Enjoying Hawaii's Sharks

I enjoy going out on the ocean, especially since we live in Hawaii but sometimes life just makes it a bit hard to get out - especially around April 15th. Well, taxes are all filed on time and I am taking a well deserved day on the ocean.

We head out of Honokohau Harbor around 11 a.m. - having a few boat issues slowed us down. I think everyone knows that having a boat sit around for 3 weeks is almost like automatically signing the credit card bills for the repairs - rust just never seems to take a day off.

We headed out of the harbor and immediately saw Hawaiian spinner dolphins, Stenella longirostris, leaping by the green buoy. The spinner dolphins are almost always here - hanging out and sleeping during the day and then going out at night to hunt. They were in resting mode so we just left them be and continued on. We passed a NOAA research vessel and then head over to neaby FAD (Fish Aggregation Device) - absolutely nothing was happening there so we decided to go out to an offshore FAD lacated 10 nautical miles from there.

The ocean looked so calm from my house - but even though there were no wind waves the swell was actually quite large. A large swell makes it hard to find animals - really hard - but I'm actually really good at finding creatures! I thought I saw a splash - and sure enough we spotted a pod of pantropical spotted dolphins, Stenella attenuata. It was a large school and the sport fishing boats were all in it hoping to latch onto a big tuna. We were hoping to get a shot of those spectacular leaps that pantropical dolphins do - they can leap so high it seems unreal. However - the pantropical dolphins were in feeding mode - this means they were all over the place - zig zagging all around and definitely not interested in playing with us. It was frustrating - dolphins leaping all over the place but in totally unpredictable locations - you simply couldn't track them! It is not always about photography - dolphins sure can make you smile! After awhile we came to the realization that we had been there for quite some time - and only taken three shots! Not exactly productive for wildlife photographers!

We decided on an alternative plan and turned the boat in search of that offshore FAD buoy - the most elusive buoy of all. This buoy swings a lot - it can be off by a couple of miles from the position you marked the previous week - and if it is off and the swell is high it is almost impossible to find it unless you have luck. Well no luck for us today (or at least not yet!) and no FAD to be found. Time to head on to another buoy down south.

When we found the next buoy we knew the fish were biting - lots of boats around is always a good sign. We tried jigging and caught a bigeye tuna almost immediately. The current was really kicking so we drifted quite fast. We would try to drop where the fish were - and according to our Garmin fish finder this place was loaded - but the current drifted us back so quickly that we ended up past the fish before we started jigging. A bit of maneuvering finally got us into a good position and both Masa & I got a hit on our lines. A few minutes later our deck had two convenient sized bigeye tunas on it. I like the 20-30 pounder range - bigger than that and I just can't fillet it myself. However today my fish was being given away as a gift - thanks Gerald & Ann - my carpool couldn't survive without you - hope you like the fish!

Masa decided to get in the water and try out his new fins - he had gotten huge fins and was itching to see how they worked. He got in and I handed him his camera so he could get the feel of things. He was swimming around, diving down and checking things out when all of a sudden he comes up and shouts SHARK! I saw the shadow underwater and then the fin started cutting the surface heading straight to Masa. Now we run a stock photo agency that specializes in sharks - we LOVE sharks, have experience with them and respect them. Living in Hawaii and going out where other people don't we encounter sharks. The most common shark that we encounter is the oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus. Oceanic whitetip sharks are not a common shark elsewhere - but in Hawaii these ocean cruisers are around - not near the shore but far out in the blue water.

Oceanic whitetip sharks are beautiful, but very aggressive and have been known to attack humans. The shark went straight at Masa (this is normal), bumped into his camera housing that was held in front of him (totally normal), then bumped it a second time - this is not so normal - then threw his tail - kind of like a peduncle throw - straight at Masa (this never happens). By now I am shouting at Masa to get out of the water - this was a big shark - a ten footer and it wasn't scared, or cautious or anything. It was powerful and supremely aware of its status as an apex predator. Then Masa pops his head up and says - "WOW - it's so beautiful! Sue you have to get in here to see this - it is fantastic!" I'm thinking a ten foot aggressive shark can be as beautiful as the Michelangelo's David and I'm not getting off this boat to see it - thank you very much!

