Very Cool Shark Diving Video!

The question of why people go shark diving has answers that, if typed out and put end to end, would undoubtedly circle the earth many times.

For Shark Diver Chris Johnson his answer and very special video surprised even us:

Seal Predation Video at Isla Guadalupe 2010

Filmed with CICIMAR shark researcher Dr.Mauricio Hoyos at Isla Guadalupe in 2010 and featuring an Elephant seal (M. angustirostris) with grievous wounds sustained by resident white sharks.

Welcome to the cycle of life.

2010 Shark Diving Report - Cage Diving at Guadalupe

For our divers 2010 has been the Trip of a Lifetime so far. Celebrated with email blasts to friends and Facebook posts to the world.

These lucky divers have met the most charismatic, studied, and filmed white sharks on the planet.

For newly minted Shark Diver Craig Reynolds, nothing but his own Great White Blog to recount his adventures this year would do:

Day 5 – SAFETY SIGNALS – Yesterday was a total spoiler with each dive topping the one before it. Twice, one of the smaller younger sharks – which generally seem more adventurous than the larger and presumably more experienced adults – came head-on right up to the open-view area of the cage, only turning away when there was no where else to go, or perhaps when it realized that there was no food in our hands, only cameras.

In one instance I was holding the camera in one hand and holding on to the corner bar with the other but was forced to let myself fall backwards when the shark quickly pulled an abrupt u-turn and swung his tail toward the cage. Unsure of what kind of force that might generate against my fingers, my instinct was to not find out...

Complete Series Posts.

Building Shark Cages for Yachts - Shark Diver

Back in 2006 we fabricated a shark cage system for the M/Y Triton, perhaps one of the prettiest private yachts working right now. Private cage systems for yachts offers the ultimate freedom to the yacht owner to conduct cage operations on the fly when sharks are present.

In the case of the Triton her cage has seen service from Alaska (Salmon Sharks) to Mexico and beyond.

This is the cage we built in use at Isla Guadalupe with the crew of the Triton, enjoy:

Guadalupe Island and Shark Tourism Documentary Short

Perhaps one of the best English version conservation shorts done of the pristine Bio Sphere in Mexico called Isla Guadalupe.

Video by Oceans Aloft.

Featuring shark diving operations by Shark Diver and Horizon Charters.

Shark Walker - The Gateway Commercial Shark Diving Drug

The Shark Walker. The industry could use about 100,000 of these spread across every major city on the planet. Imagine the conservation branding on these nifty gateway shark diving experiences?

Next stop? Isla Guadalupe.

Pilot Episode - SharkDiver The Movie

White Shark Underwater Video Boot Camp

What: Underwater video workshop with noted cinematographer Richard Theiss

Where: Isla Guadalupe, Baja

When: October 10th – 14th

You’ve spent thousands of dollars on underwater video equipment and now you’re wondering, “What do all these buttons and switches do?” And how will you make a video that your family and friends will be truly interested in or perhaps even moved by where you’ve been and what you’ve done?

If you or any of your friends have been tinkering with underwater video - either as a hobby or with hopes of becoming a serious filmmaker, here's an opportunity to learn some skills while at the same time getting a chance to behold one of the most magnificent of ocean predators.

Shark Diver, in association with RTSea Productions, will be holding an Underwater Video Boot Camp aboard the MV Horizon as we make our way to Isla Guadalupe, Baja to cage dive with great white sharks. These amazing sharks migrate to Isla Guadalupe during the fall months and we will be there during the height of the season (Oct. 10th thru 14th); so you can expect plenty of frisky male and large female sharks.

The Underwater Video Boot Camp is a comprehensive look at underwater documentary filmmaking, designed to not only help make your videos technically better but to also deliver powerful and dramatic messages to best suit your medium of interest: television, online, and more. In fact, much of what you'll learn is just as applicable above the waterline as below.

