Dolphins and tigers and bears, oh my!

SeattleYates

I just posted two galleries with photos from recent nature trips. Comments/suggestions welcome!

1. The first trip was to Brooks Lodge in Katmai National Park in Alaska in early July to see and photograph big brown bears (same species as N. American grizzlies, but roughly twice as big!) feeding on sockeye salmon on the Brooks River. It was a great trip, booked through www.Travelwild.com (associated with www.photosafaris.com ) - the same company we used last year for our Spitsbergen polar bear trip.*
* The gallery for last year's polar bear trip is at http://www.underwaterreflections.com/gallery/1686195 .

Photos from this Katmai brown bear trip, with my commentary captions, are at: http://www.underwaterreflections.com/galle...069/1/175666882

Here's my best shot from the Katmai trip:


2. The second trip was for shark and dolphin diving in the Bahamas a few weeks ago. That trip included several days diving with sharks (Caribbean Reef Sharks, Lemon Sharks, and Tiger Sharks :wink), and then two days snorkeling and free-diving (breath-hold diving) with wild dolphins. We were fortunate to encounter and swim with both bottlenose and spotted dolphins, and I got a few shots of each. I've posted a gallery of photos from that trip on my old website: http://seattleyates.com/UW Photos.htm

Here are a couple of shots from that trip...
My personal favorite, of bottlenose dolphins interacting with one of the other guys in the group:


A big female tiger shark, likely pregnant (approx. 14ft long, 2,000lbs)


This is a lemon shark on the surface at sundown; his Cheshire grin has made him a favorite of many people who've seen my photos of this trip:


And finally, here's a shot (taken by Cor Bosman) of me beneath the boat in my best Aquaman pose! It gives you an idea just how bulky my housed camera and strobe system is!


Bruce

Seefutlung

wow... great stuff ... top quality!

Gary

sirsloop

holy hell... people say how its relatively safe to swim around some sharks but I think its nuts. That tiger could swallow you whole.

I took a look at your gallery... you have some truely amazing captures!!!

ChrisJ

:jawdrop Awesome

dbaker1221

outstanding very interesting also

BBiggs

Great Series! All of the underwater pics are amazing. It must take so much consentration and nerves of steel to get a decent shot. Its not like you are shooting bear with a 600mm and a TC, you have to be right next to them.

Llywellyn

First Jaws. Now your picture of that lemon shark. :eek1

Yeah, I'm never going into water again.

I may think you're crazy for doing it, but I can't deny that these are some awesome pics. Thanks for sharing!

kdog

Hi sharkbait.

Good to see you here.

Cheers,
-joel

schmoo

After that 4th shot, I am certainly never swimming in the ocean again!

But... fantastic shots and I love seeing risky photogs getting fantastic, edgy images. I love the fact that you can see the bear spit in the first capture. Wow.

SeattleYates

schmooo wrote:

After that 4th shot, I am certainly never swimming in the ocean again!

But... fantastic shots and I love seeing risky photogs getting fantastic, edgy images. I love the fact that you can see the bear spit in the first capture. Wow.

Yes, the bear saliva was a real (pleasant!) surprise, and it is what sets the shot apart from most other similar photos I've seen. Sometimes, luck is on your side! In fact, I couldn't really hope for a much better photo of that scene (except maybe that the fish was a little more in focus - always something to complain about, right? )!

As for the shark photos, a slight explanation might be in order. I have indeed gotten pretty close to some sharks, including numerous large tiger sharks. This is me "dodging" a "small" (10ft or so) tiger on this last trip:


However, the shot of the lemon shark on the surface at sunset, as well as the other lemon shark "jaws" shots in that gallery, were not taken underwater, but rather sitting on the swimstep of the boat with our cameras halfway in the water and halfway out, like this:


In an activity called "Lemon Snaps", one of the crew with very quick reflexes would dangle a piece of rotting fish (e.g., a head) right in front of our camera, and when one of the 20-30 lemon sharks would attempt to "snap" (chomp) at it, we would try to get a photo... Needless to say, you keep your feet and hands BEHIND the camera in this activity! Here's a bird's eye view of the lemon sharks around the boat trying to participate in Lemon Snaps:


Note: we spent many hours in the water with lemon sharks all around us, and you quickly learn to totally ignore them. Here we all are on the bottom with a bunch of lemon sharks waiting/watching for tigers to arrive:


Although they have knarly looking teeth, lemon sharks are no real threat to divers (unless you were bleeding profusely, pulled their tail, or somehow else agitated them). It is the big tiger sharks you have to keep an eye on; they are truly the apex predator in those waters.

