Shark Pictures Elasmodiver Update #2


Sharks and rays completely monopolized my time during the last quarter of 2005 which is good news for anyone that visits Elasmodiver on a regular basis as there have been plenty of small updates. I managed to get back to Australia twice which resulted in 3 new stingaree species and one new wobbegong shark being added to the index. You can follow the picture links below to all of the new images in the Shark Pictures Database or read the species descriptions from the links on Elasmodiver's HOME page and find out exactly where and when to dive with them.
Sinclair's Stingaree	Masked Stingaree	Spotted Stingaree	Cobbler wobbegong


It's possible that the Sinclair's and Spotted stingarees are actually variations of the same animal. I spoke to Peter Last of CSIRO who conducts a lot of the taxanomic work on Australian elasmobranchs and he said that the species are under review. More specific info is included on their respective pages.

After the Australian trips I hooked back up with Eli Martinez and SHARK DIVER MAGAZINE to go to the Bahamas in search of big sharks and came back with many new shots of Lemon sharks both in daylight (like the group in the header), and at night (below). The night dive shark feeds were great fun and all the shots are listed in the LEMON SHARKS PICTURES PAGE including a larger version of the image you see here:


After the Bahamas I flew down to St Maarten to cover a Caribbean reef shark feed for Shark Diver. The reef sharks there are big and feisty and some very dynamic pictures are due to be published. As soon as they hit the magazine stands I'll load them onto Elasmodiver. In St Maarten I found a species of shark called a Blacknose shark. These sharks are rarely photographed so I was especially happy to get some shots for the database. Follow this BLACKNOSE SHARK link to get to its information page or click on the picture to see all the Blacknose shark pictures in the Shark Pictures Database.


Elasmodiver now has the beginnings of a Shark Photography section. If you follow the new shark photography link off the home page it will take you to an index which looks at the different aspects of photographing sharks. As I am by no means David Doubilet (National Geographic Underwater Photographer in residence) it is designed to encourage beginner and intermediate level photographers to get in the water and hone their skills. Presently it covers basic composition and has a discussion page on the ethics of shark photography and conduct. There will be many more pages added fairly soon so its worth checking regularly if you're interested. To take a peek follow this link: SHARK PHOTOGRAPHY PAGES
Shark Diver Magazine subscribers will already be familiar with the new articles on the Shark Diving Stories Page. But for those of you that (for some obscure reason) don't get Shark Diver Magazine, Tasseled wobbegongs, and Stingray City on Steroids are both newly added.
For a more informative look at Western Australia where those stories were written, there are also new pages on the Shark Diving Hotspots Map.
BIG PLANS FOR ELASMODIVER... Elasmodiver is getting a major face lift. The Frames in the original site are gone. Now google searches will always arrive at a page with a nav bar. Elasmodiver also has a new brighter look and all the images in the Shark Pictures Database have been thumbnailed to help shorten page loading times I'm looking forward to creating an information portal in the near future that links to anyone who wants to list their ongoing elasmo research, I would also like to have a database of papers published on newly described species. I'm fascinated by the idea of new species being discovered and I think it would be good to have a location where information on these discoveries can reside. Of course there will be no pictures to accompany the information but that gives me something to go shoot one day!
Other shark plans afoot... Lately I've spent a lot of time in Texas working on "SHARK CHASERS" which is a new series destined for network TV. The promo says it better than I can so here it is: "Shark Chasers follows a team of shark obsessed filmmakers as they travel the globe in search of the ultimate adventure: up close encounters with the world's most feared creatures. Each show is a controlled adrenaline rush that culminates in a pulse racing climax. 50% documentary and 50% reality show, Shark Chasers is 100% action!" That pretty much sums it up. Its a very exciting project to work on. Right now we're putting the trailer together and if all goes well we should start shooting the first show in the early summer. If you want keep an eye on the progress of Shark Chasers bookmark this link: SHARK CHASERS THE SERIES.
Any ideas? Do you know where to find an elusive shark or ray species? Got any questions? I’m all ears: elasmodiver@gmail.com
That's it for new content but keep checking because every few days something changes unless I'm at sea looking for sharks. Thanks for visiting, thanks for linking your websites to Elasmodiver, and thanks for helping educate and protect sharks. Happy shark diving, Andy Murch Shark Photographer and Web Master