1. Tips on focus, iris, gain, white balance, manual and auto functions.

2. Effective underwater filming techniques – working with light

3. How to develop a dramatic storyline or powerful message

4. Effective editing – cinematic or MTV style?

5. Video formats – making the right choice for distribution (YouTube, online, TV).

In addition, Boot Camp members will be eligible for a "mini-film festival" by submitting a 5-minute video of their trip. The videos will be judged by a panel of independent UW videographers and the winner will receive a FREE trip to Isla Guadalupe in 2011.

Your Instructor: Richard Theiss is a cinematographer whose work has been utilized by Discovery, National Geographic, A&E, Google Ocean, and others. He is one of the leading videographers of Isla Guadalupe’s great white sharks and has produced an award-winning documentary,Island of the Great White Shark.

All of this is included in the regular trip price of $3100!

Sign up today by calling Shark Diver at 415-235-9410.

Who knows? You could be the next Jacque Cousteau, Steven Spielberg, or James Cameron waiting to be discovered!

Expedition Great White National Geographic Premier

A hundred sixty miles off the coast of Baja California, a team of
world-class anglers, led by Costa pro Chris Fischer, will land one of the
most challenging fish imaginable: the great white shark. Unlike any other
catch ever attempted, they'll lift an SUV-sized shark onto a platform,
mount a long-lasting tracking tag by hand, take measurements and DNA
samples, and release it unharmed... all within minutes. Marine biologist
Dr. Michael Domeier uses advanced tracking devices to help uncover how
this predator lives, with the ultimate goal of conserving and protecting
this endangered species.


Expedition Great White premieres on the National Geographic Channel on
Sunday, June 6, with new episodes showing each week through July. Check
your local listings, and visit National Geographic Channel online for more
behind-the-scenes of this epic adventure.

Isla Guadalupe Underwater Video Boot Camp

2010 will feature some exciting developments at Isla Guadalupe.

One of which is filmmaker Richard Theiss's Underwater Video Boot Camp.

Divers and budding filmmakers joining him this season will learn the ins and outs of documentary film making, with each producing their own final 5 minute documentary.

These mini shark conservation productions will be judged by a panel of noted cinematographers with the winning entrants receiving a free expedition back to Isla Guadalupe with Shark Diver in 2011.

All entrants will be highlighted on a new You Tube channel as well.

Join us in 2010, and discover the wild world of white sharks and film making with RTSea and Shark Diver call today!

Guadalupe Island - New Conservation Video

Only Oceans Aloft could bring you aerial shots of Isla Guadalupe like these and their latest conservation video covers shark conservation at Isla Guadalupe from both historical and political perspectives.

Featuring show host host Natasha Stenbock, CICIMAR's Dr Mauricio Hoyos, conservation NGO Wildcoast, and some great underwater footage shot with Horizon Charters and Shark Diver in 2009.

This conservation video tackles "Conservation Shark Diving" head on and the viewer comes away with a richer understanding of what Isla Guadalupe means to the many thousands of shark divers who have been coming to this unique and pristine island since 2002.

Great industry quotes from Horizon vessel Captain Spencer and dive operations manager Martin Graf as well. Shark finning video courtesy of Sharkwater Productions.

Shark Research Isla Guadalupe - Complex Emotional Data

Science is not always pretty. Field science even less so. The headlong rush to extract data from big charismatic mega fauna like the white shark has lead us to a real debate within the shark community over invasive tagging methods.

SPOT tagging is a questionable method of tagging whites that involves catching them with baited hooks and attaching a "drilled on" dorsal tech package. The argument is these packages last longer and deliver more data to researchers which is then used to protect the species.

We have been supporters of this method until recently.

Unfortunately when reviewing videos of SPOT tagging, one comes to the conclusion that these efforts are in dire need of set protocols that do less invasive harm to magnificent breeding aged animals. The loss of just one of these animals through invasive research would be a major blow to the entire western pacific population.

At no point should anyone on this team be lacking for any contingency, seconds count, and the lack of basics, like support tires for this animal, multiple and conflicting directive voices, and a fresh sea water tube that is 10% effective is appalling to watch:



More from the Dorsal Fin Blog.

Guadalupe Island -Topside

Very few people have had a chance to view Isla Guadalupe from the air. It is a breathtaking sight.

