Photographing the Great White Shark

Don Silcock · Issue 53, Mar/Apr 2010 · pp. 40–45

Products mentioned: Nikon D100, Nikon D200, Subal housing, Sigma 15mm, Nikon 12-24mm, Nikon 18-200mm

Very few creatures are as firmly embedded into the public’s psyche as Carcharodon carcharias - the Great White Shark. It’s reputation as a ruthless killing machine, prowling the depths waiting to pounce on unsuspecting surfers, swimmers and in fact anybody foolish enough to enter the water, is hard-wired into most people’s mind. The movie Jaws was largely responsible for the initial perception, but the sensationalist treatment of shark attacks by the news media have firmly entrenched it. The reality is rather different as a quick look at the available statistics show – just 244 of the 1563 unprovoked shark attacks recorded on humans in the last 100 years are credited to the Great White Shark, according to the International Shark Attack File (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/ fish/Sharks/ISAF/ISAF.htm) Great Whites are indeed the apex predator - to use that rather clichéd phrase - but to apprecia…