weather was not agreeable and we were unable to make the journey over to Bimini at all. Most of the group were very disappointed as they had never seen a great hammerhead before. Amazingly, one of the hammerheads that regularly visits the shark diving site in Bimini decided to make an appearance at Tiger Beach! Surprisingly, she seemed to have no qualms hanging out with a load of tiger sharks and would even push them out off the way to get to the bait. It was a unique opportunity to capture both of these beautiful…

Most other reliable shark encounters happen at cleaning stations or feeding sites where sharks are known to aggregate. When snorkelling with whale sharks or basking sharks, a wide-angle lens without strobes is all you will need. Most locations do not allow the use of lights, and they are unnecessary close to the surface anyway. Not having to drag around strobes makes it much easier to get into position. Try to get in front of the sharks, let them approach you, and be ready to nail the shot. Due to their size, having a fisheye lens is the best choice and often the only way to get the entire animal in the frame. Photographing schools of hammerheads in Galápagos and Cocos Island in Costa Rica requires divers to remain patient and…

Post-production has always been an integral part of the art of photography. In the days of film photography, even deciding on the ISO of the film or the amount of time dedicated to developing the film was considered part of the post-production process. For me, it’s a very creative process and just as important as taking the picture itself. It is the means to achieving the best possible image out of that shot we worked so hard to get – injecting our creative vision and personal message into the image. I use Adobe Lightroom for post-production because of its simple and efficient design targeted at photographers. However, it is important to keep in mind, and the same goes for our cameras, that these are just tools, not the driving force…

The first hurdle of night diving is to actually do it. Getting a beer at the bar and calling it a day is often more tempting than jumping into the water again. But once in, there is almost always one encounter or one shot that makes forgoing that beer worth it. For the best results, here are some important considerations to take with you. The first and most important thing to bring is a torch. One for you and one for your camera. It’s equally important to be able to focus underwater at night as well as to communicate with your dive buddy or the boat that is going to pick you up afterwards. Underwater photographers often think that they have enough lights as they have their focus light or…

As an underwater photographer, I’ve become accustomed to the performance and manual control offered by my DLSR, and I haven’t looked back since making the switch from a compact camera. But over the years, I’ve noticed the popularity of Sony’s RX100 cameras among my photography students, and I was curious to find out how the latest in the series, the RX100M5, would perform on my next dive trip to Manado, in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. On the day before my flight, the camera arrived, along with Sony’s dedicated housing MPK-URX100A. Used to a bulky DSLR, I was immediately struck by the compact size of the camera, even when inside the housing, as well as their build quality and robustness. But I couldn’t help having doubts about the usability and image quality…

Many of the blacktip sharks I encountered in South African waters had fish hooks in their mouths, eyes or fins Mikhail Korostelev The blacktip shark is categorised as “vulnerable” in its North Atlantic range, but in South Africa it is a popular catch among sport and recreational anglers. A fast and energetic swimmer, the shark has been known to breach clear of the water in spiralling leaps when hunting shoals of small fish near the surface. At first glance, it seems as though one of the individuals in this image is smiling. But look closer and you realise that its mouth has been torn into a fixed grimace by an angler’s hook. Mikhail says, “I hope this picture will draw attention to our impact on the ocean. Many of the…

Every trip is completely different – you never know what personalities the sharks will have Rodney Bursiel After a 25-year hiatus from diving, I thought I would reintroduce myself by jumping in with great white sharks. I’m not sure what I was expecting since it was a cage dive but I had to give it a shot. I figured it would be a one-time trip but I was completely wrong. Cage diving with great whites is one of the most exciting trips I’ve done. I have now been cage diving for the past four years and look forward to returning again. Every trip is completely different – you never know what personalities the sharks will have. This shot was taken late in the afternoon when the sun was low,…

