Hammerheads!

[pakman]

The pictures would have been much better if you could get the writing out of the middle of them

Thanks everyone for the kind words... Steve, hehehe... Best comment so far...

I'll try to post a trip report over in the Central America section soon.

Stichus, yes by far this was the best trip! Just something about these creatures that is awe inspiring. And to see so many of them congregate (aggregate?) in one place - priceless. By far the most memorable dive we had was I think our first big dive after the checkout dive. We were so mesmorized just watching the hammerheads swim in front of us that we forgot to look up - where there was the classic Cocos scene of hammerhead silhouettes in large numbers above us.

But not sure if I would recommend the trip to everyone. You have to really be a diehard diver and shark lover to appreciate the trip. The travel can be brutal - 30hrs each way on the boat and the passage can get pretty rough (bring dramamine and lots of DVDs or books ). Best time to see them also happens to be the rainy season so don't expect too many days of lounging in the sun. The dives themselves aren't that difficult, but they can be deep (Alcyone, Dirty Rock, etc), currents and viz can be pretty tough.

Philmayer - I was using a Canon 400D, Sigma 18-50mm, and 2 Inon Z240 strobes. I think for most of those shots above, they were at 18mm (pics slightly cropped) as my zoom gear dislodged on the bumpy panga ride out to the dive site :11doh: . Had to up the ISO to 400 and drop the shutter to 1/60s with the low light. Got really lucky with that first one as it just came close enough for my strobes to paint it.

Catherine - I was thinking the same... If I recall some old discovery channel or Nat Geo show, don't hammerheads hunt on the floor and use those flat heads like a big metal detector? I saw them once on backside of Manuelita island where they were roaming the sandy floor. But mostly they were hanging out at the cleaning stations where they would stall and then list to one side to signal they wanted a cleaning.

 

[Fastmarc]

A bit late with my comment, but "WOW'.
Very envious of the experience that it must have been.

 

[Larry C]

Fantastic, Mike. Wow, indeed.

 

[Ed_Dman]

WOW! Fantastic set of shots, Sifu! I wanna be like you, one of these days! Keep them coming!

Ed.

 

[pakman]

WOW! Fantastic set of shots, Sifu! I wanna be like you, one of these days! Keep them coming!

Ed.

flattered to hear this from a master like you Ed!

 

[vkalia]

Good stuff, Mike. Of course, I still refuse to believe in the existence of hammerheads, but those are really nice photos!

Vandit

 

[Hammerhead]

And I coudn't go because of work *WWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH*

Great shots, pakman.



:116: :116: :116:

















*WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH*

 

[clgsamson]

And I coudn't go because of work *WWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH*

Great shots, pakman.



:116: :116: :116:

















*WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH*

and I thought you two were inseparable...

 

[lastprettyone]

Thanks very much for posting these awesome pics.

 

[parabolic]

Nice photos pakman. These are some of the most beautiful tight hammerhead photos I have ever seen. Were these at Dirty Rock?

On their feeding habits, I have been told (by people who should know) that they feed nocturnally on small fish, rays, crustaceans. They leave the school at night and hunt solitary or in small groups, then they rejoin the school in the morning.

I have also seen them several times in large numbers cruising the sand bottom (120-130fsw) on the back side of Manuelita. I think it is related to cleaning. In a kind of parade, individuals leave the school and cruise up to cleaning stations at about 80-90 fsw, where they roll slightly to one side, come almost to a stop, and get surrounded and cleaned by a cloud of barberfish and king angelfish.

Again, great photos.

++Ken++