Supermodel

The next day we dive at Tiger beach. According to its name one would expect a beach but there is none. During the expedition we only saw one island which was uninhabited. Sunbathing and relaxing under palm trees is not what this trip is about. Tigerbeach is a dive spot on a sandy shallow bottom. Dependent on the tide we dive on a depth between three to five meters. There is a huge amount of Tiger sharks on this spot and we get to meet Emma, a six meters long Tiger shark. She is called a supermodel because of her gracious movements in the water. Between two dives Abernathy suggests we’ll go “lemon snapping”. Ten surprised guests on board stare at the captain because no one knows the meaning of this word. Turns out that the crew attracts the Lemon sharks with bait towards the rear end of the boat. The sharks will snap at the bait and at that point we get the opportunity to take pictures of the wide open mouths of the sharks. To do so we have to hold our cameras half under the surface en at random make shots hoping for the best. It’s not easy to make pictures on a rocking boat with snapping sharks at the height of my feet. It’s certainly provides me with a lot of adrenalin going through my veins! But, the activity is absolutely safe according to the crew. At a certain moment I hear a loud bang and I realize that a Lemon shark has bitten into the domeport of my underwaterhousing. Fortunately the domeport is made of an acrylic material. What lasts is a big scratch mark as a souvenir and the picture I have dreamt of.

During the last part of the expedition we will search for the Great Hammerhead shark and the Bull shark. The Great Hammerhead is a very shy animal and it will not show itself easily to us. We are heading for a place called The End of the Map. Again we dive a sandy bottom but this time we dive at a depth of 23 meters. When we descend we immediately spot the first Bull sharks. They can by recognized by their strongly muscled bodies. Tiger sharks are also not to be missed and a large one is swimming right towards me. I can feel my heart pounding in my throat. The shark hits the port of my camera with his nose and I make a turn following the movement of the shark. I have to make three turns with the shark stuck with its nose to my camera before the sharks continues its way. Abernathy makes clear that I have acted in the right way. I have no time to relax a bit after this adventure because I hear someone shouting through his regulator. I think I can hear the word Hammerhead. When I turn around I see my first Great Hammerhead ever! This shark moves in a very different way than all other sharks I have ever dived with. The movement starts in the head and the body follows. I am very impressed by this animal. I have always wanted to see Great Hammerheads and I never managed to actually see them. This moment makes me a very happy diver!

Later that day we balance behind the boat for our safetystop and three Hammerheads come and take a look at me and my buddy. When holding your breath they approach you at short range but the slightest movement makes them disappear as quickly as they’ve arrived. Because the sharks swim just under the surface we need not worry about our decompression time. We dive in two groups en change turns every two hours until dawn to enjoy as much as we can of these amazing and magnificent animals. When dawn falls and it becomes too dark for photographing we realize this exciting and very special expedition has come to its end.