Now, thanks to one mans efforts, everyone can share in the experience. These images are the perfect compliment to undersea encounters with great white sharks at this wild and remote island.

Thanks Eddie, this is really great footage.

Guadalupe Island Television Documentary Wins Journalism Award

In the summer of 2009 Shark Diver was asked to enable a three part television documentary with conservation NGO WildCoast.

The end result was seen by millions of viewers across Mexico. Today two reporters from Mexico's Televisa, who covered Wildcoast in this multi part series shot at Isla Guadalupe, have been awarded for journalistic excellence in environmental and science reporrting.

The award was in part for positively featuring the resident white sharks, shark tourism, and Mexican lead shark research at this Bio Sphere reserve.

The three part series was shown first in Mexico City to several million viewers and across Mexico in the fall of 2009. The industry got some great quotes from Captain and owner Greg Grivetto of Horizon Charters with on site shark footage shot by Richard Theiss from RTSea Productions.

Kudos to the entire team from Wildcoast who worked so hard to bring positive conservation messaging to Mexico and to all the people featured in this informative series.

Film Exposes Threats To Survival Of Great Whites CBS News

Two hundred miles (click link for video) south of San Diego, there's a place where divers come face-to-face with the ocean's fiercest predator - great white sharks. A Southern California filmmaker is on a mission to bring them to the big screen, and Birch Aquarium at Scripps featured his award-winning documentary "Island of the Great White Shark".

He has a love for the ocean and fascination with great white sharks. It explains why filmmaker Richard Theiss would spend countless hours in chilly water to bring these feared giants to your living room.

"I've been filming for 5 years now and never seen aggression either towards divers in cage or myself," Richard said.

He traveled 200 miles south of San Diego to Guadalupe Island, about 150 miles off the coast of Baja. It's a place shark enthusiasts love to go to catch a glimpse of the great white from a cage underwater.

"I wanted to present a realistic portrait of these animals, but also wanted to show working relationship between eco-tourism boats, the shark diving boats and the Mexican researchers that are there... why have they chosen Isla Guadalupe," he said.

You can see the source of food here is one major attraction for the sharks. But researchers have yet to answer many questions about shark behavior, which is why shark tagging is used to collect information. Richard's film not only shows this warm-blooded creature in motion, but acts as a tool to bring science and public interest together.

"People have always said the great white shark has this black eye, well it's not completely black. You can actually see its pupil and as he goes by I can see him tracking and looking at me. You feel a momentary connection. I see you, you see me," he said.

It's that connection that Richard wants people to make before it's too late. Conservation is one of the leading messages in his documentary.

"We're losing up to 100 million sharks a year, primarily to feed the Asian demand for shark fin soup and other shark products in these Asian countries," he said.

Richard hopes "Island of the Great White Shark" will give people a better appreciation for the fight sharks face every day to survive.

"We are not on their menu, that we don't need to fear these animals. They certainly are top predators and have an important role in marine ecosystems and we need them, but we should not necessarily fear them or fear putting our toe in the water," Richard said.

Documentary tackles threats facing sharks

Birch Aquarium at Scripps hosts screening, "Island of the Great White Shark " with Filmmaker Richard Theiss

Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009
6-8 p.m., $8 per ticket
RSVP: 858-534-4109
Video Trailer: Click here

The great white shark, one of the world's most amazing predators, is facing unprecedented threats to its survival. Join filmmaker Richard Theiss for a special screening and discussion of his award-winning documentary, "Island of the Great White Shark," from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 6, at Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.

In his film, Theiss takes viewers 200 miles south of San Diego to Isla Guadalupe, one of nature's dwindling sanctuaries for the great white shark. In a race against time, marine researchers and eco-tourists have forged a unique alliance to study and protect these animals from potential slaughter. Through dramatic underwater close-ups and expert interviews, the 43-minute documentary captures the true nature of these magnificent predators and chronicles the efforts of conservationists and scientists working to understand and protect the sharks before it is too late.

Worldwide, more than 100 million sharks are killed each year, either as accidental bycatch or as a source of fins for the Asian delicacy, shark fin soup. In contrast to their undeserved reputation as malevolent man-eaters, these animals serve a critical role in the health of ocean ecosystems.

