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Moral debate notwithstanding I've thought about doing a bullshark dive while in Playa next month to get some cool stills or video. After watching several videos on youtube I wasn't that impressed. It seems there is so much distance between the shooter and subject and combined with pretty good depths that you cant get enough light on the subject to get decent picture quality or framing. Is it that i have not found a good video or is it just not possible for this situation??
Hello David, my name is Alvaro Gonzalez, I´m an scuba diving instructor, I´ve been teaching scuba diving and conducting groups of divers in this area of Mexico for over 32 years, I run AlwaysDiving, I believe in make friends not customers.
Moral debate notwithstanding I've thought about doing a bullshark dive while in Playa next month to get some cool stills or video. After watching several videos on youtube I wasn't that impressed. It seems there is so much distance between the shooter and subject and combined with pretty good depths that you cant get enough light on the subject to get decent picture quality or framing. Is it that i have not found a good video or is it just not possible for this situation??
Thank you in advance,
Danny
Forgetting about moral debate, I assume you know bull sharks are considered one of the most dangerous and unpredictable species of shark ?
I've dove with them in Playa a couple of years ago. They would often circle within a distance of around 8 feet. I don't know if that is close enough for you or not. I would also suggest doing a nonbaited dive, less particles in the water. The depth was 90 feet.
Forgetting about moral debate, I assume you know bull sharks are considered one of the most dangerous and unpredictable species of shark ?
That would depend on where you are and what you are doing when you are near bull sharks. I felt very safe diving with them, as well as tiger sharks and a variety of other less menacing reef sharks.
It's a tough environment for pictures and video. No real reef, all sandy bottom. Divers churning up that sand while moving around trying to see the beasts. Add to that the current keeping the particulate in the water, depth of the dive and the distance between you and Mr. Shark makes this all a really tough environment. There are a few people doing good work in these conditions (Jason from Fantasea typically does good videos) but keep in mind there are also a lot of newbs with cameras down there too.
All the normal rules apply even more on this dive - try to minimize the amount of water between you and the animals, use as wide an angle as possible and be careful with strobe placement to avoid backscatter. Know your camera well so that on this adrenaline charged when you need to make adjustments you can do so quickly.
It's possible to get good shots but even though I followed my own advice I wasn't at all happy with my results either.
That would depend on where you are and what you are doing when you are near bull sharks. I felt very safe diving with them, as well as tiger sharks and a variety of other less menacing reef sharks.
No arguments from me. We each have to make and live by our own decisions.
I made the post because not everyone knows the increased danger of diving with certain breeds of sharks compared to typical Caribbean reef sharks.
I did a quick search of operators who are doing these dives in Playa. The information I found on websites in regards to danger, safety procedures,depth, # of divers vs. staff, baiting/feeding was very limited. If I was considering doing the dive, I would have a lot of questions.
Last edited by ronscuba; February 1st, 2012 at 07:51 PM.
It's a tough environment for pictures and video. No real reef, all sandy bottom. Divers churning up that sand while moving around trying to see the beasts. Add to that the current keeping the particulate in the water, depth of the dive and the distance between you and Mr. Shark makes this all a really tough environment. There are a few people doing good work in these conditions (Jason from Fantasea typically does good videos) but keep in mind there are also a lot of newbs with cameras down there too.
All the normal rules apply even more on this dive - try to minimize the amount of water between you and the animals, use as wide an angle as possible and be careful with strobe placement to avoid backscatter. Know your camera well so that on this adrenaline charged when you need to make adjustments you can do so quickly.
It's possible to get good shots but even though I followed my own advice I wasn't at all happy with my results either.
This post confirmed pretty much every video i found on youtube. Its deep, with lots of divers, particles and the sharks are pretty far away. Not a good combo if all im looking for is a high adrenalin shot to put up in my game room. Think i'll just do some cenotes while in Playa and look for another opportunity.
It's not always that way. My wife and I did the sharks with Alvaro (see his post above) in December. That's all. Alvaro. Sue. Me. 40 minutes. 74 feet. EAN32. Other than the sharks, there was a cute little rock fish, a big walking hermit crab a 3-4' stingray and assorted remorae. Moderate currents; nothing we had any trouble dealing with.
My camera was dead (we'd been diving cenotes earlier in the day, and I forgot to swap in a charged battery) so I don't have any video, but the view was fine. Maybe 50 feet at its worst. The sharks would come within 10 feet of us. With a bull shark, that's plenty close enough.
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Originally Posted by danny.hightower
