Mr. White, I presume?

From where I was standing on the back of the boat I couldn't really get a good look until it was a matter of feet away from me. The first thing I noticed was the effortless grace as it sliced through the water, no apparent effort expended as it cruised past, that dark eye seemed fixed, calculating, observing. I felt a chill. This was my introduction to a White Shark. I was on a project in South Africa to attach National Geographic 'Crittercam' systems to these amazing creatures, to see what they get up to when left to their own devices, without the company of people. Personally, and strangely for me, I preferred the company of people at this point.

It's hard to shake the media conditioning when faced with such an awesome predator. Of course the shark probably wouldn't have even surfaced if we didn't have a pungent slick of chum emanating from the back of the boat. We were, after all, located in False Bay, Cape Town, where just a few hundred meters from us, and unfortunately downwind, was a rocky outcrop known as Seal Island. Home, at this time of year, to 70,000 Cape Fur Seals the island served as a birthing station and public toilet for these Great White Shark bite sized fur balls of blubber and noise. Yes, the Jaws soundtrack was reverberating around my head and yes, the line "We're gonna need a bigger boat" almost left my increasingly dry throat.

The project though was a great success. We managed to attach around 17 cameras on different sharks over a two week period which also allowed us to get a very sneak peek into their otherwise very private lives. I came to appreciate the sharks as the incredibly adapt and consummate predators that they are, not the mindless killing machines the media would have us believe. They are dangerous, yes. Would I hug one? No, but they do deserve their place in the Oceans. After all, they were there a long time before we ever were!

This shot was taken with a Canon 400D (R.I.P) and a standard 18-55mm kit lens. Location: False Bay, South Africa.

Cheers, more Ocean memories tomorrow.
Mark
liquidmocean