Theiss, whose work has been utilized by National Geographic, PBS and Animal Planet, was inspired to create his documentary following a diving trip to Isla Guadalupe nearly five years ago. He recognized an important story in the successful relationship between scientists and eco-tourism operators as well as the need to present the majestic great white shark in a more accurate context.

"I wanted to enlighten audiences as to the importance of these powerful apex predators and the perilous fate that they, and all sharks in general, are now facing," Theiss said. "Like so many environmental issues today, we need to act now; to delay any further would be tragic."

"Island of the Great White Shark" DVDs will be available for purchase in the aquarium bookshop until 6:30 p.m. and can be signed by the filmmaker.

RSVP: 858-534-4109
Location: Birch Aquarium at Scripps, 2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla

Island of the Great White Shark Screening

For those of you in the Southern California area, two terrific aquarium organizations are holding screening/lecture events for Island of the Great White Shark. After the screening of the documentary, filmmaker Richard Theiss will be on hand to field questions about the film, and discuss the current state of affairs at Isla Guadalupe and shark conservation in general. This film draws a crowd so call early and coax a friend along who might be convinced that all sharks are really demons-your opinion will change.

Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institute of Oceanography
La Jolla, CA
When: Tues., Jan. 6, 2009, 6:00-8:00pm
For RSVP/tickets, call: 858-534-4109

Heal the Bay (Santa Monica Pier Aquarium)
Santa Monica, CA
When: Wed., Jan. 21, 2009, 7:00-8:30pm
For information, call: 310-393-6149

While we're here how about a shameless plug for those of you shopping for the holidays: The Island of the Great White Shark DVD is available online through Amazon, currently at a reduced price for holiday season. This award-winning documentary is a great stocking stuffer for shark lovers and those who could benefit from seeing the magnificent great white shark in a different light.

Subject "Lucy" Isla Guadalupe

A quick convo this morning with Richard Theiss CEO of RTSea Productions netted the following video. We were discussing "Lucy" a uniquely damaged shark from operations site Guadalupe. Shark conservation and awareness does not take million dollar budgets-it takes "time and dedication" something Richard understands organically. Note: For more information about the tracking and ID program go to Marine CSI:

Great White Shark Damage-Guadalupe Island

Yesterday one of our shark divers Gene Williams from our 2007 expeditions sent over some interesting video he shot. What made his footage unique is a shark called "Lucy". This female, first spotted at the island back in 2003 and again in 2004 was a healthy animal until her disappearance in 2005 and again in 2006. Lucy reappeared in 2007 with some extreme damage to her tail as seen in this video.

Damage like this happens from a variety of sources in the white sharks world-but more often than not it happens from other white sharks. Lucy's fate was unknown until this season 2008 when she reappeared back at the island. Apparently the damage she sustained to her tail did not slow down her migration to the Shared Offshore Feeding Area known as SOFA:

Guadalupe Island Conservation Fund 2009

Two years ago Shark Diver launched, with the help of a few forward thinking dive operations, the Isla Guadalupe Conservation Fund website.

Our goal as a commercial shark diving operation has always been the integration of science and tourism. Redirecting funds back into worthy shark site projects.

The funds original objective was to provide much needed dollars for ongoing and Mexican based shark research.

Additionally, we were interested in the continuing mechanics of a web based fund roll out combined with a video push created by RTSea Productions on You Tube and elsewhere. After two years we can report this effort has been a great success both in terms of dollars generated and information about the Bio Sphere to the public 24/7.

As a template for other commercial shark diving operations worldwide-this works. It was a cost effective project and to date has been viewed by well over 400K interested parties.

The funds original brainchild and most ardent financial supporter has been Mike Lever owner/operator of the Nautilus Explorer. His constant selling of the fund has raised thousands of dollars for Isla Guadalupe projects.

Since the websites debut a lot of changes in policy and direction have happened at I.G and the website is becoming outdated. In 2009 we will be updating this site to reflect the current situations and needs at the island with updates on current research and more.

Please check back with us in the near future for web updates.