It was a regular day at Tiger Beach, Bahamas. We had seen plenty of lemon sharks and Caribbean reef sharks, as well as a few tiger sharks, but nothing more than the “usual”. And then it appeared: a large, black figure swimming close to the ground, its elegant movements unlike any other shark – a great hammerhead! While others had to swim back to the boat after running out of air, I managed to stay for another 10 minutes with one of my buddies. The hammerhead swam around us a few times before it decided to pass right above us. I had just a few seconds to go up a few metres and take two shots: The first one of the scene with my buddy standing in 10 metres of…

Fish Rock, off the coast of New South Wales, is rich in both geographical and biological treasures. The islet, which makes up the dive site, can be penetrated from an entrance at around 25 metres deep, with a 125-metre long cave that opens into a large cathedral-like space at around 12 metres. Under certain conditions, the local population of sand tiger sharks, or grey nurse sharks, moves into the shallow end of the cave during the day. By waiting quietly next to the cave walls, around 30 sharks moved closer into the cave, allowing me to capture this shot. The sharks pose no danger to divers, feeding on small fishes during the night. The critically endangered east Australian population moves seasonally up and down the coast, but they seem to…

The ocean we know today, an ocean largely devoid of sharks, is not the true ocean Alex Mustard I was born in 1975, the year the movie Jaws broke records at the box office and painted the shark as a bloodthirsty villain – an unfounded reputation that has been difficult to shake. You will find that this is completely contrary to the experience of the contributors here, who have logged hundreds of thousands of hours underwater in close company of the shark. It is crucial for us photographers and divers who know the true nature of sharks to spread the truth, even as attitudes are finally, gradually, changing. Last year, a video of regular beachgoers in the US helping a stranded great white shark back into the water went viral.…

Sharks are some of the most amazing and successful predators in the animal kingdom, and despite years of rampant overfishing, which has decimated populations globally, it is still possible to dive with them in a number of different locations around the world. Experienced operators in countries such as Fiji, the Bahamas and Mexico have been introducing people to sharks without incident for many years, and as the public perception of sharks finally begins to change for the better, the number of people wanting to swim with them continues to rise. This is good news for sharks, because participating in sustainable shark tourism provides countries with an economic incentive to protect them and their habitat. It is also the best way for underwater photographers to get close to sharks and capture…

These beautiful gatherings occur in very clear and very deep water, and all the animals interact in complete harmony Christian Vizl In the Mexican Pacific, by the coast of Zihuatanejo, I often go out into the open ocean and spend the entire day looking for marine life. At times, very large schools of fish gather around a floating log or any other organic material that found its way into the ocean through a local river during the rainy season, and they attract other animals like sea turtles, dolphins and sharks. These beautiful gatherings occur in very clear and very deep water, and all the animals interact in complete harmony. I found the fish and sharks in this image swimming under a very large patch of organic debris. It cast a…

I had to chase the baitball through clouds of blood and fish scales as the fish frantically tried to escape Doug Perrine This photo was the result of 15 weeks over the course of three years spent on site on the “Wild Coast” of Transkei, South Africa, before the sardine run became an internationally known phenomenon. My goal was to document the intense natural predation on the cast shoals of sardines as they move north along the east coast. As human presence tends to interfere with natural behaviour, I hired my own boat, driver, and microlite pilot to put me next to the fast-moving action without interference by other parties. Even with a spotter in the air, it’s hard to get to a baitball before it is decimated by predators…

Every year, humpback whales leave their Antarctic feeding grounds to mate and give birth in the warm waters of Tonga, as newborn calves do not have enough body fat to survive the icy waters of Earth’s southernmost continent. Calm waters and clear skies are what we had expected, but the weather from August to October is quite unpredictable, and we spent many days battling choppy waters and thunderstorms. The clouds finally lifted to bring us a day of sunshine. After many hours of searching, our guide shouted, “Whale! Go, go, go!” I jumped ino the water, once submerged, there were six whales greeting us in the deep. All of a sudden, one of the large individuals started to shoot for the surface. Seeing a 40-tonne whale breach right in front…