Bahamas Sharks and Dolphins July 2010

This photography trip turned out to be fun and productive, despite unusually rough seas, frequent cloudy skies, poor water visibility and noticeable less tiger sharks than previous years. The weather, while challenging, created unique conditions for photography experimentation.
The reefs we dove were beautiful and healthy and still home to large numbers of sharks; mostly reefs but also some lemons and nurse sharks and one tiger. I saw lots of lionfish, though its seems they were less common than on the reefs around Nassau. Perhaps this has to do with the greater number of apex predators in this area, either feeding on or competing with the lionfish.
Sadly, one of the amazing deep reefs we dove was covered with fish traps, some of which had captured angelfishes and parrotfish. Bahamians should improve their trapping methods to prevent such beautiful and ecologically important fish from being removed from the reef unnecessarily. These species are not targeted (by catch) and removing them is wasteful.
My personal highlight of the trip were the dolphins this time. We encountered many friendly pods of Atlantic spotted dolphins with good interaction. Some pods were accompanied by common bottlenose dolphins. In one mixed pod, bottlenose bulls were mating with the Atlantic spotted cows!
The trips on Jim Abernathy’s Shearwater are unique and unforgettable and I always learn lots about sharks, dolphins and improving my photography. This one was no exception.