Then Masa shouted "There's another one!" Sure enough another shadow began to approach Masa - but no fin cutting the water - this one looked smaller and I was able to see it was loaded with pilot fish, Naucrates ductor. Pilot fish are often found with oceanic whitetip sharks - theirs is considered to be a symbiotic relationship, mutualism - the shark gets cleaned of its parasites and the pilot fish feed on the scraps of the sharks (sharks are notoriously messy eaters). Pilot fish look like they are escaped prisoners from an old time movie - they are dressed from head to toe in black and white bars.

These were larger pilot fish than I normally see - maybe a 1 to 1-1/2 foot in length. The pilot fish were curious and left their shark host to come visit the boat - they hung out with me for a bit while the sharks disappeared. But of course the sharks were not done - they had found something very interesting floating in the ocean -MASA - and they wanted to see exactly what he was about. At this point I was begging Masa to get out of the water - but Masa has been in the water with a lot of sharks, he has over a decade of experience with them and he was totally calm. I kept threatening to call his wife and tell her exactly what he was doing but he seemed unperturbed and thrilled to be the center of the sharks' attention.

The big shark was the one that simply didn't follow proper shark protocol - apparently it hadn't read the shark handbook before it showed up. I rarely see fins of this shark species cutting the water - but this one was above the water a lot - you could clearly see where it was and where it was heading. And, of course, it was heading directly at Masa - again - for a nice hard bump against his housing and then it swam over to say high to me on the boat. It even poked its head out of the water (sorry no pictures of this). Contrary to my wishes, Masa comfortably cruised with the 10 foot shark and its smaller sidekick for about 45 minutes - and then as silently as they came, they left. Masa finally got out of the water and then I got to put my head under a towel to see what he had seen in the back of a 3 inch on camera LCD screen. Wow, did he get some great shots! They looked incredibly awesome and I was hoping he would get around to posting a few here for everyone.

Well, I know you are all thinking I'm a big chicken - and well, I am - but the little shark loaded with pilot fish did cruise back over again - and without its gargantuan cousin I did get in the water to check it out. OK - it is true that I didn't let go of the boat or the tuna bat in my hand - but I did get to see the most beautiful shark cruising with pilot fish in the blue, blue water of Hawaii - and as Masa said - it was gorgeous!

Shark Talk

It's been so long since I (Susan Dabritz) have blogged, or even had something to blog about! Boat excursions have been few, and those we've had were uneventful. Fortunately, I got mail from a student in France, Océane Beaufort, with some great questions about sharks, so here's my deux centimes on that topic ...

Q. I would like to know how you reacted the first time you saw a shark.

I learned to dive off the coast of Long Island and New England, where the water is very murky. Fortunately, I never saw a shark there; if I had, it would have been right in my face! I was already an experienced diver when I first saw a shark in the tropical waters of Malaysia. It was a whitetip reef shark, Triaenodon obesus, a very docile, non-threatening shark, and one of the most common sharks seen by divers. They are not scary by any means, and while I don't remember exactly, I was probably happy to finally see a shark.

Q. Why did you choose to work with sharks?

Many of the professional photographers who market marine life pictures with SeaPics.com are eager to dive with sharks because sharks are exciting to watch and they are extremely photogenic with their sleek, fuselage form, large teeth and penetrating eyes. High quality shark photos are also among the most marketable stock images, as the public is fascinated with sharks and people are always eager to see an in-your-face shot of a large open mouthed shark.

Pictures of great white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, tiger sharks, Galeocerdo cuvier, scalloped hammerhead sharks, Sphyrna lewini, great hammerhead shark, Sphyrna mokarran, and bull sharks, Carcharhinus leucas, are among the most sought after by the media and the general public because they are potentially dangerous to humans and one of those sharks is typically responsible for attacks on humans. In addition, it is most difficult and challenging for marine wildlife photographers to take such exciting pictures of those sharks due simply to their massive size and aggressive nature.

