Tiger Beach revisited.

It is always an emotional climax to go back to that magic place. I see the same individuals, and at times I feel they recognize me as well (you should know that sharks have a memory that goes back at least one year).

"Emma" with lots of tiger babies in her tummy!

Photo: Wolfgang Leander (2011)

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I was especially pleased to see a pregnant "Emma", and "Smiley", an incredibly gentle female tiger shark whose lower has been almost destroyed by recreational fishermen.

"Smiley" looks 'ugly' now, but to us who know her, she is the most beautiful striped girl with an unusually strong personality, not unlike the legendary "Scarface" of the Fiji Islands.

"Smiley" - intelligent and most gentle despite her new 'look'.

Photo: Wolfgang Leander (2011)

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The weather was not that great during the two weeks I was in the Bahamas but the underwater adventures we had when the visibility was good, and the people who joined us this time, more than compensated for the bad luck not to have had the usually excellent diving conditions at "the" beach.

I felt privileged to be around experienced shark divers and novices who were, as I could see and hear, as enthusiastic to mix with the shark crowd as 'yours truly':

Caro and Michel Lonfat, Isabel Muscat, Isabel Singer ("Bitsy" - not at all bitchy!! :-), my old young friend David Salama, Carsten and Ute, both from Frankfurt, grumpy but good-hearted Roy Kerr, Jupp, as always, this old aristocrat of genuine Westfalian stock who is an idealistic yet down-to-earth shark warrior, Rob Allen and his buddy Andrew, both very British in the very best sense of this qualification, professional photographer Will Allen (not related to Rob), Felix, who turned 35 during the trip but did not want me to announce it, Engracia Katsoufis with her contagious laughter, filmmaker David Ulloa, a talented horse and human whisperer, and, last not least, Robert Terpstra always so busy preparing his camera housing for the next dive that he sometimes missed the best part of the action... :-)

OK, enough said - I know that some of you, dear readers, want to see a few new pix. Here they are:

Murky waters can be great for moody images.

Photo: Wolfgang Leander

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"Smiley" - again.

Photo: Wolfgang Leander (2011)

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Caribbean Reef Sharks - gregarious and curious.

Photo: Wolfgang Leander (2011)

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Isabel Muscat checking her camera to see whether she got a good shot of "Smiley".

Photo: Wolfgang Leander (2011)

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Caribbean Reef Shark: Some consider it the quintessential shark.

Photo: Wolfgang Leander (2011)

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They ARE simply beautiful, aren't they?

Photos: Wolfgang Leander (2011)

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My next shark dive trip? It's still a secret but you'll know in due course....

Robert Terpstra - a real Flying Dutchman.

Robert Terpstra getting ready to photograph the tigers of Tiger Beach.
Photo: Wolfgang Leander
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Unlike the legendary ghost ship that was doomed to roam the oceans eternally, and could never sail back home, Robert Terpstra, a highly qualified Dutch propulsion systems engineer of KLM, jets around the world, on duty, knowing that his company will fly him back to Amsterdam safely and always on time.

Being able to fly at fares normal people like us can only dream of, Robert can afford to not miss an opportunity to travel wherever he can dive with our preferred sharks, the tiger sharks.

Robert and I met in April 2007 in Umkomaas, South Africa, where we dived with the "Blue Wilderness" gang.

Since then he joined me three times to play with the tiger sharks of Tiger Beach, a fantastic dive site where we normally spend five to six days aboard the spacious and sturdily built "Dolphin Dream".

After our last dive trip (November 2009), I asked Rob whether he would join us (the core group being Felix, David Ulloa, Jupp Kerckerinck - our Tiger Beach Baron - and me) again in April 2010. His answer was not a simple 'yes'; he replied with his distinctive Dutch accent:

"Wolfgang, you don't heff to ask me det - you should know by now det ffhen you go, I go, too!"

Beautiful, very Dutch, very much to the point, very Robert Terpstra!

We have a few things in common: We are Europeans (I guess one has to be European to know what that means), we absolutely love tiger sharks, and we are both photography nuts.

However, in contrast to me, Rob has a sophisticated digital camera and a fabulous Hugy-Fot housing with which he takes gorgeous pics - when the housing doesn't leak, that is.

It actually did so once, and since then Rob makes absolutely sure that it won't happen again - which keeps him busy for HOURS checking EVERY little detail of his equipment meticulously before taking it in the water. Not only that: In order to be able to work efficiently, he has reserved a large territory at the dining table of the boat that is indisputably HIS.

Who says that only Reef Sharks are territorial?..... :-)

Robert - the way we all remember him... :-)
Photo: Felix Leander
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Anyway: Rob is a great dive buddy, and a wonderful guy to be with above the surface. Those who know him are very much looking forward to seeing him again next April at Tiger Beach.

Back Home...

Yes, when I am at Tiger Beach I feel like being back home. Being surrounded by sharks, Lemons and Tigers - BIG Tigers - is all an old Sea Wolf can ask for to be serene and happy. This time I joined Eli Martinez of the Sharkdiver Magazine who organized the trip.

The sharkdivers on board the Dolphin Dream II, owned and operated by the legendary Captain Scottie Smith, were all very cool people:

- Eli Martinez, appropriately knighted by our not-so-red baron, Jupp Kerckerinck zur Borg, as "Lord of Tiger Beach";

- Sharkdiver staff photographer Paul Spielvogel, smart and unassuming as myself (true heavy-weights are always unassuming - LOL!!!) and also a real shark nut. Paul has got to learn how to freedive and photograph at the same time, though - I will teach him the freediving part, he does not need to be taught photography: Paul has taken some master shots, soon to be displayed in this blogspot;

- two new friends, Germans, elegant Jupp, already mentioned above, and down-to-earth Folkart Schweizer, both around my age which made us some sort of slightly mature three musketeers among all those youngsters;

- Mark Carlson and Traci Kalar - our token love birds, always holding hands, topside and down below;

- bubbly Marina Scuseria, originally from Buenos Aires, now bored to death in boring Basle;

- quiet, almost enigmatic Robert Terpstra whose hand was brushed, and hurt, by an agitated lemon shark and could, thus, not dive right away;

- Brian Cleveland, who, as I later found out, is a successful monster movie producer (is that why he wanted to dive with, and film, tiger sharks?? :-);

- and, last certainly not least, Grant Nathan with his distinctive London accent (instead of 'stairs' he would say: 'apples and pears').

Have I forgotten someone? I hope not....

Unfortunately, the days went by very quickly, and although the tiger action was rather disappointing during the first four days, we had a fantastic last day wid dem big, big tiga babes!! Sharky as hell, and not to be forgotten soon, certainly not by Folkart - our novice shark diver.... :-)

Also, we had 'Julia' around us during the entire stay at Tiger Beach. And that was a real treat. Julia is a teenage great hammerhead shark, some 8 - 8 1/2 ft long, and she almost turned Tiger Beach into Hammer Beach with her continuous presence. It is rare to see great hammerheads at Tiger Beach, and if you are lucky enough to see one, it would be a short encounter.

Julia was rather shy in the beginning but when she realized that all those funny and dark looking creatures are shark fanatics, not out to harm her, she became very friendly and performed all kinds of aquabatics in front of us to show off her incredible grace...

I was the only freediver and the only one who still clings to his antique photographic equipment: an old Nikonos V with two lenses (28 and 20mm), no flash. Somebody tactfully reminded me that we are in the 21st century....

Wanna have a look at my retro-looking pics? I have selected 61 - you don't have to view them all; but they are there. Just click this link: http://www.flickr.com/gp/19925617@N00/1aKFw7

I will be back next year - for sure!!