Wind Up White Sharks - Marc Montocchio

About as good as it gets for Isla Guadalupe shark images and after 10 years on this site we would know. Kudos to Marc Montocchio who shot a simply stunning expose with our favorite friends at Isla Guadalupe:


"She came within a few feet of the cage with as much effort as it would’ve taken me to form a benign thought.  The sunlight rippled across her gray sandy back like the spotlight reserved for a great queen or empress.  Her right eye looking straight at me she was simultaneously acknowledging my presence and assessing my place in the world that surrounded her.  The eye was not the empty black hole I was expecting.  It was shades of brown—an almost amber disk with a bright ring surrounding a smaller inner pupil."

The image we featured is a rare one, what Marc captured is the exact moment a white shark is "wound up" for a powerful high speed maneuver. Either this male (Shredder) was being challenged by an off screen rival, or he had become startled. This is the exact moment these magnificent animals show to the world the grace and power that is Carcharodon carcharias. 

For those in his wake you'll never forget the experience.

Great stuff and hat tip Mike for the find.

Save Snapper Ledge - One Click, One Voice

An initiative to protect premier Florida Keys Dive Site, Snapper Ledge, as a Sanctuary Preservation Area, SPA.

This video portrays the incredible beauty of Snapper Ledge and the critical importance of protecting it from hook and line and spearfishing. This video shows a means to sign a petition to protect Snapper Ledge.

Save Snapper Ledge click this link to add your voice today.

A video production by Frazier Nivens, Ocean Imaging.

"Holy crap, I've been nominated for an Emmy!"

That's the great news coming from iDive Sharks and Mark Thorpe who indeed has been nominated for an Emmy for his underwater work this month.

"Contracted by an independent production entity and along with a great team of other guys we set up camp for ten days living on a limestone rock in the western Pacific to film the daily Migration of the non stinging Jellyfish that call the lake home, all 16 million of them! The resulting footage when edited became the focal piece for the recent Great Migrations series aired on National Geographic, it is for this work on this project that I have recently found out that, along with the rest of the team, I've been nominated for an Emmy award, result!"

Kudos Mark, this nomination could not have happened to a better guy!

Watermen and Women in a Kickass Exploration of Film

Kudos to the team behind this. Eye popping fun at 150'

Photographer captures amazing images of waves breaking underwater the "Tipple Clan"

The Tipple Clan, who are they?

We all know Luke Tipple, consummate waterman, marine biologist, show host and shark conservationist, but what about his brother?

Today's Telegraph U.K featured the other half of the creative family behind the Tipple brand. Kudos!

Telegraph U.K

Mark Tipple took the stunning shots of swimmers and surfers emerging underwater engulfed in clouds of whitewater while being frequently rocked by the waves himself.

The 29-year-old captures the split second moments off the Australian coast and regularly gets beaten in the head by his 5kg, specially adapted camera for his troubles.

Mr Tipple, from Sydney, Australia, came up with the idea of photographing waves underwater after becoming frustrated with "normal" surf photography, and wanted to capture the moments from a different perspective.

He said: "During a flat spell in Sydney I shot a few small waves with people swimming off to the side.

"The results were pretty graphic and led to people swimming becoming the focus of the series, which was against my initial intention but looked great.

Mark Tipple took the stunning shots of swimmers and surfers emerging underwater engulfed in clouds of whitewater while being frequently rocked by the waves himself.

The 29-year-old captures the split second moments off the Australian coast and regularly gets beaten in the head by his 5kg, specially adapted camera for his troubles.

"Most of the people I photograph are just enjoying themselves at the beach and I ask them if they'd mind being in a picture.

"I tell them what I'm doing and show them a few photos and mostly they're amazed.

"Most of the time I come off worse than the people I'm shooting, generally I'm looking sidewards to track where they are in relation to where the wave is, and tend to pay more attention to them than the wave; which can rock me pretty hard.

"I'm pretty comfortable underwater from years of surfing, and can ride out the waves breaking overhead.

"Most of the credit has to be paid to the camera though, I'd be lying if I didn't say that most of the time I hold the shutter down and point in the general direction of the people.

Complete Story.

Dive Photo Guide Offers Free Online Tutorials

New York (Jan 27, 2010) – In response to the global demand from photographers, scuba divers, surfers and snorkelers around the world, leading underwater photography website DivePhotoGuide.com has launched a highly anticipated free series of comprehensive underwater photography tutorials.

The underwater photography guides offer easy-to-read tutorials for photographers all levels to learn how to take great underwater photos. The tutorials are written by professional underwater photographer Jason Heller and DivePhotoGuide.com editor Matt Weiss, along with contributions from several world renowned professional and award winning underwater photographers, such as National Geographic photographer David Doubilet, Martin Edge, and Alex Mustard. Each tutorial includes beautiful underwater photos and equipment set-up shots that illustrate each technique.

Underwater photography can be incredibly rewarding, but it does pose unique challenges and requires an understanding of basic principles and techniques. Beginners will find the Getting Started Guide very intuitive, including the top ten basic principles of underwater photography and how to select your first underwater camera system. Other tutorials include macro, wide angle, super-macro, composition, lighting, surf photography and a number of creative techniques. New and advanced techniques and tutorials will be added on a regular basis.

Popular underwater photography website DivePhotoGuide.com has been a valuable resource to a community of over 50,000 underwater photographers around the world since 2005. In addition to the new free techniques guides, the website features underwater photo galleries from the top pros and amateurs in the world, daily underwater photography and ocean related news, in-depth articles, a comprehensive underwater photography equipment guide, travel guide, event calendars and a monthly photo contest with prizes.

Undersea Voyager Project - Website

The Undersea Voyager Project has a new updated website.

What is the Undersea Voyager Project?

Smart discoveries, intelligent investigations, and undersea adventure as few have seen before. Project leader Scott Cassel is no stranger to the wild world of the deep and is changing the perception of some of the oceans strangest critters one dive at a time.

Welcome to the Undersea Voyager Project.

1955 - Sharks and Jane Russel

A post of ours earlier this week with the original poster from the 1955 Howard Hughes epic "Underwater" prompted us to go look for the films original trailer. Yes it has sharks in it and a whole lot of museum quality dive gear as well. They also don't make swimsuits like that anymore:



Editors Note: Let's give a few props here to the original underwater shooters who made this film happen paving the way for generations of underwater films that inspired and educated.