paddling with a camera

Certainly, that picture added some extra excitement to my incoming expedition race around Florida. During my previous WaterTribe challenges I saw manatees, dolphins, sea turtles, gators, but no sharks ...

Finally, I have found the source of that image. The author of the photograph is Thomas P. Peschak, a marine biologist at the University of Cape Town’s Marine Biology Research Institute.

He leads ongoing research into abalone poaching, kelp forest ecology, Cape Clawless Otters and the entho-marine biology knowledge of traditional cultures. He is an experienced field biologist and research diver and has worked in Africa, Central America, the Middle East and in the South Pacific. Thomas is an award winning natural history photographer and writer specializing in underwater and marine wildlife subject across Africa. He is a regular contributor to BBC Wildlife magazine and to Africa Geographic. He is also the author of the book Currents of Contrast: Life in Southern Africa's Two Oceans.

The image depicting a researcher in a kayak with a great white shark comes from the article Shark Detectives - Investigating Great Whites published in the September 2005 issue of Africa Geographic. The picture is available as a 840 x 594 mm poster. The article in Africa Geographic contains more great shark pictures. And, they are using kayaks for an undisturbed observation and research of great white sharks. See another shark and kayak picture.

... We would also have to abandon our motorized research boat since it could not take us into very shallow and treacherous waters and the engine's noise and vibration seems to disrupt natural shark's behaviour, either repeatedly attracting them to or repelling them from the vessel. We needed a mode of transportation that is quiet, non-motorized, manoeuvrable, and capable of handling rough seas. In late December we took to the sea in kayaks.

Sitting in a 3.8 meter sea kayak and watching a four-meter great white approach you is a fairly tense experience. Although we had extensively tested the sharks' reaction to an empty kayak and had observed no signs of aggression, this gave us little comfort as we eyed a great white heading straight for us, albeit slowly. Just a meter or so from the craft it veered off, circled and slowly approached from behind. It did this several times, occasionally lifting its head out of the water to get a better look. Then it lost interest, and as it continued on its way were able to follow a short distance behind. Once we would come to terms with having nothing between ourselves and a four-meter shark except a thin layer of plastic, out kayak made an ideal research platform for observing great white in shallow water ...