Q. Were you afraid of sharks when you first started diving and working with them? If yes why, by which type of shark, and in which place of the globe?

There are so many species of shark in the ocean, and most of them are not particularly dangerous, so speaking for myself and others in the marine wildlife stock photography business, I would say we are eager to observe most species of shark, and they aren't scarier than any other animal we encounter in the ocean. That being said, I would personally never swim with a great white shark without a cage, though there are some extreme risk takers out there who are doing just that! Other large species of shark, such as hammerheads, bull sharks and tiger sharks, should always be treated with caution, but they are not overly dangerous in controlled situations, such as areas where the environment is healthy and the sharks have plenty of their natural prey, and the water visibility is good so the sharks do not mistake a moving body part for a fish.

One of the best great white shark viewing areas today is South Africa. There are cage dives and popular boat trips where you may be able to observe a great white shark breaching completely out of the water as they attempt to catch a cape fur seal, Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus, on its daily foraging trip across False Bay.

Here in Hawaii, we often encounter oceanic whitetip sharks, Carcharhinus longimanus, because we typically go offshore for tuna fishing at FAD (fish aggregation device) and the sharks like to hang out there to snatch some fisherman's catches for easy meals. Oceanic whitetip sharks are known to attack humans, and they may be responsible for many of the horror stories of over-board victims or offshore airplain wreck victims. They are persistent scavengers like many other sharks, and they often swim with pods of short-finned pilot whales, Globicephala macrorhynchus for their feces and whatever they leave behind during hunting (see previous blog post: The Strange Dietary Preferences of Oceanic Whitetip Sharks). Pictures of these large oceanic whitetip sharks are particularly impressive, as they do not afraid of humans and readily approach us to inspect us for edibility. Cute, pilotfish frequently swim alongside the sharks, making for a nice image of symbiosis, too.

Q. Does man have every reason to be afraid of sharks? At what instant can they be the most aggressive?

In general, scuba divers need not fear sharks, and dives in controlled situations with sharks rarely end in injury. There are almost no deaths on organized shark dives (though I do know of one in a recent well-publicized event in the Bahamas). People swimming in the ocean, either from shore or from a boat, tend to worry about what lurks below unseen, so their fear becomes magnified. Considering the number of people in the ocean and the few recorded shark attacks, the fear is far out of proportion to the actual risk. It is a well-publicized fact that there are many more deaths from dog bites or lightning strikes than there are from shark attacks.

Nevertheless, the few shark attacks that occur are always reported on TV and in the newspapers, which increases people's anxiety and amplifies their perception of the risk. Most shark attacks do not end in death, as a shark bite is most often an exploratory bite to determine the nature of the prey. When the shark realizes that the swimmer is not the prey it was expecting, they swim away and the victim has an opportunity to escape. Sharks most often mistake humans for prey in murky water, when a flash of leg or hand can be mistaken for a fish. Researchers also believe a surfer lying on a surfboard bears a resemblance to a sea turtle or seal when viewed from below by large sharks that prey on those animals.

Sharks are most dangerous if the swimmer can be easily mistaken for their natural prey, if there is blood in the water, or if a person puts a hand or foot near their mouth. Sharks brought into boats by fishermen will lunge and snap at any hand that comes near their head.

There is information by researchers about threat displays by sharks, where they lower their pectoral fins and arch their bodies in preparation for an attack. Personally, though, I don't believe your average swimmer or diver is apt to witness such a display as a prelude to an attack, so the usefulness of this information is minimal, except perhaps, for shark researchers!

Q. What kind of shark is the most impressive for you? Why?

The most impressive shark for me is the whale shark, Rhincodon typus, which sometimes comes to the coast of Hawaii where I live. They are the largest fish in the ocean, but among the most gentle. They have a beautiful, spotted pattern and divers and snorkelers can swim alongside them without fear. They are plankton feeders and have no teeth, so they are no threat to the swimmer or photographer. The most impressive predator shark is the great white shark, the largest predator fish on earth. Millions of years of evolution have made them extraordinary predators, but they are currently under great stress by humans the world over. They are listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List, and I an fearful for their future.

