DIVE LOG AUSTRALASIA FEB 2025 ISSUE 410

mother in to get some food and she allowed us to see him up close and personal. I saw this as a very special privilege. The father came in a few times. As is normally the case, male shark adults tend to keep their distance. We had the whole family in attendance. I am totally convinced that she brought in her baby to show off her pride and joy to us and also as a show of gratitude for the human visitors who always provided a free meal on a regular basis. I was lucky to get photos of the mother and baby together. I believe that her display was similar to a whale cuddling her calf. Who says sharks do not care for their offspring? One evening we did our night dive at the same spot. We could see the SIlver Tip family circling us over ten metres away cautiously on the safety stop. As we climbed back on board, Digger started to feed the sharks from the marlin board. We had just had an awesome night dive and now the high drama of a shark feed. Digs was hand holding shark frames at the surface to entice them in. As they swam past at speed he released the fish and it was immediately taken just inches from us. This is such good fun. The ultimate Silver Tip Shark dive is probably the one at Beqa Lagoon in Fiji. I dived here with Aqua-Trek more than ten times. Early trips with the famous shark feeder, Tukai. The dive day here consists of two dives. The first is to twenty-five metres and focuses on Bull Sharks and occasionally Tiger Sharks, if you are lucky. The second dive is Bull Sharks and many of the smaller sharks such as Lemon Sharks, Bronze Whalers and of

course Silver Tip Sharks. Above, you will see Grey Reef sharks and right up in the shallows on top of the reef is where you will see Black Tip Reef sharks. There was plenty of activity. I counted thirty-seven Tawny Nurse Sharks prowling the sea floor and several Queensland Groper amongst the shark activity. After a while, I swam off to the side of the large group and allowed myself to float up a metre off the sea floor. The cacophony of bubbles and silt from the dive group was not ideal for photography. I needed to get clear background without interference. A female Silver Tip Whaler swam directly at me several times. She turned at right angles less than half a metre from the dome port of my camera. I got the shot, complete with added blur for special effect. She then bumped my shoulder firmly but gently. I could hear my Fijian shark protector next to me giggling loudly. He told me later on that the shark wanted to eat. I was too slow in handing over the food. It was a case of her training the human to give her some food. My dive guide obliged and so she returned several times for some portrait shots. She had a retinue of seven Rainbow Runners swimming in formation immediately behind her. I have always regarded this as my favourite shark photo showing her regal retinue in escort behind her royal highness. What a beautiful sight! Silver Tips will become man-eaters. If you were shipwrecked, you would soon be surrounded by Grey Reef sharks and Silver Tip Sharks and possibly any other shark that is about.

You can admire their incredible manoeuverablility and speed up close, especially when they are inches from your dome port and travelling at ‘warp speed’. Beqa Lagoon, Fiji.

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DIVE LOG Australasia #410 - February‘25

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