Isla Guadalupe White Shark Cage Diving 2012 - Trip Report

From the Sat phone on the M/V Horizon this week a quick update from Captain Spencer on the M/V Horizon:

Moooove on over epic 2011 season and bow down to 2012 White Shark season!

16 passengers and a crew full of shark men (and women) set off on a 5 day journey of a life time and got a life time worth of White Sharks in just 8 hours!

As the sun sets over the hunched back of Guadalupe Island the prime rib is exiting the oven bound for a hot date with some happy folks.

A saxophone is caressing the air played by a passenger on the top deck. Others exchange experiences over a ice cold beer in lounge chairs on the back deck. After our arrival here at 4AM people began to stir in their cabins. Cages were in the water as the sun peaked up out of the big blue Pacific.

After breakfast everyone had a rotation in the cage to shake off the cob webs; it was game time. Enter Carcharodon carcharias (Great White Shark). For the next eight hours it was breath taking. Over twelve different sharks made an appearance on day one of the 2012 shark season.

At times they came within inches of the cages.

Here's my left side and then my right side, as if the sharks were putting on a show for our viewing pleasure. We saw so many sharks today my voice is shot from yelling WHITE SHARK so much. The afternoon it was even crazier. There were times when people would come out of the water saying they were seeing 3-4 sharks at a time!!!

What an epic day aboard the good ship Horizon.

As I walk through the laptop filled salon, divers share their epic day with photos. Pictures and movies of sharks up close, sharks in the back ground of divers, and of course smiling the whole time. No words can explain what just happened here at this magical island in the middle of the Pacific ocean.

I can't wait to see what day two has to offer.

Cheers,

Captain Spencer Salmon
M/V Horizon 2012

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Cookie Cutter Shark Attack!

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Shark Week 2012 Returning to Their Roots? Yes!

After five very long years in the wilderness searching for Shark Week programming that was innovative, informative, and flat out beautiful from a visual perspective - we have arrived.

Shark Week is back!

A none to soon. It would seem that executive producer Brooke Runnette (we still want that couch) has re-discoverd the awe and inspiration of the original Shark Week and added a healthy dose conservation messaging along with innovative camera work.

The kind of, "in your face" animal encounters that made Shark Week the best week on television and inspired a host of up and coming commercial shark diving operations world wide to seek sharks - everywhere.

We were one of those operations. Inspired back in 2009 to create Shark Diver and we have never looked back.

Kudos to everyone who had a hand in the 25th Anniversary of Shark Week and a big cheer, thus far, for the programming. The Air Jaws Franchise has never looked better.

Oh, and the Volkswagen commercials have been pretty epic as well, but we had 25 years of inspiration to get us there.

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving, unique film and television commercials with sharks and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.