Q. Did your opinion of sharks change in the course of time?

Because I have encountered many sharks while diving, and the photographers at SeaPics.com have photographed many more, I react to sharks with respect but not fear. Like many environmentally conscious people today, I've learned that sharks have more to fear from humans than we do from them. I am concerned about the rapid depletion of sharks from our oceans, and I abhor the practice of shark finning. Over time, I have come to view sharks as magnificent animals deserving of our protection rather than animals to be feared or hated. I hope the photos available at SeaPics.com generate interest in sharks and lead to more protection for all species of sharks. They really need it, as they are not prolific breeders and many species are severely threatened by the international shark trade.

Q. Do you think that it's possible for people to get used to sharks so there is less prejudice towards them (as the "killer of the sea ")? Can they become animals that are accepted by mankind?

I have seen a change in people's attitudes over time, and more people around the world are interested in protecting sharks. However, this concern for sharks is more than offset by the increased efficiency of factory fishing vessels and the increase in international trade in the fishing industry. It will be a difficult battle, as sharks are not cute and cuddly, and they can't be preserved in zoos like tigers or pandas.

Q. How do you feel about the massacre that sharks are subjected to at present? How can it be put right?

As I've said, shark finning is a repulsive practice and should be outlawed. Even if that happens, though, it will always be difficult to have enforcement around the world, especially when people's livelihoods are affected. The recent rise of China as an economic superpower will put ever increasing pressure on shark stocks, as shark fin soup is so popular in East Asia, as is shark cartilage medicine. I lived in Singapore and know and respect the Chinese, but it will take an extraordinary effort, and may well be impossible, to get them to lessen demand for these items. Still, the Chinese have embraced the panda and have made an effort to save other endemic species (though they had little luck with the baiji, aka Yangtze River Dolphin, Lipotes vexillifer), so it's possible some dramatic initiative will resonate with the Chinese people. In any case, we must publicize the plight of sharks and stimulate interest in preserving them around the globe. Marine sanctuaries should be created wherever possible, and find a way to successfully and sustainably cultivate sharks for consumption so that the value for wild shark fins and cartiliage drop significantly. And eventually ban the shark fishing in the wild thoughout the world.

Q. Marine tourism is increasing, and there are many publicized dives with sharks that claim to be safe. Do you think this tourism will become a problem or change shark behavior in the future?

This is a complex and difficult issue. Judging by past experience with animal conservation, it has usually been the case that ecotourism has provided a livelihood for local people, and their personal interest changes from wanting to kill an animal to wanting to protect it. You can kill an animal once for food or a trophy, but if the live animal can attract the tourist dollar, it has value longer and for a much larger payoff. Tourists in an ecotour area support not only the tour guides, but also local restaurants, hotels and shops, so the benefit to the community is multiplied. Additionally, as more tourists are able to encounter rare and exciting animals, they are more likely to contribute money to animal conservation causes. From this point of view, shark dives can be considered a positive development.

Unfortunately, there is a downside with respect to shark dives as a tourist attraction, as these excursions tend to habituate sharks to humans. Most shark dives rely on either chumming (putting buckets of bloody fish into the water to attract the sharks) or actual feeding of fish to the sharks by the dive operator. The result is that sharks begin to associate boats and people with a meal, where they may have tried to avoid both in the past. This may potentially increase the number of shark attacks on humans, and it may attract sharks to charter fishing boats. Most fishermen I know will not tolerate sharks grabbing fish they've hooked, so I can only imagine the increased risk to sharks in encounters of this type.

On balance, I would say a limited number of shark dive excursions, with strict controls, is probably a good thing.

Merci for your questions, Océane!

