Two silvertip sharks (Carcharhinus albimarginatus) in blue water at a fairly isolated, steep-sided reef far from Walindi, reached by the liveaboard dive vessel MV FeBrina. Finding myself escorted through blue water to the reef by one of these large, potentially dangerous sharks was a pretty good introduction to the dives that followed. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
Who's a pretty shark, then? This silvertip really seemed to like me. I hoped. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
I found myself getting 'checked out' by one particular silvertip who seemed particularly curious about what I was up to on its subaquatic turf. This shark kept following a repeated pattern of circling that brought it by me, often coming within just a few feet of me as I hovered above a deep portion of the reef. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
The silvertip is a particularly sleek shark that usually seems to move with particular grace (though I've seen a juvenile at relatively shallow depth and one adult at great depth exhibit rapid and erratic movements). I've always thought it was perhaps the most beautiful of sharks — others might say the mako is — and my experiences on this reef only reinforce my bias. This view gives a good look at the silver-tipped fins that give this graceful shark its common name. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
A silvertip from below, looking toward the surface. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
Silvertips aren't generally a species that gets down among the coral and skims the reef, but this one swam fairly low and fast across almost the entire reeftop. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
Looking up the 'armpits' of a fast-moving silvertip. Actually, the sharks maintained a fairly constant and rather stately speed throughout most of my time with them, only picking up the action a bit at the end of my last dive with them. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
I like this pose, but it's really hard to decide whether it's supposed to be a vertical or horizontal picture. Actually, I think I shot it at an angle, so the real answer is neither. Right after I took the picture, the shark swam close by me and I snapped another one — unfortunately, the result was blurred by the shark's motion and because my strobe hadn't had the requisite couple of seconds to cycle. Still, the blurry silvertip picture — the closest shot that I managed to get — might be handy if someone wants to use it to illustrate a shark attack (besides, given its blurred nature, it must be art). Another good reason to go back to Kilibob's: to try to get a decent 'head-and-shoulders' shot. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
A silvertip swerves to avoid some stupid diver with a big glass eye and two really annoying light-flashers as it moves expeditiously through the gap in the reef. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
During the couple of minutes that passed before I eased away from my position in the reef-gap, I had a silvertip here, a silvertip there...this one was above me at about the same time as one had just passed me by from the front and one was sneaking up on me from behind and below. I sometimes had all three sharks in my field of view, as I scanned and rotated to keep track of it all, but there was no way I could entice the three into a group photo. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
Closer view of a silvertip as it comes in from above me. The two sharks in the background are reef whitetips. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
Coming through a gap in the coral, this silvertip was pretty much heading straight for me. Three silvertips were present during this dive and each went through the gap at some point in their circuits of the part of the reef that I was concentrating on. They followed a fairly predictable circuit during much of my observation time, sort of like the shark equivalent of a car race. I decided to stake out the gap, being careful not to be so intrusive as to run the risk of offending or threatening my new cartilagenous friends, and was rewarded with some great views of the sharks as they swam toward and past me. I also was rewarded with more than a few surprises as sharks swam from behind me — keeping track of one shark can be hard enough, but trying to keep tabs on three proved almost impossible and only made me dizzy as I continually turned to scan my horizon. When the biggest of the three silvertips almost brushed me as it passed by, I decided that backing off was the better part of valor. All three dives that I did on that site that day rate the 'religious experience' ranking. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
You can tell by looking at this silvertip that it's the smallest of the three. The dark thing on its 'chest' is a remora, holding on for a ride. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
A silvertip passes over large soft corals as it moves through the gap slightly below me, going about its daily business (that seems to consist mainly of basically 'swimming around,' similar to the barracuda species that I've watched endlessly 'swim around'). The contrasting fin tips of species like the silvertip have led some researchers (including the University of Miami's Arthur Myrberg) to suggest that the white markings essentially act as lures to entice potential prey that much closer. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
A silvertip swims by me just off the reef, toward blue water (from which it will materialize a minute or two later). Silvertips often range further from the reef than other, similar sharks, such as the gray reef shark, and I've previously seen them most often in deep water (often too deep — for example, at around 160' — to allow me to take a decent picture). (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
Although I felt perfectly safe with these sharks, there's no question about their ability as one of the oceans' top predators. This sight — a decent-sized shark turning toward me — is something that might strike at least some degree of terror into the hearts of most rational, sane people (even those who don't buy into the savage-killer-eating-machine shark myths). I think that to most underwater photographers, this sight provokes something more along the lines of 'excellent!,' and the only real fear is that the strobes won't fire properly. Still, any shark coming head-on would probably deliver at least a bit of an adrenaline tingle to most people. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
Predictable cliches about how this shark swims high above its coral domain aside, seeing a shark like the silvertip on a pristine reef really is quite spectacular. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)
Silvertip shark (with reef whitetip in the background) swimming up and over the reeftop. No shortage of food there. (Kilibob's Knob, Kimbe Bay)