Monday, July 20, 2009

Yum-Yum Yellow!


No, not Rusis world-famous hood!

But that's certainly what unites the two: a predilection for yellow dive gear and a profound love, understanding and respect of Sharks! I'm of course talking about my friend Douglas David Seifert, unrepentant Shark feeding green-washer (which in my book equates to being a good guy!) and according to many, one of the world's best Shark photographers.

Case in point: the picture on top!
Click on it, it's a feast for the eyes! I've seen literally hundreds of pics from Shark Reef , many of which excellent - but this one is really special! Talk about powerful!
And then, there's the words and yes, they're finally online!
Nobody has ever captured "that" moment like he has!

A man in all-black scuba gear - with the notable exception of a bright yellow hood - crouches next to a metal box placed at a depth of 20m on the slope of a rubble-strewn coral reef. The yellow hood is a deliberate choice, to separate this diver from all others in the perspective of the gathering sharks.
He is the Feeder.

With the grace of a matador, the Feeder - his name is Rusi - removes some bait from the metal box and presents a tuna head to a bull shark approaching from the depths.
Rusi watches the shark attentively but without fear; he has done this many, many times. The shark approaches, its yellow eyes locked on the bait. Rusi releases his grip and the tuna head tumbles forward, completing a few slow rotations in the water; he then withdraws his hand and arm, and the shark closes the distance to the tuna head. It opens its mouth wide and its jaws gape outwards to their maximum extension, finally exposing the big teeth in its upper and lower jaws. It inhales the tuna head and closes its mouth, the teeth hidden from view once again as it swallows the bait with a slight shudder and a pronounced gulp.


Douglas: thank you!
Not only for the kind words in the article - I know this has been a challenging assignment and you have earned my respect and my gratitude for having seen it through as gracefully and humbly as you have. And for having agreed to wearing a dark wetsuit! (:

The staff send their love - come back soon!

2 comments:

the One called "Bitey"... said...

that's a great shot, makes me want to get Back to Beqa ASAP!... I'll work on winning that state lottery....

DaShark said...

... and we sure would like to have you back!

Seriously, Terry, after the devaluation of the FJD there's some killer fares out of LAX and as a generous contributor of pics and passionate advocate of Shark conservation, you are certainly entitled to a friendly discount!

Think about it... (: