When we hear the word ‘shark', we feel scared; we imagine this beautiful animal as being evil and that waits for humans to enter its domain to attack and bite chunks out of them with its powerful jaws full of sharp teeth. Much of these feelings are due to the box office cinema productions such as ‘Jaws’.

Recently during my career as a marine photographer, I have visited many places in the world in search of these famous sharks, which are ever more scarce due to indiscriminate fishing (more than 100 million sharks are caught each year) causing them to rapidly disappear from the ocean depths.

 

The white shark is perhaps the most renowned of all as it is the star of many movies and documentaries. Up to very recently, it was thought that we could only observe the species in the far off seas of South Africa and Australia. So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that here in Mexico, there is a small island called Guadalupe where white sharks have passed by for a long time, so, that is where we are heading.

The first there had to do was to search for an expert in the field who also had a good knowledge of the zone. That expert is Roberto Chavez and his companion, Alicia Hermosillo. I contacted them in the beautiful city of Guadalajara and we agreed to make the voyage in the vessel ‘Nautilus* on September. The group for this expedition consisted of Armando Gasse, Alfredo Chedraui, Rafael Nachon, Guillermo Piñero, Aldo Osorio, Antonio Rodriguez, Anuar Heberlein, Mario Ceballos, Amaya Bernárdez, and on this occasion, we were accompanied by my son, Rodrigo.

Filled with optimism, we boarded our boat and set sail from the city and port of Ensenada and headed for the Island of Guadalupe. We sailed for nearly 22 hours across a calm Pacific Ocean to travel the 240 km to arrive at our destination. We used this time to make new friends such as Jose Luis Perez Rocha and Thomas Fernandez, as well as listening carefully to the talks offered by our shark expert. Pilar Blanco. The Island of Guadalupe is located in the enormous Pacific Ocean and politically belongs to the frontier state of Baja California. The Island of Guadalupe is Mexico’s last frontier in its most north westerly extreme. It’s volcanic origin and its distance from the mainland affords it a unique biodiversity that together with its abrupt and desolate topography awoke our amazement.

 

 

We arrived at the island in the early evening and right away, the crew put the cages in the water and started to prepare the bait of tuna, blood and a kind of oil, which when mixed and thrown into the water never fails to attract the great white shark. In the morning I found myself on deck watching the sunrise that rose silently and deceivingly quickly, painting the clouds that hung over the sea a subtle pink color. The island was totally illuminated in a matter of seconds showing off its imposing cliffs and the families of Guadalupe sea lions and enormous elephant seals. My thoughts were interrupted by our Captain’s Mike Carcharodon shouts of “Shark, shark!" Leaning over the deck. I could see the enormous shadow of my first white shark. The dining area suddenly emptied and stress took hold of all the passengers as we rushed to put on our thick wetsuits to protect us against the cold water and having to spend a long time in the cages without moving while waiting for the Lord of the seas to appear.

I shared the cage with my son Rodrigo and Alfredo; the conditions were perfect, the water was not very cold and the visibility spectacular. After a short time, suddenly and extremely softly and silently, in the knowledge that it is the most prolific predator of the seas, the largest shark I have ever seen appeared; a male of almost four meters in length and weighing almost 500 kg. The adrenaline in the cage ran high and we could not take our eyes of it. full of emotion trying to capture the moments on video, but the bars were too close together and I couldn’t aim the camera properly, so there was nothing else to do but continue enjoying the sight of this wonderful creature.

 

 

Suddenly out of the depths some 10 meters away. I saw the unmistakable silhouette of a shark. We all turned towards the same point as if there were communication between the other three cages. The others had also seen it and followed it with their eyes. I was praying because Armando, Rafa and Rodrigo, who are on the other cages, always take good photos. It moved slowly, advancing with fluidity but with large and very slow movements. It was elegant, majestic, robust and very large. It seemed to be watching us while it swam in large circles around the bait. They tried to attract it from the boat by throwing more bait into the sea. as well as the mix of blood and fish offal. When the shark launched its enormous weight onto the bait it disappeared in a matter of seconds without leaving a trace. Everything returned to normal when this enormous beast disappeared into the blue. I must confess that my companions and I never felt afraid, but it was very exciting, together with the admiration and respect we owe to the great white shark. 

 

Text: Rodrigo Friscione / Anuar Heberlein / Armando Gasse / Rafa Nachón ± Photo: Rodrigo Friscione / Anuar Heberlein / Armando Gasse / Rafa Nachón