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Predapix
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24.01.2022 Pleased to to pick up a bronze in the Paris Prix De La Photographie PX3 Awards this week Congrats to all those receiving awards for their amazing work. Some days in photography (and life) things just don’t go the way you planned or hoped. So a tad dejected, sunburnt and mildly inebriated with a few ‘Dark and Stormy’s’, I decided to play around with shots I would normally discard to see what I could come up with. With that in mind I present one of those images. It depic...ts a sub-adult white shark doing his best impersonation of Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons. In reality he is investigating a piece of seaweed floating on the surface. In an interesting recent study conducted in Fiji they discovered through environmental monitoring and experiments that (reef) sharks alter the feeding behaviour of algae-eating fish in the ecosystem. This change reverberates down the food chain to affect where seaweed, a chief competitor to corals, grow on the reef (a trophic cascade). It highlights just how profound the influence apex predators can have on their environment. See more
20.01.2022 I’m often asked about the different types of bite techniques and mechanics white sharks utilise in their daily life. I’m not a scientist or a shark expert, and can only base my answer on my experience in spending a lot of time over the last decade underwater interacting with white sharks in their natural environment. The most common question being the difference between a so called ‘investigative bite’ and a ‘predatory bite’. Firstly we need to understand that the white shark...’s bite kinematics differs from other types of sharks in the carcharhinid family. Although they all use protrusion of the upper jaw, the white sharks’ rotates forward and downward. Focusing on this mechanism helps illustrate the differences in the bites They say a picture says a thousand words, so the best form of demonstration I can provide is this picture. It shows two different bite scenarios (and two different white sharks). The left hand image shows what could be interpreted as a ‘predatory bite’ whilst the right shows an ‘investigative bite’. The distinct difference in the protrusion of the upper jaw and subsequent bite force (<1.8 tonnes). Having said that, generalising can be very misleading as a number of other factors come in to play such as motivation and intent, however as an extremely generalised view, these two images would be considered to show the two main bite ‘types’. I’m not a big fan of sharing aggressive looking open mouthed white shark images as they tend to be used against the animals. I’m also guilty at times of enjoying these images but hope when used in context, with supportive and informative narratives, the ‘shark porn’ factor is not as bad.
20.01.2022 Whilst this is not a technically perfect picture it’s a cool way of showing the two exposed rows of lower teeth that form part of a white sharks dentition. When we look back at white shark evolutionary history, it’s typically only the teeth that survive the test of time. Sharks have soft cartilage which doesn’t preserve as well as bones and in most cases just dissolves over time. Teeth however, provide vital clues which scientists and palaeontologists use to piece together ...the mystery that is the evolution of white shark. Whilst the scientific community don’t always agree, it is now generally accepted that white sharks and mako sharks share a common ancestor having evolved from broad-toothed form of mako sharks. The discovery of fossil remains in southern Peru by a farmer in 1988 proved to be the missing link. A 4.8M (16ft) almost perfectly preserved set of jaws with 222 intact teeth and 45 vertebrae. By analysing the age of mollusc shells nearby, researchers estimated the shark to be about 6.5 million year old (late Miocene). Analysis of the teeth, in particular the shape and their positional similarity, revealed this to be an ancient intermediate form of the white shark. While modern white sharks have serrations on their teeth to help devour marine mammals, mako sharks lack these serrations because they primarily feed on fish. This fossil shark, now referred to as ‘Hubbell's white shark’ has partial coarse serrations, suggesting a transition from broad-toothed mako sharks to modern white sharks. See more
19.01.2022 Cruising over the sand this 4m sub-adult male white shark patrols the shoreline near the main (New Zealand) fur seal colony of North Neptune Island. No doubt hoping for a stray seal pup to wander too far from shore. With the winter months now upon us, these boys tend to make way for an influx of larger female white sharks. Typically, winter is when we see the super-giant females such as Dolly, Mrs Moo, Rhea or the biggest of them all, the 6m+ UFO. If we are lucky we might see... the return of super girl Jumbo. Last time we saw her was 2 years ago when she was an absolute behemoth, most likely heavily pregnant. She looked like she had been through the wars with scrapes, cuts and marks that looked like the result of some pretty aggressive mating. I’m guessing if she does show up she’ll be significantly slimmer having birthed her pups. This of course leads to the greatest question of them all, where? See more
18.01.2022 With low shark numbers, seal pupping season over and special permission obtained from the South Australian Department of Environment and Water, its a great opportunity to see the other wildlife on North Neptune Island. Nope its not a shark, but just as ‘dangerous’ and equally as stunning. Meet the Peninsula Brown Snake (Pseudonaja inframacula). Found on the Yorke and Eyre Peninsula (South Australia) and extending westerly along the coast almost to Eucla (eastern most part of WA), this 1.6m snake packs a powerful punch. As part of the brown snake family it rates somewhere between the 2nd - 10th most dangerous snake in the world. 15 deaths (all brown snake species) recorded from 296 confirmed envenomationsfar more than any other type of snake in Australia (brain haemorrhage or cardiac arrest).
