Amigos,
Most Great White images seen today have been taken on digital since 2002 or so when Doc Anes of San Diego Shark Diving opened up cage diving at Guadalupe. South Africa had been doing it I believe for a few years but the clear and reasonably accessible Isla Guadalupe opened it up for more divers. Doc had been there with film crews previously plus spearfisherman and fisherman had known about White Shark migrating through there for years.
I went in 2002, and 2003 and last trip in 2008. Tons of hours all in cages and in 2003 did a 5.5 hour stint when folks got cold and wanted to skip their one hour rotation
One company I believe takes a small number (5-6?) per year for "out of the cage" scuba dives now where that article was written about. Some boats have submersible cages too where you can stand atop at maybe less than 40' but most of what I've seen the sharks aren't as interested in coming super close as at the surface cages.
In 2008 I had a 15' deep 3rd cage on my trip. Myself and one photographer spent more time in it than the whole group (????) Did it product great shots compared to surface time? Not as much but maybe others have had better luck. They are wild animals after all....
I've thought about would I get out on a tank with the right person backing me up? I hesitantly say yes.....But only in clear water......
I also have seen free divers in South Africa (Andre' Hartmann, Mark ?) and others push the envelope but that would be a bit more nerve wracking. Then again these guys have thousands of hours with White Sharks.
I guess my point is for the newer generation of scuba divers (less than 15 years) this has been around for awhile. In 2002 it was rare to be a regular diver and be able to get in a cage to see a White Shark unless you were shooting for Nat Geo or had mega bucks to go to Australia. Some of those trips were great with survivor Rodney Fox's company and some got skunked as in NO sharks for a $7K trip
These days for N. Americans Guadalupe is THE place if you want to experience these marvelous animals
David Haas
www.haasimages.com