Tiger shark grabs camera

I’m sitting on the vessels diving platform for my first dive and I can see lots of Caribbean reef sharks in the water beneath me. Before entering the water I have to think twice. During the dive Reef sharks are circling around the divers. They’re making movements towards the so called bait boxes; boxes with fish remains mend to attract the sharks. I’m beginning to deal with my fears and I am actually starting to enjoy the diving among the sharks. When the third dive is about to start I’m the first diver in the water. At first I was a bit cautious but now I’m letting the sharks approach me at short range in order to make good pictures. The biggest problem with underwaterphotography is that the deeper you go, the more colours dissapear. Because of the short range of the sharks, I’m able to shoot my pictures with the Nikor 12-24mm lens. I always work with manual settings, which allows me to create a combination of available light and strobe light. The skin of sharks is very reflective, so it is important pay much attention to the position and the amount of light of the strobes.

The scent of rotting fish remains is spreading in the water and more and more sharks are attracted. The second species we get to see is the Lemon shark. The lemon shark is recognizable by its yellow-ish to lightbrown-grey color. They look very impressive because of their crooked teeth. They approach the divers even more close than the reef sharks and they seem to ignore the divers presence totally. Now and then I feel the Lemon sharks touching my fins on their way across the divers. At that point the first Tiger shark shows itself at a distance of about ten meters. I’m so impressed by the five meter long animal that I seek protection behind Abernathy. The shark ignores us and graciously swims on, exactly as Abernathy predicted in the briefing. The next day we meet more Tiger sharks and, as crazy it may sound, I’m getting used to the presence of these massive predators around me. It’s almost a common activity to dive between the second most dangerous sharks species of the world. During our dive just before sunset we spot four large Tiger sharks. The divers work as a team and we make pictures in turns. At a certain moment one of the divers is approached by a shark from behind. The diver didn’t see the shark because he looked through his camera too long. Abernathy takes action: he pushes the shark away using his camera but the shark is not amused. The shark opens its enormous mouth, grabs the camera and aggressively swims away with it. I feel very uncomfortable by the situation and again I wonder why I was so keen on making this trip. Fortunately the shark drops the camera before disappearing into the depth of the sea. Back on board Abernathy asks whether anyone managed to make pictures of the frightening scene. Are you crazy? I ask the man. But that night I find out that one crazy person made pictures and that crazy person happens to be me. We talk a lot that night about what happened and, more important, how a scene like this is to be prevented. I realize more and more that we are dealing with lethal predators. I must not think lightly about it and I feel forced to sharpen the safety precautions.