Note: there has never been an attack/injury of any kind in carefully organized shark diving like this. It may seem risky, but hiking, rock climbing, or even driving to the grocery store with drunk drivers on the road are all statistically far more likely to get you hurt or killed...maybe not quite the same adrenaline rush, but at least as "dangerous."

raptorcaptor

Awesome series Bruce! Also thanks for the info.

SeattleYates

kdog wrote:

Hi sharkbait.
Good to see you here.
Cheers,
-joel

Wow, Joel, you've really expanded your gallery since last I saw it! You've got some beautiful work there!

Seefutlung

Hey Bruce-

As a Marine Biologist, I truly appreciate the "how it was done" photos ... brought a smile to my face.

Gary

kdog

SeattleYates wrote:

Wow, Joel, you've really expanded your gallery since last I saw it! You've got some beautiful work there!

Ah shucks. Thanks Bruce! You're too kind.

If I ever turn out to be half the photographer you are, I'll be satisfied.

Keep shooting, and best to you and Cheri.

-joel

Awais Yaqub

These photos are award winning photos

SeattleYates

Seefutlung wrote:

Hey Bruce-
As a Marine Biologist, I truly appreciate the "how it was done" photos ... brought a smile to my face.
Gary

Gary,

Then you would probably appreciate a photo with a much simpler background. This is a photo of a 12ft tiger shark taken on a different trip...in open water about 80ft deep when I wandered away from the rest of the group. She took a disturbing interest in me, and circled me over and over again, making several runs directly at me. :uhoh It was the most nervous I've been with any shark(s), and I was really glad I had a big camera housing between me and her to shake in her face (I was so unnerved that I only took a few photos, of which this is one)! Ultimately, I had to swim back down to the bottom and swim along the bottom until I got back underneath the boat, then straight up. Lesson learned - don't dive in open water by yourself! (BTW, the other shark on the bottom is a bull shark.)


You can read more about that trip, and my other dive trips, on my old www.seattleyates.com website if you're interested.

Shasoc

Awesome captures! Great job!

PhotoHound

Wow what an outstanding mix of high-quality images. Maybe a bit too close to those sharp teeth? :eek1 Looks like some exciting adventure, I'm envious!

Froggy

Hi Bruce this series really sparked my interest, former Navy diver and bear activist, I too was in Katmai at Brooks Falls in early July, My wife Lori and I were there the 8th-13th.

We might have seen each other, when were you guys there.

I love your Images and your sense of adventure, very cooll, You have actually sparked an idea for next years trip, I would love to do the shark watching tour, that looks tool flippin cool.

Did you have any encounters at Brooks, the sub adult bears on the trail really had fun with us, here's a shot of one going by me



Here's a link to our Brooks Pictures http://froggy.smugmug.com/Alaska

Great work Bruce I'll probably P.M. you to get more info on the shark trip, thanks for sharing I really enjoyed your captures, I'm off to your galleries now:D

Steve

Froggy

Hey Bruce after taking a quick look at your galleries, I notice that picture of your group, I spoke with Chris quite a bit while I was there, you guys were shooting a bear documentary, I think it was called BEAR-TREK.

The internet makes it a small world, Chris is a wonderful guy I really enjoyed speaking with him, I don't thiink we spoke but I know who you are, I love your galleries great job.

Steve

SeattleYates

Froggy wrote:

Hey Bruce after taking a quick look at your galleries, I notice that picture of your group, I spoke with Chris quite a bit while I was there, you guys were shooting a bear documentary, I think it was called BEAR-TREK.

The internet makes it a small world, Chris is a wonderful guy I really enjoyed speaking with him, I don't thiink we spoke but I know who you are, I love your galleries great job.

Steve

Yep, small world indeed! Our group wasn't shooting the BearTrek documentary - that's just Chris (our guide/group leader), who is I think going to Mongolia to shoot sun bears shortly as I recall...

We didn't have any "action" encounters with bears on the trail (like the one so fabulously captured in that photo of yours!); the bears we saw on/near the trail were just resting 15-20 feet off the trail so we had to make a wide berth throught the woods to get around them. My wife, OTOH, got up around 6AM one day and went walking around the camp and came around a corner face to face with an adult about 10ft away...her adrenaline was pumping the rest of the day!

BTW, I went to your site, and you (and your wife, Lori) have really got some fantastic photos there! I appreciate your compliments, but I'm VERY impressed with the range and quality of your work!

If you PM me, I'll be happy to give you some details about the shark diving trips (I've been on 3 on the same boat). If you want close encounters without being in a cage, there's really only one operator to consider IMHO...

Froggy

Hey thanks Bruce for the kind comments, I really enjoyed looking at your underwater work, fantastic magazine quality work.

When I get time I'll p.m. you on the shark trips, thanks again for sharing your awesome work.

Steve