| UNDERSEA VISIONS - Shark Portfolio by Katrina Kruse |
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pngsha3 White Tip Reef Shark, Papua New Guinea These sharks tended to spiral from the base of a pinnacle up toward the surface. If we "hid" around an outcropping we could touch them as they cruised by.
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| pngsha1 White Tip Reef Shark, Papua New Guinea This shark was about 6 feet long maybe, and I hadn't seen many sharks before so I was very intrigued. Unlike the fish I usually photograph they did not seem to have "personalities" - they merely rotated their eye so it followed you. |
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| gill25 Six Gill Shark (Hexanchus griseus), Puget Sound Six Gill Sharks have got to be the most intriguing animal I have ever seen. I do not usually find large animals all that interesting, but there is something very special about them. Their mass is huge - the girth is the amazing part. I think of the reef sharks as "couch cushions" and the six gills as the entire couch. They are extremely fast and a person can not come close to the speeds they achieve with one effortless tail stroke. Their eye is enormous and will lock onto and follow people. I do not think they see very well, because most of the sightings I have had involved them picking up objects, mouthing them and spitting them out. They don't always simply cruise the bottom like most people think. I have seen them go completely vertical with head up, do headstands, maintain a depth 15 feet off the bottom and do "up-and-overs." All of it effortless. These are not small animals either, the largest I have seen was probably 12 feet long and the animal in this photo was probably 8 feet. Hmmm. |
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| dog58 Spiny Dogfish (Squalus acanthias) The Spiny Dogfish is a really great animal to dive with. They are pretty uncommon except in late August until sometime in September depending on the year. My theory is that they follow the salmon. I have seen them on a regular basis during these months in 8 to 10 feet of water at night while they are patrolling the shallows. I like to hang just off the bottom with my light off on nights when the bioluminescence is wonderful. After a while you can make out the dorsal fin of the shark - the outline is green sparkles. When the animals (which tend to school) attack the bait fish there is a very large burst of green sparkly lights! |
| akunur1 Nurse Shark While diving at around 90 feet in Aukumal Mexico I came across this Nurse Shark sitting on the bottom. It stayed pretty motionless as I tried to find a view I was happy with for photographic purposes. I wasn't able to photograph it the way I wanted too, but enjoyed watching its gill slits ruffle and I liked looking into its beady little eye - quite a change from seeing Six Gills. Seeing a shark during the day when you can actually see it and spend time with it was pretty nice. The eye was so so tiny.... |
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