Cocos Hammerhead

Cocos hammerhead 70 feet

This was taken by Mike Coker using my rig:

Sea and Sea D100, 24mm, 8" dome, FL-B filter, dual 90DX strobes

Shot in manual, f5.6 1/60 full strobe power

.. but this was best I managed to get that week...

embarassing!

So at list you know that your equipment if fine B)

No current there. lol

What mm wetsuit are you wearing? And, what was the water temp?

70 ft! That's one mother of a hammerhead - Still waiting for an insight into the present shark population levels after the poaching.

I have no idea why I wrote it that way. Obviously 70 feet of water.

I wore a 3mm hyperstretch one piece the whole week. There were some 5's and 7's being worn, too. Water temp was consistently 80-82. The thermocline stayed deep. The few time we got into it or below it it seemed to be 75-76 at the coldest. 78 was the coldest I saw.

We had very good conditions above water that tended to push everything deep. Still, there were dense populations deeper. The Costa Rican government now provides coast guard vessels to enforce the fishing ban. All the poaching lines have been removed.

I just love these creatures. Would give my left arm to bag a good pic of one!

My favourite though has to be the one taken by Bob whilst divers on surface are getting back into the flobadob. That has got to be one of the best I have seen (opinion). It also makes me cry with laughter.

In fact, Bob any chance you can email a high res copy of this to me at home (I'll make it worth your while!)

Mark

You will have to wait until I get home to UK as I only have the low res versions on my portable library incase I lose them. I have hundreds similar too.

Todd's Avatar was taken on Cocos in 1993 using an MMII.

You will have to wait until I get home to UK

When will that be Bob.

Probably End of March. Pam & Reef will go back in February but I have sharks to photograph on Praslin!

Priorities mate. Priorities. Go bag a few sharks.

The Great Hammerhead is now my favourite, as you know Bob.

ps thanks again for the Avatar. I still have the MMIIEX may just keep it as a back up.

Mark I had some chances in January and July on the expeditions. Poor timing the first trip and hotshoe issues on the second. (And, probably photographers lack of skill) If I am lucky I will have some from this July's trip to show you in August.

I have a hand feed of a reefer but will not post in respect for Bob.

And here's me thinking the hammerhead was one of yours!! You should have kept that quiet.

Don't worry about Bob, he'll recover. Post the photo!

OK here it is. ps not digitally taken but, shh don't tell.

I apologize for the scan but it will do.

Ohhh I like it!

Settings?

I don't have them handy but it was with my MMIIEX with the 16mm wideangle. So the camera was set very close to the shark.

One more of a bull for you. Or, Zambezi as my South African friends have told me.

You have some great shark shots. Look forward to seeing more.

If you want to see Gt Hammers - Come to Red Sea, I will introduce you to hundreds! Both Scalloped & Great!

Yes, I really hate fake shark encounters - Nothing at all natural to observe.

CRS not BS

If that had been a bullshark the photographer I am pretty sure would have been minus at least one head and a few arms, but a great opportunity to get some shots of its digestive system working!

Bulls are hugely powerful sharks and can be identified by the distinctive shape of its head and deep body... They scare the crap out of me as they are soooo unpredictable. They have a habit of flicking 90 degrees sideways straight at you... causing the bodies emergency vent to open - WIDE!

The Bull was from Walker's Cay. The photographer still has all limbs attached, at least I did this a.m.

They have about 9 that congregate in 5 ft of water right of shore where the old garbage dump used to be beside the runway. They will throw bait in in front of you. Walkers site probably mentions them. I believe normally you do a half day learning about them prior to getting in the water with them. Brandon Cole has some shots on his web site from the trip.

You are right, it is amazing to see a tank like that turn in such a short radius, I got bumped a couple of time. We have video from the trip, maybe I'll bring it along to BC.

I'm up for Great Hammerheads. Now I just have to save my pennies to get over there.