Hi from the road!

Thanks for your patience in hearing from me lately. I went off the blog radar for a few family events, but the past few weeks have been traveling in US Northeast. I’ve collected lots of new experience on and in the water and am excited to share that with you all.

This month Joe Romeiro, the talented filmmaker behind 333 Productions and a face you might recognize from Shark Week,  invited me out to snorkel the North Atlantic and meet the blue sharks cruising offshore of Rhode Island.

 

Blue sharks are commonly caught as by catch in the longline swordfish fishery (sometimes to the tune of twelve sharks to one swordfish). Globally, their numbers have sharply fallen and the Atlantic remains as one of the few spots to reliably find and photograph these sleek open-water animals. Pelagic Expeditions– run by Joe and fellow waterman Brian Raymond- takes charters offshore to search for these sharks in their element: deep blue water. I was extremely excited for my first encounter seeing, let alone, free swimming with this shark. Pelagic very generously organized a charter trip specifically for my visit. I had my first experience as a trip-promoter helping Brian fill the boat to support their efforts. I was very happy to share this scholar experience with several friends who answered the call: Jonathan Bird, former co-workers Jeff Milisen who flew out from Hawaii and Jim Moriarty who came up from New York.

 

An intimate team of only six divers, we were quickly chatting up a storm and comparing notes on the shark dances we’d performed in hopes of finding makos.

 

Several miles offshore we kicked off the engines and began to drift.  Frozen chum buckets went over the side and a secret fish oil mixture “gogo shark juice” began dripping on the surface.  As the boat blew down wind a chum cone spread out in the water intriguing any sharks in the area.   We threw larger bluefish chunks on lines off the midship and stern rail to lure curious animals close to the boat.

 

Getting chummy with my Rolex

 

One of the most exciting parts of an offshore trip is never knowing what animals might show up in the slick. Blue sharks and makos are the most common encounters here but curious duskies, smooth hammerheads, tigers, basking sharks, and even one whale shark have come to check out Pelagic Expeditions.

It didn’t take long for our first blue shark to come rocketing out of the deep and onto a bobbing bluefish chunk. This eight-foot iridescent blue glow and sleek torpedo body shined against the green New England water. We all ran for our cameras and before we got back the shark was gone just as quickly as it arrived. Soon three sharks were strafing the baits and as they relaxed snorkelers slipped into the water.

Brian kept a watchful eye on everyone in the water. I was amazed with how quickly he could pick sharks out of the murk.

I was very happy to be wearing my Fourth Element Proteus wetsuit. Wrapped in 5mm of superstretch neoprene I was toasty warm even after hours in and out of the water; the hydrolock neck seal is truly brilliant! Others were wearing much thicker suits but I had the advantage of flexibility without sacrificing any comfort.  In the middle of an encounter this spectacular, the last thing you want on your mind is body temperature. Thank you for keeping me so well equipped!

 

With only 15-20 feet of visibility and choppy sea conditions, the sharks seemed to appear out of nowhere. As soon as you spotted them they were incoming on a bait right into your lap and waiting camera.

 

 

 

The sunlight sparkled off a band of alluring blue from nose-tip to fin-tip.  I was swimming among torpedos as these extremely fast, agile animals cornered effortlessly between strobes, divers, and baits.

 

Blue sharks truly are a long tube with a face: sleek and lean and fearlessly curious. There was no shortage of close-up shots as the sharks swam closer….

 

 

And closer….

 

And closer eventually bouncing their noses directly onto my dome port.

 

Quick bump and they circled off into the greenness for another pass.  I was giddy with the excitement of meeting these sharks up close. When five or ten minutes would pass between sightings I found myself grinning past my fin tips trying to pick out the first movement and sign the blue cruise missiles were incoming.

 

A special thank you to Aqualung for these great Express fins.  Wearing dark colors is one of the key rules of diving with sharks. While they can’t see color, per se, high contrasting tones like white or bright yellow on black attracts shark attention.  **Think what color is a dead fish?.. white!**

Because I think these sharks are beautiful- here are a few more shots from the trip!

 

Although wind and seas were kicking up, our 3 o’clock departure came too quickly.  I really enjoyed spending time with these amazing animals and building up my blue water experience. Amazig to think we have decimated so many shark populations globally. I hope experiences like this can encourage conversations about how much we have to lose in our oceans. Joe and Brian have a deep passion and understanding of these sharks. It was a pleasure sharing the water with them. See more photos by Jeff Milisen and read his account of the trip here. Thank you to the divers who came along for the adventure, Pelagic Expeditions, Jen and David Doubilet for your scheduling assistance, Olympus, Light & Motion, Fourth Element, the OW-USS team, and always Rolex.

 

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