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constantly outdated shark taxonomy page, a monster list of shark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.
Call it a newsletter, an e-zine,
or a blog. SHARKBAIT
is half update and half journal from
Elasmodiver.com. It
is designed to let everyone know about new changes and additions to the
Elasmodiver database, as well as provide information on recent, and
ongoing Elasmodiver projects. If you have any comments on this newsletter
please reply to
elasmodiver@gmail.com. Feedback
of any kind is always welcome.
Enough said. Here are the
changes...
SPINY DOGS
On a recent trip ‘up island’
with renowned underwater photographers Doug Perrine and Maris Kazmers, I
was able to get closer than ever to some curious Spiny dogfish resulting
in the cutout that you see above in the title and many more beautiful
shots that can be viewed in the
Shark Pictures Database image
bank by following the ‘spiny dogfish’ link.
GHOST SHARKS
Although we struck out on our
target species (the elusive Bluntnose sixgill shark), while skulking
around in the mud at Tahsis Inlet, we came across a large aggregation of
Spotted ratfish. Normally seen in ones or twos, it was a rare treat to
find so many in one place. This picture illustrates just how many ratfish
were there. It has been added to the Spotted ratfish page on Elasmodiver
and to the many new images of ratfish available in the
Shark Pictures Database.
Why so many ratfish were
present remains a mystery. We witnessed them plowing for food in the mud
but they may have congregated to mate. Next year I’ll check to see if they
have returned.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Earlier this year I was in
Western Australia shooting Whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef for
SharkDiver Magazine. As well as some wild Whale shark encounters, I
was able to get some great new images of Tasseled wobbegongs. Wobbies can
be hard to spot so I enlisted the help of my good friend Sharon Richards
from Exmouth Dive Centre. Not only was she able to find some picture
perfect Tasseled wobbies for me but she also found a rarely seen Wards
wobbegong. This little guy was deep inside a cave and after lots of
scooping out sand I was finally able to slide my housing in far enough to
snap some head shots that I’m very happy with. Next I headed south to look
for Spotted wobbies. Ewe from Albany Diving took me to a spot covered in
baby Port Jackson sharks. It was another great experience that I wasn't
expecting. Also in Albany I did manage to find a spotted wobbie and two
new species of stingarees: Spotted and Striped. All of the Australian
pictures are up in their respective sections of
Elasmodiver and
location reports for Ningaloo and Albany have been added to the Shark
Diving Hotspots pages.
Wards Wobbegong
GALAPAGOS SHARKS
On route from Oz I snuck in a
quick cage dive at Haleiwa (Hawaii). The Galapagos sharks on the North
Shore are feisty! Chris Lolley, a young entrepreneur who runs Hawaii Shark
Encounters has been chumming for them for four years and the sharks never
disappoint. Even with just a few minutes in the cage I had some pretty
good shots including the ones below. They’re all posted in the
Shark Pictures Database
gallery.
MORE
SHARK IMAGES
After Hawaii I joined up with
Eli for the annual
SharkDiver Mag Sandtiger trip in North Carolina which resulted in some
new sandtiger images.
Finally back on the island I
had a run in with a large Sixgill that resulted in the image displayed
here.
COCOS ISLAND
Last month I went to The
Island of the Sharks. Sadly I was not there to photograph the many shark
species but to fly a new submersible named DeepSee. She is a Triumph
class, prototype Sub built by SEAmagine Hydrospace in California. She’s an
amazing vessel and I’m sure that many more Triumphs will soon be
commissioned. Although my job is pretty amazing, it was tough to sit in
the sub all day without my camera while shark after shark swam by. I did
manage one dive on scuba while I was there which resulted in some new
Marble ray images. Check out the link in the
Shark Pictures Database to take
a look. I’ll be back in Cocos to continue piloting during October and I
hope to return with far more images this time - maybe even some deep ones
shot from the Triumph.
ELASMO PLANS
Soon I have some more ray
hunting to do and then In December I’ll be back in the Bahamas with Eli
and
SharkDiver Magazine for what I’m sure will be the most spectacular
trip of the year. Next year is shaping up well with many trips already
pencilled in, more improvements planned for Elasmodiver including sections
on shark diving with rebreathers, Shark and ray photography, and an
expansion of Elasmodiver's biology and evolution sections.
Any ideas?
Do you know where to find an
elusive shark or ray species?
