Island hopping in the Philippines

Alan Larsen · Issue 54, May/Jun 2010 · pp. 55–59

Products mentioned: Nikon D200, Subal ND20 housing, Nikon 12-24mm lens, Nikon 105mm VR micro lens, Nikon 60mm micro lens, Inon Z-240 strobes

It is 6.30am; we have been waiting for thirty-five minutes at twenty-one metres looking intently into the blue. Our air and no-deco time are low – and our spirits are sinking. We decide to ascend when at last we see a long shadow coming towards us from the middle distance. As it draws closer, we see the unmistakeable long tail and large eye of a thresher shark. This is what we have been waiting for – and our luck is in: behind it is another. For the next five minutes we watch as they circle close to us, their dull grey bodies turning bright silver when caught by the early morning sun. Getting up at 4.30am has suddenly become worth the effort! December 2009 and we were at Monad Shoal off Malapascua Island in the Philippines. The plateau we had settled on is in fact the top of an underwater island, now famous as an early morning cleaning station for thresher sharks. I had my camera with me…