65 replies to this topic

[Jettbritnell]

What...me shooting at the time? Normally I would have taken a shot...cept I thought it prudent to try and fend off the shark. Also, since my strobes were positioned well outside the sharks mouth I knew in an instant that I would underexpose the shark's dentures because there was quite simply not enough time to adjust aperture and shutter speed...particularly since one hand was hanging on to the line and the second hand was gripping my housing..haha Well that's my excuse. Mr. Mustard was next to me on the line and stated earlier that he missed the photo op. Only a true gentleman would pass up on a shot like that out of concern for his fellow diver. Evdryone is watching out for each other...but there was little anyone could do to assist given the current that was running.
The entire incident happened so fast.

Cheers

Jett

[CeeDave]

James, the surface reflection makes that shot totally cool!

[james]

Thanks Chris! That's what Alex said too. It reminds me of the white shark photos you see from Guadalupe - and this shark was BIGGER than those.

Cheers
James

[Drew]

The concensus here yesterday was there were too many sharks that were too big, too close, and the current was too strong.  Pretty hair raising!!  While on the line yesterday with Alex Mustard, James Wiseman and Jim Abernethy one the several Tiger sharks nearby broke formation and chomped down on my Sealux housing.  Somehow I managed to push the shark off.  Amazingly, not a scratch on me and only a few minor scratches on the hosuing.  I figure the dome port came through unscathed because it was inside the sharks jaws.

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Jett
If you ever have a tiger approach you, stay alpha with it and actually lunge at it with your body shaking. Tigers are very docile but over chumming does get them more adventurous.
If you make it think you would injure it, it will back off, esp with that many other sharks around.

[echeng]

Drew - that is the normal thing to do. But we were on a line in crazy current. There was no lunging possible without leaving the line, and leaving the line was not an option.

[Jettbritnell]

Hey Drew,

Eric has stated it clearly. There was simply no opportunity to challenge the shark that mouthed my housing. I had anticipated the shark that chomped on my housing was about to do something snarly. Can't explain it other than a sixth sense kicking in. There was also a much larger shark right next to me on my left side that had veered off from the hang bait and swam past me close ehnough that I could have elbowed him if that arm was not hanging on to the line. Had we let go of the line the current would have pulled us away from the boat where we would have been alone and surely surrounded by sharks in no time. It could have happened to anyone of us on the line as the sharks were seemingly growing bolder on that dive.

We're just killing time here at West End in the Bahamas. It's so crazy that there are presently 5 laptops hooked up on wireless. It's like we can send emails to each other across tha galley...

Speaking of killing time...there was a rumor that James Wiseman and Bruce Yates are reluctant to get back in the water with the sharks? They've resorted to diving in a pool instead to shoot pool ladders and practice their over under shooting techniques. It's a sad story really. I mean...just look at the attached pictures. Sad, sad...so sad, indeed.

All the best

Jett

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[Jettbritnell]

A follow up pictures to previous post

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[Jettbritnell]

A follow up pictures to previous post

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[Giles]

A follow up pictures to previous post

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what is that on top of James housing ... is that a radio transmitter for strobe ?

[yahsemtough]

Looks like a FIX light to me.

[Drew]

Drew - that is the normal thing to do. But we were on a line in crazy current. There was no lunging possible without leaving the line, and leaving the line was not an option.

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Methinks you will enjoy the shark dives in ZA on the run... no chumming no bait...because you are the bait and the chumming are the sardines. Tell nic to get you in the water on the 25m line. Esp earlier in june... the bronze whaler migration is not to be missed. See if there are sharks then try to hit the bottom. It's hit or miss but I tell you that's some of the best shark diving in this world to have a train of bronzies swim past you on patrol for sardines.

Btw Eric... pole cams are nothing to be ashamed of. Pole dancing on the other hand...

[bmyates]

...there was a rumor that James Wiseman and Bruce Yates are reluctant to get back in the water with the sharks?  They've resorted to diving in a pool instead to shoot pool ladders and practice their over under shooting techniques.  It's a sad story really.  I mean...just look at the attached pictures.  Sad, sad...so sad, indeed.

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Just to set the record somewhat straight, James and decided to use the "down time" here at West End (we're socked in all day due to high winds) to test different Seacam extension rings with the 24 f/1.4 lens and the Superdome. (Unanimous conclusion: the 25mm extension ring works best.)

As you can readily gather from the photos (and Eric's video) previously posted, yesterday was quite the wild day! I didn't have any tigers chomp my port like Jett did, but on the previous dive, a 12 ft female tiger took a bizarre interest in me (and I was nowhere near any bait...I guess that means I WAS the bait?!). Anyway, she made four separate runs straight at me, and only veered off when I used Jimmy's recommended strategy (thank heaven for his comprehensive briefings!) of quickly thrusting my camera at her to create a sudden burst of pressure in her face. When I did that quickly several times, she veered off, but turned right around and charged me again, getting within a foot or two each time. A slight rise in my adrenalin level resulted, so I only thought to take a few shots while it was happening...

Here are a couple of photos of that encounter:

BTW, you'll never hear my complain about how big and bulky my Seacam housing is again; in that situation, you can't have too big of a housing!

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[Alex_Mustard]

I am really enjoying this snap-snap-snap shot of our trip. The only downside is that we are all sitting in the saloon on Shear Water chatting via wetpixel forums rather than actually chatting face to face. I guess once we are out of internet range we will have to rediscover our interpersonal skills.

Alex

[echeng]

I'll set up the wireless router and blog software. We can continue our discussion then...

[Alex_Mustard]

Here is James "which way do you point it for it to be underwater photography" Wiseman in the pool, getting to grips with the basics of our sport!

Alex

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[Alex_Mustard]

And here is Seacam's answer to Ikelite's Jessica Alba pin up picture:

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[Drew]

And here is Seacam's answer to Ikelite's Jessica Alba pin up picture:

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Hmmm 2 hairy men vs one jessica alba. Tough one.... actually that's just wrong.

You guys should get out and look for sharks.

[yahsemtough]

Damnit, someone post up that Alba shot so I can get that vision of those guys out of my head.

[thatporchdawg]

Oh, my burning retinas! At least they're not in bikinis!

[Jettbritnell]

Sorry Todd...no pictures of Jessica Alba readily available here. Took this snap of some of the guests and crew onboard this morning while tied up at the dock.

Bahamian wind die off soon. We all need a shark fix!

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