BAD Sharks - Exciting, Intriguing, Perfectly Save!

I arrived in the south of the mainland of Viti Levu two days ago. Here in Pacific Harbour it is raining most of the time, the temperature is still very warm but in a nice way. The slogan of the Resort I am staying in is definatelly suitable: It's not perfect. It is Paradise.
After days of lazing in the sun on some islands it is time for some action again. My main reason for being here is BAD Sharks. I am joining the Beqa Adventure Divers for a Shark Dive here in the Beqa Channel. The water around the Beqa island is a Shark Reef Marine Reserve giving home to eight species of Sharks: Tawny Nurses, Sicklefin Lemons, Grey/Whitetip/Blacktip Reefs, Silvertips, massive Bull Sharks as well as the occasional Tiger Shark up to 5 meters length.

With a small dive boat we head out into the rough sea. We are shaking from side to side and the big waves are splashing in. After 20 minutes we reach the first dive site and get our first briefing. The nine divers go down accompanied with seven team divers (plus metal sticks for defense). We drop down 30 meters into the channel into the socalled Arena, where we are about to watch the first spectacle of bull shark feeding. Big GT's and all sorts of fish fill the water. With the coral wall in their back two of the team divers dive out into the Arena with a big trash bin filled with big chucks of fish. The density of fish around them rises. I suddenly feel a dark shadow above me, look up and see my first Bull Shark of approx. 3,5-4 meters length. The local diver handfeeds these giants almost like pets while they drift their way around us. After 15 minutes we level up to 10 m for feeding the smaler Reef Sharks and Travellies, whereas one of the team divers gets bitten by a GT.
For the second dive at 15 m we drop to a little lagoon, where we have to lay down lying flat on the ground in case the Tiger Shark lady Scarface joins our dive. However, this is not the case and I will have to get back some other time! Definatelly an amazing adventure! I cannot quite believe it was just a couple of months ago that I cried under water seeing my first "little" Reef Shark...
Here some impressions of the dive. The pics are taken by Sam, who was joining the dive for the 148th time today. Underwater photography of sharks is one of his hobbies (I envy his camera!) and he already won some award for his pics. Check out the following link:

http://www.underwaterphotography.com/Members/Member-Profile.aspx?ID=30086

Reef Shark
Silvertip
Bull Shark enjoying being hand fed
Bull Shark