Not just Shark
Pictures: Elasmodiver contains photos of sharks, skates, rays, and
chimaera's from around the world. It began as a simple web based
field guide to help divers find the best places to encounter
different species of sharks and rays but it has slowly evolved into
a much larger project containing information on all aspects of shark
diving and photography. There are now more than a thousand shark
pictures and sections on shark evolution, biology, and
conservation. There is a large library of reviewed shark books, a
constantly outdated shark taxonomy page, a monster list of shark
links, and deeper in the site there are numerous articles and
stories about shark encounters. Elasmodiver is now so difficult to
check for updates, that new information and pictures are listed on
an Elasmodiver Updates Page that can be accessed here:
If you're looking
for a broader range of marine life pictures the following links
represent a new area of elasmodiver.com that contains pictures of
other marine organisms and of marine habitats. This expansion of
Elasmodiver is in its first stages but will eventually include pages
on all types of marine mammals, bony fishes and marine invertebrates
as well as coastal habitats, reefscapes and other imagess relating
to the ocean. Please return regularly to enjoy the progress.
SHARK DIVING HOTSPOTS -
NINGALOO REEF, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Encounter: Whale sharks
and Wobbegongs. Whale shark encounters run from April till June. The sharks
cruise along the offshore reef flats a few miles from shore. Spotter planes
track the sharks movements and dive boats are given directions on where to head
until they spot the sharks. Then, a spotter jumps in the water and swims after
the shark which can be traveling at 2 or 3 knots, and groups of snorkellers are
dropped in the path of the shark. The participants attempt to keep up with the
traveling shark as long as possible until another group take over. The encounter
continues until the shark dives or the snorkellers are too exhausted to continue
jumping in. Keeping up with whale sharks in this scenario is not the easiest
thing to do especially when pulling a large camera housing along for the ride.
The rules of engagement include staying behind the pectoral
fins of the shark and maintaining a distance of 4 meters from any part of its
body. No flash photography is allowed.
Tasseled wobbegong sharks are in residence all year along the
northern reefs of Ningaloo. The best place to see them is the Navy Pier at
Exmouth. As they tend to lie motionless it is easy to study them but as they
generally squeeze into tight spots photography can be difficult. Even if the
wobbies are not present on the pier, the diving there is exceptionally good for
the area and should not be missed.
Exmouth
Navy Pier One of
Exmouth Dive Centre's pursuit boats
Operators: Exmouth Diving
Centre among others can take you out to the area where the Whale sharks are
seen. Their success rate in finding the sharks is generally very good with up to
a dozen or more sharks being spotted from the plane on good days. Exmouth Diving
Centre also has the contract for the Navy Pier which means that they are the
only company that is allowed to run charters there.
Accommodation: Exmouth
has a variety of accomodation choices including a number of hostels, a couple of
hotels, and a campground. If you're thinking of camping consider the extreme
temperatures in northern WA during the summer months. The Potshot Hotel has a
variety of room types to suit most budgets, a back packers area, the only Pub in
town, and Exmouth Diving Centre.
Directions:
Exmouth can be reached by over night bus from Perth or Broom or by air via
Perth. Look at flight prices when buying a bus ticket as flights are often
almost the same price as the bus.
Read the Ningaloo Reef Whale shark article published in SharkDiver Magazine
- coming soon
Read the Tasseled wobbegong article published in SharkDiver Magazine
- coming soon