Susan Dabritz

The Strange Dietary Preferences of Oceanic Whitetip Sharks

We went out earlier than usual today because we were up at an ungodly hour. I went in to work at SeaPics.com for a while before going out. Amazingly, my employee, Christine, was already in the office at 5:45 a.m. Yes folks, I have some seriously dedicated employees! There weren't many trailers down at the marina, which is usually a sign that the fishing's bad. No worries for us, because when the fishing's bad, we're taking photos. Likewise, when there's nothing to photograph, we're fishing, so we're always occupied.

We did our usual rounds of going out to the FADs (Fish Aggregation Devices), but there wasn't much happening. Masa put out all kinds of trolling lures, but we had no luck. Because we were out earlier than usual, we had a nice view of Hualalai (see picture of Hualalai volcanic mountain, 2,523m/8,271ft above sea level, last historical eruption in 1800-1801, off Kona Coast, Big Island, Hawaii, Pacific Ocean), which is often clouded over a little later in the day. There were no whales or dolphins to photograph, so we took some scenic shots of the mountain.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Big Island, Hualalai is one of the 5 volcanoes that make up this island. It's not as well-known as Mauna Kea, the highest point in the Pacific, or Mauna Loa, the most massive mountain in the world, or the active vocano, Kilauea, all of which are also on the Big Island, but it's the dominant geographical feature of Kailua Kona, where we live. Hualalai is dormant, but will no doubt erupt again at some point in the future. It last erupted in 1801, and they say it erupts in a 200-year cycle, which means ... well, let's think about fishing.

We headed south, trolling for wahoo, Pacific kingfish or ono, Acanthocybium solandri. We traveled at high speed of about 8 to 12 knotts, which is best for ono fishing, and with all the right gear out. We found ourselves in a small parade of fishing boats doing the same thing: going out to the 150 to 250 ft. depth, called "Ono Lane", then following the drop-off in a southerly direction. We did this from about 7:30 to noon. There was no action on our lines, so were taking pictures of the nothing that surrounded us. The Kona coast doesn't have the dramatic cliffs of the Hamakua Coast on the north side of the island, so pictures of this area aren't very marketable. We got some scenic photos that could make background shots for a magazine spread or pamphlet. We also got some shots of the waves crashing on the 20 ft volcanic rock cliffs when we passed by the tip of Kealakekua Bay.

Having gotten up so early on this beautiful, calm day, I was sleepy, so I slept on the deck for a while. Masa told me later that C buoy was as dead as it could be for fishing. When I woke up, he was driving the boat down to UU buoy, which is near Kona Paradise subdivision. Finally we saw some activity. There were about 5 fishing boats working at the buoy and many birds flying overhead.

We saw a small pod of short-finned pilot whales, Globicephala macrorhynchus, nearby, maybe 9 or 10, logging. As expected, there were some oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus, milling around with them. Masa wanted to get in the water for some photos. He entered the water quietly and found himself fairly close to the large bull pilot whale that was relaxing there. These bulls can be unpredictable, and Masa didn't want to get close enough to disturb it. They floated around in the water there together for about 10 minutes or so, just eyeing each other. While Masa was attempting to photograph one of the oceanic whitetip sharks coming his way, he saw one of the pilot whales poop 50 feet below, which sent the oceanic whitetips into a minor frenzy. Three of the four sharks immediately sensed the huge, free meal and rocketed into the cloud of poop, eating it. This behavior explains why they hang with the pilot whales, but it makes you wonder why they don't spend more time checking out the delectable diver in their midst. I guess whale poop is tastier, which is lucky for Masa.

Masa got back in the boat and we continued fishing. Right there at UU buoy, he got a 20 lb yellowfin tunas, Thunnus albacares, on a jig. He bled it over the side, which is what Masa does to ensure tasty sashimi. This brought those whitetips barreling over to the boat. With all that blood in the water, Masa jumps in for some pictures! Unfortunately, the whitetips didn't approach Masa close enough for the picture he wanted, of several in the same shot. Masa finally came back on the boat to try for another tuna.

