A pod of hammerheads

Out on a dive last week with Koro Sun Dive and we saw a HUGE pod of hammerheads. Colin, the owner and Dive Master, took us to Dreamhouse where the pod is often to be found. We dropped down to about 50 feet and swam out across the reef and into the blue, finning our way through the vastness of the ocean. I was dreaming happily of life and relaxation and nothing much in particular when suddenly Colin was grabbing my arm and gesticulating wildly: he was throwing an underwater wobbly which amounted to: “For goodness sake, keep your eyes on where I’m pointing because we can see lots of them!!” And sure enough, ahead of us were faint silvery shapes which resolved into dozens of gleaming bodies as we swam nearer. It was a pod of fifty or more hammerhead sharks. We were behind them but every so often one would turn and look at us, and we’d see its strange head with the eyes out on each end of the square hammer-shaped skull. They were cruising along gently, not too bothered by us. We were all transfixed, treasuring each moment, waiting for them to disappear – and eventually, with a lazy surge of power, they did. A magic memory.

Hammerhead sharks

As cameras get better and better, lots of people now come armed with digital cameras that can be used underwater; others have small waterproof casings that they can load their camera into. As a result, we all have much better photos. But when you go out with a pro with all the gear – well!! It’s a quantum leap in quality. Normally they concentrate on the dive sites, but this time we went snorkelling to Charlie’s Point with Daniel Schwartz and he came back with some stunning shots.

Charlie’s Point is one of the shallower sites along Lesciaceva Reef just past the point where the Jean-Michel Cousteau resort is situated. We had great visibility that day and there was lots of both coral and fish life to be seen. And a special bonus was a huge spiral triton shell sitting on one of the coral pinnacles. Have a look at these great shots.

Daniel will be back to run a marine photography course in June 2012.