The Wink of The Oceanic Whitetip Shark
ENThose who follow me on Facebook have already seen the video in preview... 🦈 Having the chance to observe a shark (or several), during a dive, it always makes your heart beat a little harder. But filming him in the back of his eye, because he decided to come and stick to the dome of your photo lens... how can I put it... It's an experience I'm not about to forget!!!
A meeting as intense as unexpected
I let you admire this totally unexpected, intense encounter, as I experienced it, with this longimanus shark (oceanic whitetip shark)...It was November 13, 2017, at the very end of a dive at the Habili Ali (St. John's Reef) site in the southern Red Sea, Egypt.
At the end of an hour of immersion with my buddies of the day Anu and Alain, I discover, at the time of the safety stop, that a longfin shark is there, circling at the surface.
There are other divers around us, from another cruise ship than ours. Everybody is fascinated by the show. The shark passes and passes again under the boats, more interested than afraid of the divers.
A very curious shark
In this month of November 2017, I embarked, as in 2016 at the same time, for a diving-photo-apnea" cruise, organized by my friends Phil Simha and Rémy Dubern, on board the Exocet. Thanks to them, in 2016, I had already been able to observe the behavior of longimanes, in the Brothers Islands :
See the article → Under the sea with the longimanus sharks
On the strength of this first experience, I'm not particularly worried this time. Quite the contrary, in fact. I'm delighted at our good fortune, because the site we're in, Habili Ali, one of the reefs in the marine reserve that make up the famous Saint-John's Reefs, doesn't have the reputation of being “a longis' corner”.
I am therefore very enthusiastic, but also very vigilant: I know the very (very) curious nature of these sharks, and their propensity, especially here in the Red Sea, to come and inspect the webbed human beings very closely.
But I don't know yet, as all these thoughts run through my mind in front of this lone shark, how right I am seeing... 👌
Funny wink
Anyway. So I keep an eye on the shark and decide not to turn on my flashes, which I have just switched off during our ascent (the sharks are, it seems, very sensitive to the electrical impulses coming from this type of batteries which launch regular recharging cycles).
I just switch from photo mode to video mode and decide to wait a few minutes at a depth of 3-5 meters to observe the comings and goings of this unexpected shark, hoping to capture a few images of it.
More to read → Photo Equipment and Dive Gear
As for the longimanus shark, it continues to patrol quietly, until the moment when (finally!) it decides to come to meet me. Yes ! This time, no doubt, it is really approaching, the sideways movement of his caudal propels it right on me...
It's a moment of grace. Ma-gni-fi-que!!! 😍
I remain well in front of him, the dome of my camera stretched at arm's length. I don't move, I don't let too many bubbles fly so as not to scare him. I don't take my eyes off him over the top of my tank and I wait for the moment when the shark is going to turn around and go back the other way (as I have seen his fellow sharks do in the past).
But it does not leave. Not immediately. 😱
During a few seconds (which seem to me very long), the longimanus remains the eye and the "muzzle" stuck to my dome. Fascinated by its own reflection? Hypnotized by the mineral shine of the glass? Attracted by the electrical impulse of the camera in video mode?
It ends up coming straight to the contact! This triggers the reflex movement of a special eyelid, which comes to protect its eye. Never before, other than in documentaries, had I observed this eyelid or "nictitating" membrane in action. Well, that's it, it's done.
I discovered and learned, by doing some research, that this protective membrane of the eye is common to some 270 species of sharks belonging to the order of Carcharhiniformes (the kind of word not easy to recast in a conversation).
In any case, this brief contact with the dome of my housing was enough for it, it immediately faded from my company. After it left, I didn't insist and quickly got back on the inflatable boat. But I still can't get over the funny wink that the longimanus shark gave me!
😉
More to read → All my dives with sharks
I add below the educational sheet, designed by Steven Surina de Shark Education, on the right attitude to adopt in the water, when one is in the presence of a shark. Note that I have not managed to maintain a distance, except by interposing my camera between the animal and me...
I, in the same situation (highly unlikely, by the way), would have fainted from fright, and then, and then, ready meal for the shark!
@Ysbilia: I burst out laughing when I saw your comment... I knew you'd love it... We're not a meal for these sharks, their diet consists of fish and squid... On the other hand, it's true that this species isn't at all afraid of man, so it's best to remain cautious...
Extraordinary Corinne! I should be spared during my future trip to Raja Ampat next November 😀 Very beautiful pictures of the Red Sea in any case!
@Cem: thank you! Extraordinary, that's the word... You don't experience this kind of face-to-face encounter every day. When it comes to sharks in Raja Ampat, in addition to the usual blacktip/whitetip and a few grays, you're bound to see the countless wobbegongs (bearded carpet sharks) that are everywhere and maybe some walking sharks ... It'll be fantastic!
bsr
It's funny I had the same experience in November 2017 on the Daedalus site. While I was under the boat, I saw the "Longi" coming. I was equipped with my Go Pro, which was filming, but I had deliberately not turned on my headlights. The shark came towards me, so far so normal, and then started circling me, closing in very quickly. The first time it came into contact with me, as if attracted by my Go Pro, then in a new circle it came back a second time, insisting a little more, until it poked the camera in the nose (at this point I began to wonder and I felt a certain fear rising up inside me). ) Then he came back to me. Feeling a little apprehensive about his ride, I gave him a swipe on the nose with the turntable, which made him turn back. Phew! I quickly got back on the boat and that's when I got that shiver that takes over your whole body when you come out of an intense stress situation. Honestly, I'm a little reassured to see the mishap you experienced, which can be explained by the electrical impulses delivered by the camera in operation. Nice experience though, I'll have to detail my video to see its wink????
Thanks to you.
@ marcopolo8356: Generally speaking, when a shark, and a longfin in particular, starts to behave a little too "insistent", it's safer and wiser not to stay and see how insistent it can be... Better to get out of the water. Given what you've described, it was probably your GoPro that attracted him...
We were on a site where, in principle, there are no longimanes, so a small group of snorkelers had gone into the water on their own while we were diving... As soon as we saw the shark, we pointed it out to them and the Zodiac quickly went to get them out of the water, out of an abundance of caution. While scuba divers don't fear much underwater, as long as they're at the same level as the shark and can observe its behavior, a swimmer on the surface risks attracting its curiosity without seeing it coming from below, exposing himself to a dangerous "exploratory" bite... There have unfortunately been sad precedents involving snorkelers in the Red Sea.
As far as I'm concerned, I didn't get too stressed during this episode, but it's true that I had the housing of my camera, much bigger than that of a small GoPro, between me and the shark's "nose", which was probably quite reassuring, unconsciously. I just found it strange that the beast stuck to the dome like that, instead of leaving immediately as it should have done, but fortunately it only lasted a few seconds...
Scientists have yet to unravel all the mysteries of the Lorenzini bulbs that sharks have at the head and that allow them to detect electromagnetic fields. See also Shark Education: The electromagnetic sense.
Hello Corinne,
I don't know how you manage not to feel stressed or even scared at times like these. Just swimming with tiny lemon sharks didn't make me feel any better, but if I were you, I don't know how I'd have reacted!
When I think that I was in the freediving group instead of sticking to your fins, I'm disgusted 😉 ... Just goes to show that being unfaithful to your partner doesn't pay off!
Hi Corinne, It's just incredible! To think that with my little snorkeling experiences where I swam with blacktip and lemon sharks I can go get dressed ahha! But bravo for your courage and your magnificent photos 🙂
Hello. Sincerely, not only were you lucky with this little wink, but also a huge courage to have been able to swim with such a close shark. Personally, I can not!