Right away, he got a tuna, but with the blood in the water, those whitetips didn't let Masa enjoy it for long. They latched onto that tuna, churning up the water, and tore it apart. Now we know why the whitetips are nice to Masa; he feeds them tuna!

We headed south for a while and ran into a pod of friendly pantropical spotted dolphins, Stenella attenuata. They hung with us a bit, but the light was poor, so it wasn't a great photo op.

Now we were at B buoy, which is really far out from Kona for a small boat. The B buoy is located about 5 miles offshore of an old fishing village, Miloli`i. We quickly got another tuna, 15-20 lbs, then another. These fish are great for sushi, but for the moment, we were fascinated by the small cookiecutter shark, Isistius brasiliensis, scar that decorated the side of one of them. For those of you unfamiliar with this species, a cookiecutter shark is a small (20 inch) shark that latches onto dolphins, whales and large fish with a suction action. It then twists its body in a violent motion and slices off a hunk of flesh, leaving a single circular scar of 2 to 4 inches in diameter, depending on the size of the shark. The victims generally have no long term effects from this, but live the rest of their lives with that nice, round tattoo.

On our third strike, we knew a shark was in the area. The tuna was being reeled in at a predictable pace, when suddenly, in a burst of strength, it just took off, as it tried to avoid the shark. No luck for the fish or for us, as the large shark grabbed the tuna and settled in for a short game of tug-of-war. The shark was thrashing around and cut the tuna in two; all we pulled up was the head. You'd think Masa would be disappointed to lose the tuna, but he seemed pleased that he didn't lose his jig. However, with sharks in the area, we knew we'd lose any tuna we'd catch, so we headed back to UU.

There we caught a small great barracuda, Sphyraena barracuda. Barracudas are beautiful fish, but not good for eating because of the danger of ciguatera, a reef toxin prevalent among predatory fish that inhabit tropical reefs. It's rare to catch a barracuda so far out, as they generally stick near the reefs where they feed. As we took some photos, it thrashed about and cut the line with its sharp teeth, and plunged back into the water. Chalk up another one for the fish.

For our efforts this day, we had little to speak of in the way of photographs. On the other hand, we caught several tunas and managed to land 4 intact. Great sushi tonight! And for those of you who follow this blog, we are pleased to say that Sugar, my Tibetan spaniel, did really well on the boat today; no sea sickness at all!

Face to Face with Short-finned Pilot Whales & Oceanic Whitetip Sharks!

It's been two weeks since my last blog entry, but only because we had mechanical problems. The starter on Masa's boat didn't work, so we had to get it repaired. Two weeks confined to land; hate when that happens.

Today also started out a bit iffy. We were all gassed up and down at the marina, ready to rock 'n' roll, when we realized we'd left the ice on the floor of Masa's house. Raced back for that, wondering what else would go wrong. As it turned out, the rest of the day was excellent, if you can call a day without catching any fish excellent. What we had instead was the kind of photo opportunities that remind us why we live in Kona. It was also notable for another reason, too; it was the first time on the water for my new puppy, Sugar. She's a Tibetan Spaniel, and quite possibly the cutest dog in the world. We'd get to see what kind of sea legs she had, and because I have photos to capture the moment, so will you!

As we started late, we decided to go straight to C buoy FAD
(Fish Aggregation Device) without trolling. When we left about 5 miles from Keauhou Bay, we spotted a pod of short-finned
pilot whales, Globicephala macrorhynchus. Probably 50 or 60 of them resting at the surface. The light was perfect, so we went in their direction for some pix. As we approached, we encountered some other visitors: a small pod of wild Pacific bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, had converged on the same spot. There must have been some baitfish there, as the dolphins were swimming frantically in circles. The pilot whales were there, too, and they didn't seem happy to have the dolphins mixed in their pod. One biggest male (bull, the leader in the pod) seemed very agitated. He was launching his body out of the water and slamming on the surface, in some kind of threat display to the dolphins. While all this was going on, a couple of oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus, came into view. I mentioned in my previous blogs how oceanic whitetips are often in the vicinity of pilot whales, and here they were, right on schedule. This was clearly going to be an amazing day. How often do we get an opportunity to try and get dolphins, whales and sharks in the same shot? And as we got our gear ready for the big moment, of course, they all disappeared! Poof. Gone. Hasta la vista.

