"I hit the sandy bottom and checked my depth gauge; depth, 115 feet, water temp, 70 degrees. I look to my left and kicked hard against a slight current to catch up with a sandtiger shark that was slowly disappearing from my field of vision. I caught up and swam with her a while. Sandtiger sharks are amazing animals. This is our third expedition to Morehead City, and I never grow tired of diving with these sharks. I wanted to keep chasing after her, but the vis is so bad that after around twenty yards or so, I swam back to the wreck. I was begining to lose sight of the wreck, and I didn't want to get lost, at least not on the first day. As much as I love this place, it's hard to believe that its been a year since I've last been diving here. But I'm here, and our group is here. In fact our group is all over the place, I look up at the wreck and see guests, Kathy Jobin and Teresa Rains seeking out some sharks to photograph. Its Teresa's first shark dive, I hope she's already seen some sharks, and that it was everything she thought it would be. Hanging on the anchor line I see a few others that were the first divers to drop down, and are now on their way up. I hope they saw some sharks, and maybe found some teeth..."

The first Chasing Sharks Dive Adventure of the year officially kicked off in Morehead City, North Carolina. And it was an exciting turn out. Our Dive Club party on Saturday night was a great success; The three days of diving were fantastic, despite the fact that the warmer Gulf Stream waters had yet to show up, which helps clean up the bad vis that surround the wrecks here in the Atlantic. But despite the low vis, we had perfect seas, sharks on every dive, a nice ocean breeze, and very warm days with plenty of sunshine. After a full day on the water with conditions like that, all you can say is “Life is Good!”

I do have to admit to some diving grief on this trip though. I had some major camera issues. I found out that shooting sharks is HARD! It is one thing to sit in a single spot and just shoot away, like on an organized shark feed. Because of the food, you have sharks swimming up and around you constantly. It is another to swim around during a natural shark encounter, kicking after sharks, and trying to get the shot. Its almost impossible, at least for me it was. I would find a shark, chase after it, then try to mentally will it into my frame. Then take the shot. Of course you need to make sure your strobes are right, your camera settings, white balance, f-stop speed... I admit, I hated it. When I had a camera in my hand, I had to chase the sharks around. I spent most of the dive searching for them, burning up all my air before I ever saw one shark. So I only took my camera down for a few dives, then I dove the rest of my time without it. Without a camera in my hand, I had a great time diving; No pressure to take the shot, no camera to lug around. It was just me and the sharks, one on one.

On one of my dives, I found a shark hovering motionless near the wreck above the sea floor. I decided to settle down in the sand to observe it, before I new it, three sharks appeared out of the murk and surrounded me. I couldn't believe it, when I had my camera, the sharks would scatter. Without it, the sharks made there way to me! So for a few magical minutes, it was just four sharks and me all alone. And the sharks were very close, I could make out the details of the parasites on the sharks skin. Moments like this are what my shark diving dreams consist of. Just peaceful observations between man and animal, it was surreal. It pains me to say, the only way this dive could of been more magical, is if I had a camera in my hand to capture the moment!