[password] zara1010
[status]
:position 22 20.04s 166 24.33e
:date 31/08/2013
image: The shark that startled me!
Another Almost-a-Dugong moment - or Let Sleeping Sharks Lie.
I was snorkeling in the shallow seagrass bed, looking for turtles, with
Si near(ish) in the dinghy, when I saw what I thought was a dugong - at
last!
And I had the camera, perfect. I went closer and peered at the shape,
trying to see it's mouth eating the grass - as per my imagination.
I got very close but something was amiss, it didn't fit the picture in
my head, then the dark mass solidified into a shark, a big one that was
snoozing on the bottom. The same hunter we'd watched last night was now
digesting all those creatures. My whole body jumped, utterly startled
and horrified I'd got so close, this then startled the shark who shot
off in such a hurry he still had seaweed trailing from his nose.
Of course once he was heading away from me I remembered to take a photo.

[status]
:position 22 20.04s 166 24.33e
:date 30/08/2013
:image Shark having a meal.
Back at Ilot Maitre as it's windy.
The timing for windsurfing here can be critical: after the thermal wind
gets up, but before the sharks get up - for breakfast. I was on the
beach doing yoga and noticed the gulls suddenly squabbling over
something, I looked and saw thrashing fins, a slightly rounded triangle
and narrow sweep of a long tail fin clearly visible above the surface,
and just 15 meters from the beach. I ran, then mesmerised stood and
watched as the fins contorted,churning the water. The circling and
thrashing continued, uninterrupted by the express roar of two
windsurfers passing close by. I was fixated by it, the shark intent on
his meal, the opportunists pecking morsels from the surface, and a
spreading oil slick, no horror movie red stain, just the still water
silently bearing witness. All this action was about 15 meters from the
beach in about a meter of water.
The smooth patch, so obvious in the windy conditions, moved downwind and
the fins vanished, I returned to my yoga - the gulls so fired up they
threatened me for a while. I watched and saw a few other calm patches
expand and drift past the beach, signifying another death - and a
slightly fuller tummy. Disconcerted by the proximity of the sharks, Si
came in. We decided to go upwind in the dinghy, then drift over the
sandbar and see if we could find a shark. We did, it was threshing
through the shallows head down in the sand, hunting, focused and utterly
unperturbed by us. We think they were Grey Reef sharks but not sure what
oily reef creatures were being consumed; turtles would take a bit of
chomping and we've seen rays hiding in the sand, sea stars are abundant,
but are they oily, or tasty?
We took photos and some footage before leaving.
[END]