Monday, June 8, 2009

Shark Shot of the Week

What would you do when presented with a 30 foot shark in the water?

If you're Paul Semmens
you jump in and go meet the critter face to face.

No, Paul is not mad, he's a just a "shark guy". There's no rhyme or reason for wanting to dive with a 30 foot Basking shark except for the joy of the "moment":

Photographer Paul Semmens captured images of the shark from the ferry The Scillonian which runs between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly as it fed close to the surface on plankton.

The size of the creature is revealed by the distance from the dorsal fin to the tail fin which is half its total length.


"It was around seven metres - over 30-ft long - a big one - but they do get bigger," Mr Semmens said. "June is often a good month to see basking sharks because the sea has warmed up and the algal blooms which they feed on are growing.


"I've seen over 20 of them off Cornwall recently - which is an average number. A couple of years ago there were over 300 spotted in one day which was a record."


Complete Story

World Oceans Day - 6.8.2009

The Ocean Project would like to remind you to wear "Blue" today and celebrate World Ocean Day:

To help promote our collective ocean conservation message on and around World Oceans Day, we urge our Partners to "Wear Blue and Tell Two."

Beginning this year we can all start to associate the color blue with World Oceans Day. This event has been unofficially celebrated for more than a dozen years but this year marks the inaugural World Oceans Day, officially recognized by United Nations resolution as June 8th each year.

Fine Shark Television - BAD

South Pacific is a simply gorgeous piece of underwater film making, shot by the BBC and producer Jonathan Clay.

Naturally you do not shoot the entirety of the South Pacific without a visit with sharks - and the good folks over at Beqa Adventure Divers provided the site, animals, and adventure for this crew.

South Pacific is currently airing in the U.K in an 8 part series to rave reviews.

Keep your eyes open for this glorious piece of underwater eye candy as it makes the rounds to a high definition, 80 inch flat screen, with surround sound, near you.

If you have been waiting to acquire an 80 inch flat screen consider this fair warning. Kudos again to BAD for being involved in this shoot.