One shark, two sharks, three hundred....

[ckofabq]

Ditto, ditto, ditto. Eagerly awaiting nooz and film at 11!
Craig-

 

[Christi]

This is actually one of the best shots I was able to get....

 

[fmw625]

Christi, Iam so envious. Just wish I could have seen them also.

 

[Sue Sue]

That IS a tease picture if I ever saw one! WOW ! I bet diving with not only one of those critters but hundreds at one time would even impress our friendly "DEEP DIVER"... What a wonderful experience for you, very - very awesome! Looking forward to more photos and details. Sue and Mike

 

[Christi]

I've started on my trip report and I'm going to TRY to finish it on the plane tomorrow...but no promises.

I do want to say up front though...that Cocos is NOT a destination for fair weathered or luxury divers A calm day in Cocos is worse than the roughest day in Coz. We had anywhere from 3 to 6 footers consistently, lots and lots of rain, some heavy currents, low vis and deep aggressive profiles. 18 of my 20 dives were 100ft or more..square profiles. Don't even think about diving this place without nitrox...our mixes were always in the 30 to 33% range. Diving is from inflatable pangas (one even almost sunk one day...everypne had to bail out and gear up in the water). The crossing was 39 hours each way which will challenge even the strongest of stomachs. I myself had a couple of very sobering dives. With all of that said...the diving was incredible, incomparable and worth all of the adventure above to see the shows we saw on a daily basis. It was like front row at a rock concert :djbluey:

At one point...I watched 4 eagle rays, a couple of marble rays, a turtle, and a handful of white tips, swim by...while at the same time hundreds of hammerheads are swimming below, behind, on each side, above and in front of me...it was one of those moments that you dream of! Sensory overload!

I showed my Mom the trip video that the Aggressor crew put together for us...and as my cute little non-diving, scared of the water mom said..."You dove in that??? Those are shark infested waters." Maybe I shouldn't have shown her the video

 

[Christi]

Sounds cool! I would love to see 1 hammerhead much less hundreds. Did you get to see any mantas or whale sharks like you wanted?

Have a safe and uneventful trip back to Cozumel.

No whale sharks, but we did see a few mantas and mobulas. We also saw some pilot whales or humpbacks (this is what we think as they were too big to be pilots) from the surface as well as several dolphins leading us out to our dives. One Manta was HUGE...16 to 20 foot wingspan...an amazng creature. I didn't get photos because I was playing videographer on the dives I saw the mantas. I don't have my footage...another friend on the trip who let me play with the camera has it...but if I get it, I'll add a video clip to my trip report.

 

[aic007]

Ok,

Just wondering about the rules of using a flash around sharks. Aren't they sensitive/aware of electrical impulses/currents?

"Good photography underwater requires flash and camera to subject distances of less than 1.5 metres. Equipment must be sturdy, any second camera outfit placed on the sand invariably receives an exploratory bite. The whine of recycling flash guns attracts sharks."

http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=107

Don't know if I would be in a huge rush to snap off that pic If I thought the shark was gonna now be attracted to my strobe and the arms holding it.

Nice shot though

 

[Christi]

Ok,

Just wondering about the rules of using a flash around sharks. Aren't they sensitive/aware of electrical impulses/currents?

"Good photography underwater requires flash and camera to subject distances of less than 1.5 metres. Equipment must be sturdy, any second camera outfit placed on the sand invariably receives an exploratory bite. The whine of recycling flash guns attracts sharks."

http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=107

Don't know if I would be in a huge rush to snap off that pic If I thought the shark was gonna now be attracted to my strobe and the arms holding it.

Nice shot though

These sharks are not afraid of the flash and were only aware of us by our bubbles...and that causes them to turn away in most cases. I didn't use a strobe for most of my shots because they were more than 5 feet away...however, there were 20 photographers in our group, including a few true professionals and they were using double strobes.

 

[jpomerantz]

OMG! I think I would have needed to change my wetsuit after all of that!!

:sharks: :sharks: :sharks:

 

[Nevis Diver]

Welcome home, Christi !


I would like to see your video in September...sounds really exciting.

Sally did a great job as far as I was concerned. She seems to be a very nice lady.

Sounds like you may need a vacation to recoup from your vacation !

I cannot even imagine a 20' eagle ray.....wow.

Chris