16.01.2022 With the Aussie summer a few weeks away one of my favourite sharks, the Shortfin Mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), should once again appear at the Neptunes more regularly. The name ‘Mako’ has been ‘borrowed’ from the Southern Maori dialect for the broad term ‘shark’ ,or , in some interpretations shark tooth, I’ve never really been able to produce black and white images I’m happy with, but after seeing an stunning B&W shot of a white shark taken by my good friend Andrew Fox, I th...ought I’d plagiarise the idea with an old shot of my own. Oscar Wilde famously said Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness so kudos to Andrew for being the inspiration for this image :-) which depicts what has become colloquially known in the USA as a grander Mako (Monster Mako). This particular shark is known as Paris due to her love of the camera (after Paris Hilton) and exceeded 3m in length. #mako #grandermako #andrewfox #cagediving #underwaterphotography #predapix #rodneyfox #sharkphotography #sharkdiving See more
14.01.2022 Spring has sprung! The water is getting warmer and soon it will bring the influx of smaller male white sharks and the occasional schools of passing (Western) Australia Salmon (Arripis truttaceus). Typically these fish are part of a sub-adult white sharks diet particularly at the juvenile white shark nursery areas such as Corner Inlet, Victoria. Here we have a sub-adult male white shark about 3.5m in length passing through a large school of Australian Salmon beneath the radi...ant North Neptune Island midday sun. Spring is an amazing time at the Neptunes and whilst shark numbers are unusually low in the last few weeks I’ll be spending the next few weeks back at the islands chasing more pictures like this one. Due to some cancellations a number of spots (aboard the Rodney Fox boat) have become available for the next two trips 6-10 Nov and 11-15Nov. As it’s very late notice I can offer an incredibly discounted price. If you are available and interested PM me for details. See more
11.01.2022 Happy Oceans Day 2019. A day where we are encouraged to think about our oceans and what they have to offer all of us with hopes of conserving them for present and the future generations. To me the underwater world is like outer space. Unknown, mysterious and alluring. So for Oceans Day 2019 I present this chubby little white shark swimming through a cloud of stirred up sand and the juxtaposition of looking like he is flying though the stars in the dark reaches of space
10.01.2022 Honoured to take out 1st prize in the underwater section of the 2019 International Photography Awards (IPA 2019). Also picked up an honourable mention for my photo 'First Date' which depicts two large white sharks holding 'hands' as they cruise the ocean floor of the Neptune Islands. Special thanks to Andrew Fox and the Rodney Fox Shark Expeditions crew for the ongoing support. For those wanting to get up close and personal with these amazing creatures, Rodney Fox is the only operation in the world to have an ocean floor cage (and a great new boat) where you can see these magnificent animals like nowhere else in the world can offer. So checkout www.rodneyfox.com.au
09.01.2022 Shooting upwards from the ocean floor towards the surface cage and hull of the Princess II, one of the estimated 2210 Australian adult white sharks peacefully cruises past. A study by the CSIRO on cross kin genetics, has for the first time, provided a research based estimation of the adult population of the Australian white sharks (combined 1460 eastern and 750 west coast sub-populations). The modelling suggests a 10% chance of death each year an adult white shark survives. A seperate paper estimates white shark by-catch numbers from only the South-Western population averages 28 individuals annually. Total population numbers (including juveniles and sub-adults) of the eastern population have an estimated range of between 2,909 and 12,802. Annual survival rates of juveniles and sub-adults are around 73%.
07.01.2022 Just arrived back into port after a fantastic 3 night trip down to the Neptune Islands. Here we have 3.6m male white shark ‘Chipotle’, cruising the white sands of the main bay of the west Island of the North Neptune group after being tagged with an acoustic transmitter by Andrew Fox. Having been at the Neptunes for a week or so he will shortly move off to complete his migratory route, in doing so he will provide invaluable data as he passes any of the hundreds of acoustic receiver stations dotted along the Australian coastline.
06.01.2022 Lovely little piece by channel 7 about the rare and endangered Australian sealions (equally most endangered sea lion in the world) maybe a little creative licence with calling it ‘dangerous’ though. https://www.todaytonightadelaide.com.au//australian-sea-li
03.01.2022 Chinese whispers, white shark style. Whilst they don't apparently communicate audibly, they do communicate with each other. Whilst we don't really know for sure, scientists believe their method of communication is through body language that includes stiff and arched bodies, open mouths, swimming patterns, breaching, gaping and tail slaps. Interestingly at the Neptune Islands some sharks do appear together year after year. It's plausible that these 'clans' identify each other visually, most probably the same way we identify individuals, by taking note of the unique identification cues such as the an individuals countershading boundary and permanent pigmentation marks.
02.01.2022 With Christmas approaching it's the time of year I always keep an eye out for Santa...the white shark. Santa turned up one December afternoon back in 2012 with a large nasty looking oral tumor which resembled the white flowing beard of his name sake. At the time the growth didn't seem to effect this large mature white shark and over the following years it also didn't seem to grow at a particularly fast rate. Interestingly a popular misconception at this time (pre 2012) was... that sharks don't get cancer. Earlier Scientific studies conducted in the 70's and 80's using bovine (cow) cartilage showed that it could block angiogenesis (the forming of new blood vessels). If blood vessel growth into a tumor can be blocked, the tumor will stop growing or shrink. This study, and the long held belief that sharks don't get cancer, caused interest in shark cartilage as a possible treatment thus the promotion of crude shark cartilage extracts as a cure for cancer became common. However as we now know these products really only contributed towards nothing more than two significantly negative outcomes: a decline in shark populations and a diversion of patients from effective cancer treatments. Luckily for Santa a few years later (Nov 2014) a biopsy of the growth determined it was a low proliferating neoplastic lesion. whilst the don't know what caused Santa's tumor we do know that heavy metals particularly mercury and fat-soluble pollutants from water pollution, enter the world's oceans daily due to human impact. We also know heavy metals are toxic and carcinogenic. Food for thought.
