Up when Aldabra’s coconut crabs were still roaming in the hour before dawn we were all ready and rearing to go this morning for a full day’s diving, but those tricky tides fooled us and we were half an hour too late to get over the reef. Some of us sat patiently on the beach waiting for the sun to light the water and splash some colour on the grey heron fishing along the shore and the dainty crab plovers mingling with the shark fins. Most of the team spent the rest of the morning doing more scheming and discussing the dive scenarios for the week.Later in the day James volunteered as shark caller and for almost four hours splashed the water from the rocks above with a mackerel baited bag, just enough to gather all the black tips into the small bay where we were photographing. The sicklefin lemon sharks are finally relaxing a little and not being as timid as the first couple of days, making it possible to catch a couple of images.As if the tide against us wasn’t enough - again are plans for an afternoon of diving were thwarted when the boatman, Steven, informed us…

CONTINUE READING →

Our life revolves around the tides, high tide, low tide and the severity of the level. If we are on the island and the tide is too low the boat cannot navigate over the reef and if we are on the outside of the reef and the tide drops too low before we return we cannot get back to the island until the tide turns and the water level rises. It takes about six hour on average for a complete turn in the tides, for high tide to become low and visa-versa. Thus, this morning we did not set out until 12h00, on the incoming tide when the water was sufficient for us to glide out without touching any corals, and returned full speed at 17h30 just in time to get back over the reef.With a low tide the reef is exposed and this morning it was covered in startling white egrets fishing in the shallows. From my room they look like the sails of miniature sail boats floating across a flat bay. Rainer spent the morning stalking them with his 300mm lens, while I photographed the scientific officer’s 3 year old splashing in the shallows with her friends –…

CONTINUE READING →

An Aldabra Tortoise was having a chilled morning on the beach, an unusual site as they love their food - leaves, fruit, and pretty much anything else that drops from the trees – and that is what seems to drive them!Things are taking shape in the waters here. For the past two days James and Dr Ormond have been configuring, tinkering and adjusting Save Our Seas’ new remotely operated camera unit. It looks like a small R2D2 robot and its technology is capable of similar wonders, but its assembly instructions seem to also be in star wars language. Nonetheless it is almost up and running. The friendly black tip reef sharks that patrol the shallow waters here acted as the guinea pigs this afternoon, triggering the camera’s motion sensor each time one dutifully swam past and OB1 recorded their images on a hard drive, which is viewed live on a linked computer. Once it has been fine-tuned and emits the right light intensity at night (too much and it will spook the sharks, too little and it will not detect them) it will be deployed at strategic places on the reef and in the inlet channels for 24hr periods at…

CONTINUE READING →

Today was in technical terms a ‘down day’. Consisting of equipment preparation, checking, rechecking and scheming. The compressor problem was fixed and Rainer boosted our confidence by announcing “It SEEMS fine, ah hum hum, correction. It IS fine.” A huh! All the filters were replaced; the air was tested and passed with a clean bill of particle free.Tom, Dan and myself spent the evening ankle, knee then chest deep surrounded by inquisitive black tips. They are much smaller than their cousins the black tip (Charcharhinus limbatus) but there is no comparison as to who of the two species has the most paint on their dorsal fin – the melanopterus wins hands down, with a distinct black tip, whereas the limbatus’ is virtually non-existent. As the water darkened a couple of large sicklefin sharks swam by, as their name suggests their skin above is a yellowish brown. The black tips ignored her, continuing to swim in front, behind and around me.More on the mangroves, coral mushrooms and black tips, but before the story continues, I need sleep! (A line I fear you might read fairly often).Today was in technical terms a ‘down day’. Consisting of equipment preparation, checking, rechecking and…

CONTINUE READING →

Early on Tuesday morning I sped off in car boldly displaying new signage: http://www.rethinktheshark.com and heavily loaded with dive gear and underwater camera gear - it was to be a big day for Elle, the raggedtooth shark, she was only 1 day away from freedom. Matthew was left holding the fort with builders, plumbers, plasterers and painters hard at work at The Save Our Seas Shark Centre in Kalk Bay, Cape Town. I met my crew at 7 am at the Two Oceans Aquarium to film the removal of Elle from her holding pool on the aquarium roof, down to the transit tank for her penultimate journey home.Elle was a really great girl and complied with all that was asked of her, it was almost as if she knew what was happening and where she was going. Everything went extremely smoothly and she weighed in at 165.4kg. Soon enough, she was settled in her transit tank and after everything was ready and triple checked, the convoy chugged out of the V & A in the mid-morning traffic.As we headed out onto the N2 highway, wellwishers waved the convoy on and soon we were slowly climbing Sir…

CONTINUE READING →

By 7h45am yesterday we had reloaded all our gear, one final time (for the next few days anyhow) on a 30ft Miami Vice look alike boat and begun our cruise north to Aldabra. Standing at the front of the boat, not daring to do the Titanic manoever with such revered scientists and cameramen on board, I closed my eyes and imagined what it must have been like to sail unbeknowingly to this piece of paradise somewhere in the Indian Ocean before man had ever set foot or circled it with destructive long lines and baited hooks. As Assumption disappeared behind the ocean in front bubbled with diving boobies and as we slowly maneuvered through our first bird bait ball (the stuff the famous South African sardine run is made off) I squinted to see if any sharks below were visible. It took under two hours to reach Aldabra and another two to unload and settle in at our superb accommodation in the Aldabra Foundation’s research station.We spent the day checking dive and camera equipment and I know I kept pinching myself to make sure I was really here. Slight problem – the compressor for filling the SCUBA tanks with air…

CONTINUE READING →

Two little Cessna planes greeted us at the IDC hangar and there was absolutely no way all our gear would fit in both, let alone one of them. Thankfully neither plane was fit for the unusually stormy sky above. Our plane had not yet landed and we were due to take off in half an hour, but this was just the beginning. Our countless indestructible pelican cases and Himalayan trekking bags, designed for riding on the backs of yaks, tipped off the scale and brought on a very serious Créole discussion, the outcome of which was “it is not possible.” The next four and a half hours consisted of several more re-weighing sessions, discussions and scenario building exercises that ended with a frantic dash back to the domestic terminal with the full extent our gear clinging to the backs of three pick up trucks…. It had all the makings of a mega-dollar team building exercise. Having negotiated our way through the day with the extremely friendly Seychellois I pity the scientists and photo-journalists working with this much equipment in bad weather in unfriendly territories.Although the prospect of sleeping on a runway, being attacked by mosquitoes and eating stale oatcakes…

CONTINUE READING →