Men in Grey Suits

[Mark Thorpe]

Or at least thats the name given to these cuddly little guys. Getting ready for the mating season here in Palau so there should be a lot of 'em hanging out soon. Been in the middle of a bunch of them going at it last year but couldn't get the penetrative shot as I was getting bounced around too much. Fingers crossed for this year.

Mark.

[Blaine Golden]

When a guy named Mick Bird was to do a solo around the world row, he referred to the man in the grey suit. That's the first time I heard them called that. Almost forgot it till right now. That's a great shot, Mark. I don't want to know there's anything as big as me in the water, though...:o

[Mark Thorpe]

These guys are small(ish) reef sharks, max 6ft. A bit less daunting than a 14ft Great White staring down the barrel of an old PD170. The 'lump' you can see attached to the Dorsal Fin is actually a camera we had put there to film underwater predations on Cape Fur Seals in South Africa. Ever seen the White Shark footage when they breach?? That is normally shot in a place called False Bay very close to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. I spent 6 weeks there last year doing some shooting for a pretty big TV concern. Had a blast and came back with all my fingers.



Whilst this shot was taken from the safety of a cage we have just recently had a whale carcase here in Palau wash in from the open Ocean. There were a lot Tiger Sharks chomping on it. It got washed onto a shallow reef flat and then the tigers were just hanging around waiting for high tide times to continue in their feast. Needless to say we dived it and saw fleeting glimpses of 4 and 5m long sharks (12 - 15ft). You'd be surprised how timid these apex predators are.

Cheers,
Mark.

[Sanjin Jukic]

Mark,
thanks it is very impressive pictures ans stories for me who had only one diving experience. Last summer I did demo scuba diving in Formentera and shot video with small Olympus Stylus 720 SW digital photo camera. The camera is recommended to shoot about 3 m underwater. But I was even 12 m underwater and carried camera in a simple plastic-condom-like-enclosure. So with that simple equipment I did my first diving video shot ever. Normally without lighting. With that simple video gear you will get original audio too. Unfortunately no any "Men in Grey Suits", only "Men in Black".
Have a look at
http://www.sanjinjukic.com/old/SCUBA1.MOV

[Petr Dvorak]

imagine these pals in 4K :D