Guadalupe Island, a way station for great whites [Link to this slide]
Jim Cornfield

A frequent 13-foot visitor called the Russian passes by [Link to this slide]
Jim Cornfield

Cage divers settle in to observe [Link to this slide]
Jim Cornfield

Luke Tipple, a noted shark expert and documentary producer, grasps an underwater video camera as he descends into the cage. [Link to this slide]
Jim Cornfield

Deckhands attach the cage to Horizon’s stern. Cages are formed from thick aluminum bars that each have a compression strength of 5,000 pounds per square inch. [Link to this slide]
Jim Cornfield

Cage occupants, mostly ­ecotourists, await their first encounter with a great white, as Tipple prepares his camera. Topside, divemaster Martin Graf ( foreground ) and his crew supervise the proceedings....[More]

Cage occupants, mostly ­ecotourists, await their first encounter with a great white, as Tipple prepares his camera. Topside, divemaster Martin Graf (foreground) and his crew supervise the proceedings.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

Jim Cornfield

Bruce, a hefty 13-foot male, silently approaches the observation cage, his extraordinary array of senses tuned in to his unexpected visitors. [Link to this slide]
Jim Cornfield

To attract great white sharks from their cruising depths up to the surface, Horizon second-in-command Spencer Salmon hurls a "hangbait" clear of the submerged shark cages....[More]

To attract great white sharks from their cruising depths up to the surface, Horizon second-in-command Spencer Salmon hurls a "hangbait" clear of the submerged shark cages. To protect the Guadalupe biosphere from pathogens, government inspectors monitor shark-cage operators to ensure that all hangbaiting is done with nonhazardous fish products, usually tuna. Shark Diver CEO Patric Douglas also refuses to drag these lures close to the cages--a common abuse intended to produce those chilling cinematic moments when hungry sharks mistakenly chomp on rigid aluminum bars, which can harm the animals. Douglas decries the technique, used by irresponsible producers of TV news stories and so-called shark documentaries. "It’s nothing more than 'shark porn,'" he says with disgust.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

Jim Cornfield

Shredder, a Guadalupe regular easily recognized by the ragged trailing edge of his dorsal fin, turns and swims directly at the cage. Over the steady underwater gurgle of exhaust air bubbling from the regulators, divers hear their own muffled cries of awe--mostly "Wow!" exclaimed through teeth clamped on a rubber mouthpiece....[More]

Shredder, a Guadalupe regular easily recognized by the ragged trailing edge of his dorsal fin, turns and swims directly at the cage. Over the steady underwater gurgle of exhaust air bubbling from the regulators, divers hear their own muffled cries of awe--mostly "Wow!" exclaimed through teeth clamped on a rubber mouthpiece. Cameras flail in the shark's direction, and the divers' eyes widen as Shredder approaches.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

Jim Cornfield

After a slow pass of the cage, Shredder turns impassively and descends back into the shadows. [Link to this slide]
Jim Cornfield

Other sharks soon follow, including a newcomer that has not yet been named. Because air is supplied hookah-style from tanks above the surface, divers do not require scuba certification. [Link to this slide]
Jim Cornfield

Douglas estimates that 30 percent of the great white sharks in the Western Pacific frequent Guadalupe. For years poachers illegally killed the sharks, mostly for their jaws, which fetch thousands of dollars on the black market....[More]

Douglas estimates that 30 percent of the great white sharks in the Western Pacific frequent Guadalupe. For years poachers illegally killed the sharks, mostly for their jaws, which fetch thousands of dollars on the black market. But the very presence of ecotourist boats keeps hunters away. Douglas regards the efforts of responsible cage-diving operators as a mission to build awareness of these incredible animals--as well as concern for the welfare of elephant seals, fur seals, fish species and the ocean ecosystem. "Our role," he says, "is a form of site stewardship. This chunk of rock and volcanic cinder cones is probably the most robust white shark habitat on earth."  [Less] [Link to this slide]

Jim Cornfield