*Bull Shark off Playa Del Carmen, MX. 1/320, f10, ISO 1000*

It was my very first ocean dive. I was in Cozumel, Mexico, drifting clumsily over the reef, still overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of it all—the colors, the movement, the vastness. I was a new diver, wide-eyed and breathing way too fast, trying to take it all in.

Then my divemaster pointed down.
And there it was.

A bull shark, cruising calmly near the bottom.

I was flooded with emotion—awe, fear, curiosity, all mixed together. Part of me wanted to swim toward it, to see it closer. Another part of me wanted to turn and get out of the water as fast as I could.

All I knew about sharks at that time was what I had learned from movies and the media: that sometimes, they eat people.

*Lemon Shark getting it’s teeth cleaned off Tiger Beach, Bahamas, i/320, f9, ISO 800*

Shortly after that moment, my tank ran low—a classic rookie mistake. I was breathing too hard, too fast. And instead of surfacing with me, my dive master sent me up alone.

Such a terrible thing to do with a new diver.

*Blue Shark off Cabo San Lucas, MX. 1/320, f9, ISO 1000*

I’ll never forget floating there on the open surface, alone, terrified, staring down into the deep blue, knowing there was a shark somewhere below me. I had no idea where the boat was.

It took a while for the boat to find me, or at least it felt like it took a while.

The boat eventually found me. As I sat there catching my breath, my mind was racing.

Why didn’t the shark come after us?
Why didn’t it rise up and eat me?
Why? Why? Why?

*Oceanic Whitetip off Dominica Island, Caribbean. 1/320, f9, ISO 1250*

And that was it.
That moment, that one encounter… it changed everything.

Because everything I thought I knew about sharks was wrong.

And I needed to know more.

That single dive—over 26 years ago—sent me on a path that I’m still walking today. I’ve spent decades diving with sharks around the world, and I’m still asking questions.

*Caribbean Reef Sharks off Tiger Beach Bahamas. 1/320, f9, ISO 500*

Because the more I know, the more I realize how little I know.

And that’s what I love most about these animals.

They keep me curious, they keep me humble… and they keep me coming back for more.

Our December Tiger Shark trip has been a crazy, scary, fun ride so far. It is only day 3 and I have had several gut checks. The tigers have been on fire. This morning we had 6 players come in. Emma, Freckles, Maui, Tequila, a new big shark we haven't named yet and of course our freaking pain in the ass, Jitterbug.

Jitterbug is turning out to be a real nightmare of a shark. I was hoping she would of settled down by now, but she hasn’t. The thing is, she is not just a jerk to the feeders, she is also a pain to the other tigers and lemons. Today she bit one of the lemons on the dorsal fin and I watched the lemon turn and slam her on her side, pushing JB, up and away. I am Hopeful as she gets older, she will settle down. But, I highly doubt it... She is just a crazy shark.

It has been a great week for species. When we arrived at Fish Tales yesterday, we had 4 bull sharks hanging around, which is a new thing. We normally do not have bull sharks here. But the way these sharks are behaving, it looks like the bulls are here to stay. So we will see what that turns into. Often when a few bulls show up, it won’t be long before they invite a bunch of their friends here and long term, that will be a bad thing.

We also had Patches the great hammerhead show up here today. Which was awesome. She is one of the Bimini hammerheads, but has decided she likes it here at TB, so she has returned again for second season. I do hope she stays, it always makes for better dives. If she decides to hang out permanently, and with the addition of bull sharks, Tiger Beach will have easily become, the all time greatest shark dive in the world. 3 marquee species on one dive... Just incredible.

Patches the Great Hammerhead. Image by Victor Osipov

We finished up the trip with time spent at Bimini, seeking out great hammerheads. Over a three day period we had five different hammerheads visit us. Two of them I recognized from previous trips, the others were new to me. One of the hammerheads had a badly broken jaw (fishermen). It did a quick pass, so I didn’t get a really good look at it. The only thing I could confirm was that it was a male shark. I was hoping it was not Spartacus, a shark I have known for a while. It was hard to tell from the distance, but it had dark brown skin, like Spartacus. The other male we frequently see here, Anchor, has more of a buck skin color to him.

Over all, it was an amazing trip and an amazing way to end the 2017 season. I was excited to see my old friends, Emma and Tequila back at Tiger Beach. They safely made it through another season. We still have not seen Princess or Hook yet, which makes me worry, they are really late to arrive. If they show up together in January, it will sort of reinforce my theory that tigers travel in twos, and that Hook and Princess are travel partners. More importantly than that, I just want to know these two beauties make it back safely to Tiger Beach.

🦈 The Shark That Changed Everything

Final Trip of the 2017 Season.

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