It was then that we noticed Sugar was gone, too, I panicked for a moment, wondering if she'd been on the oceanic whitetips' menu. We scrambled around the boat, calling her name. It's a small 19 foot boat, so to not see her was scary. Fortunately, we found her, wedged between the cooler and the side of the boat. She found the most comfortable spot by herself. Smart dog!

We thought the pilot whales had gone north, so we slowly went that way, back in the direction we came from this morning. We soon came across them again, still with dolphins this time. It seemed both pods were settled and started traveling together very slowly. We've seen pilot whales often, and it's always hard to know what kind of behavior to expect. Sometimes they leave as fast as they can, sometimes they stick around to see what's up. This time, fortunately for us, it was the latter. We watched them logging for a while. This is an observable behavior where they line up in a row, right next ot each other, rubbing skin, in some kind of socializing activity. As our boat approached, they didn't make a move to leave. They stuck around, curious, and started spy-hopping, a behavior common for all intelligent marine mammals such as humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae. One will pop its head out of the water, straignt up, and watch us. Then another one did it, and another. Soon all around us was this whole pod of pilot whales spyhopping like crazy. It was a little surreal, and not unlike a game of whack-a-mole, with their heads bobbing up and down, randomly on all sides of our boat. An amazing display, and one we hadn't ever seen this many "pops" before. We just stared at them, popping off shot after shot.

As we were enjoying the show, two oceanic whitetips approached the boat. Now we knew we had to get into the water, if only to get the whitetips and pilot whales in the same photograph. As Masa prepared to enter the water, he fretted about what camera gear to take. The dilemma in this situation is always the same, and it's a catch-22. To take good pictures of the whitetips, you need a bulky two strobe setup completed with long strobe arms. However, to get the pilot whales, it's better if you can swim freely at their pace, which is hard to do with all that equipment. Take the strobe and risk not getting the whales; go light and forget about the sharks. It's a roll of the dice. Masa decided to take the strobes as he was sure that sharks would approach him immediately. One of the whitetips was big, probably 9 feet or so, and usually the bigger the shark is, the closer Masa can get to as larger sharks wouldn't afraid of anything if it's particularly edible like Masa. In addition, past experience told him that if he left his strobes behind, sure enough, the shark was going to approach and pose for him inches from his dome port, so he took them with him this time.

He got into the water, and sure enough, the big whitetip rolled right up to him. This species will often do that, as they're curious to see what you are. They'll come right in for a bump to see if it's edible, so it's nice to have a camera housing between you and them. With the adrenalin rush of that big whitetip coming in, Masa waited and waited till the last second and snapped the shot. He got it nicely, and the shark veered off when the strobe flashed.

Later on, he also got some pics of the smaller shark and a rare shot of a whitetip with a school of pompano dolphins or dolphinfish, Coryphaena equiselis.

While we were focusing on the oceanic whitetips, the pilot whales continued heading north. Masa got back in the boat, and we followed them for another go. Masa kept shooting the oceanic whitetip sharks but he also had a good opportunity to observe a mother and calf pair. It is not easy to do as the mother is protective of her offsprings just like any human mothers, and invariably keeps the calf on the far side of her from strangers, which means she's usually blocking the shot. She kept nudging the calf away, but at one point, the calf, like a typical teenage, ignored Mom's warning, and slid under her for a better view of Masa.

We caught no fish on this day, but it was awesome photo-wise. There's actually a lot more to write about, but I'm going to save if for another day. As a final shot, though, here's Sugar, expressing her feelings about today's experience on the water. Don't worry viewers; after two minutes on dry land, she stopped drooling and was feeling just like normal!

