Eau Canada
Blue sharks of BC H
By Eiko Jones
eading 15 miles off the West Coast of Vancouver Island in near gale force winds doesn’t sound like a typical British Columbia dive trip, and this was anything but. In early August, five adventurous divers and one hardy Icelandic skipper headed out. Instead of the usual emerald
green waters and prolific life adorning the rocks that is so sought after by local divers, we were after something much different: sharks. Most divers are not aware that warm currents push in close to Vancouver Island’s West Coast in the late summer months. These clear blue off-shore currents harbour a host of pelagic life not often encountered in BC’s coastal waters. Offshore Tuna fisherman and others have known about this phenomenon for years. With the warm waters come Mola mola, Albacore Tuna, Mackerel and, what we were seeking on this trip, Blue Sharks. After an early morning start from the small fishing
village of Tahsis and a peaceful run out of the protected waters of Esperanza inlet, we endured an hour of punishing seas. Once we figured we had gone far enough our intrepid captain dropped anchor in hundreds of feet of water and the wait was on. With a couple of bags of salmon carcasses hanging off the
66 Magazine
side of the boat and the waves crashing, we sighted our first shark. Thoughts of seasickness were put aside as we hurriedly donned our wetsuits and, with a nice strong tether to the boat, the first small group jumped in the water. The charter captain is still shaking his head at the memory of the crazy guests that leapt overboard at the first sign of sharks. With the large waves and surprisingly low water
visibility, the first encounters with the sharks were feeling them bumping into us as they searched for the source of the fish smell in the water. After the initial shock of their closeness, it was just pure fun, mixed with a lot of body-jolting and tugging from the pitching boat at the other end of the tether lines. The sharks we encountered were relatively small, in the 6-8 foot (1.8-2.5m) range, but very inquisitive and interesting to observe. With the worsening conditions and low water visibility we had limited time in the water, but enough to get some images and a lot of great memories - and plans to go back again.
10-17mmm at 17mm, Sea and Sea YS D1 Strobes, Shutter Speed 1/ 125th sec, f/13, ISO 800. For more visit:
www.eikojonesphotography.com
Nikon D800 Camera, Aquatica AD800 Housing, 4” Mini Dome, Tokina
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