Drifting with an Oceanic Whitetip Shark

We started out today at VV buoy (FAD - Fish Aggregation Device) where the current was really ripping. There wasn't much going on there fishing-wise, so we concentrated on photography. We took some photos of the buoy, which was tilted over diagonally by the current. At SeaPics.com, we sometimes get photo requests for ocean currents, which is a tough topic to illustrate. Today, though, we got some decent shots of water currents around the buoy, along with the brown boobies, Sula leucogaster, resting on it.

After hanging around there for a bit, we spotted an oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus, approaching the boat. Marine wildlife photographer, Masa Ushioda, was eager to get some shots of this one, so despite the strong ocean current, he jumped in at the up current of the buoy as the shark stationed at the down current. Predictably, he drifted fast away from the boat, buoy and the shark without getting off much of a shot. I took the boat down to pick him up, and we went back to the up current of the buoy to try again. We ended up repeating this exercise about 10 or 12 times until Masa got physically exhausted, trying to get off a shot of that shark right.

The current was still pulling hard, and there was a lot of fishing line tangled on the buoy chain, stretched out horizontally by the pull of the current. Masa was a bit worried about getting tangled up in that stuff while consentrating on the shark in the viewfinder. Most days, when there's no current, the lines just dangle straight down, unnoticed, but today it was a diver trap.

By now, the oceanic whitetip had accumulated some juvenile amberjacks, a nice rainbow runner and a pilot fish. These fish are sometimes seen together with oceanic whitetips, and shots of them in a group are colorful and very marketable. Despite the current and the dangerous fishing lines, we kept at it. Masa urged me to take a turn in the water on the grounds that I needed to witness this puppy face to face for my blog. I eventually got in, carrying a small bat with me, just in case...you know.

Oceanic whitetips are large pelagic sharks and known to be aggressive. They like to approach fishing boats and pilfer whatever fish are being reeled in. When a diver's in the water, they'll come right up to bump their nose with whatever, or take a nibble of whatever limb is being offered up. I was hoping this one, a female, wasn't in a mood for contact. As it turned out, she stayed about 12 to 15 feet away, which suited me just fine. We checked each other out for a while and drifted apart.

I got out of the water, and Masa tried his luck again. We repeated our game of hide-and-seek with the shark, but the current never did cooperate, and we called it a day, with just some so-so pics of her. Too bad; that oceanic whitetip lost her chance to be a cover girl for SeaPics.com.

As we left the area, we saw some small skipjack tunas, Katsuwonus pelamis, jumping out of the water. Boobies were flying all around us, attracted by the baitfish schooling there. A dog on a nearby boat was barking its head off, which made us laugh.

From there we went to C buoy. A small pod of short-finned pilot whales, Globicephala macrorhynchus, probably juveniles, was out there, just a little too far away for any decent shots. We noticed a great frigate bird, Fregata minor, circling, which is usually a good sign for fishing. As expected, there were some pantropical spotted dolphins, Stenella attenuata, leaping. We got some great pics of airborne dolphins. They jumped so high, it was sometimes hard to keep the horizontal line in the shot. There were also some big yellowfin tunas, Thunnus albacares, out there, and I got off a nice shot of a leaping tuna. I say it jump once and held ready for the second jump, which I got. Nice work, me! After a good afternoon of dolphin photography, we took off for home. Some baby dolphins followed us and rolled around and around in our boat's wake.

By now, a huge dark cloud had descended on us. We wanted to reach port before it really started pouring, but just then we spotted a beaked whale breaking the surface! We cut the engine, and miraculously, that whale metamorphosized into a large drifting log. Incredible, the things that happen at sea. Despite the impending rain, we decided to fish the log. Driftwood tends to accumulate small fish, and before long, it's a complete environment. We had time to catch a small wahoo, Pacific kingfish or ono, Acanthocybium solandri, by jigging under the log, and then headed back to the Keauhou Bay marina. We were drenched from the rain, but I had no time to change or even dry off, as it was my turn to carpool for my daughter's gymnastics group. No time to help Masa clean out the boat either; maybe next week!