...in Galápagos

Darwin Island

At 4:00 pm, the boat departed for Darwin Island on schedule. Darwin is one of the 2 remote islands of the Galápagos (paired with Wolf), and is typically visited only by divers, as there are no land access points. On our approach to the island the following morning, we could see why this was so. The island itself had no significant "shore" to speak of, but rather steep cliffs that shot up straight from the ocean. Seabirds swirled the island claiming this place as their own untouchable paradise. Here is where divers go in search of encounters with schooling hammerhead sharks and to look for Mr. Big, the largest fish in the ocean, a whale shark.

The briefing for this dive was a bit different from the rest, or what we were used to for that matter. For this dive, and all of the following while at Darwin and Wolf, the procedure was as follows:

• The 3 dinghies would transport all 13 divers out to a spot near Darwin's Arch, where waves were violently crashing against it's rocky outcroppings

• Just outside the surge region, everyone was to drop into the water and immediately head for the bottom (unless you had a camera to grab) at approximately 50-60 feet (15-20 m). If you stayed at the surface, or hovered around mid-water, a current was likely to carry you out to who-knows-where.

• Once on the bottom, everyone was to scatter, not staying close to any particular group. Hammerhead sharks don't like diver's bubbles, especially when clustered together. Therefore, the farther apart you were, the less disturbing your bubbles were, and the closer the sharks would come to you.

• Once picking out "your spot" on the bottom, you just sit there and watch. To quote the naturalist "Galápagos is a 360 degree diving experience. Look everywhere, up, down, side to side, you never know what's approaching behind you."

The bottom topography was a scattering of large boulders and rock crevices, with barnacles covering every surface. There was no reef as we were used to in other regions, and staying in one place on the bottom seemed harmless. However, barnacles are not the only life on the bottom, there are plenty of blennies, stonefish, and other critters that can easily be disturbed. Be very careful when you set yourself down.

Near 60 feet, there was a shelf of rocks that overlooked a drop off to well over 100 feet. You went down and sat on this shelf, as if overlooking an underwater freeway. Visibility was still not that impressive, possibly 50 feet or so. So down we went, and picked out a spot on the shelf…waiting, looking everywhere. Soon you would begin to see vague silhouettes in the distance, obstructed by the limited visibility. Eventually, the shape became clearly and uniquely recognizable as a hammerhead shark as it moved closer, slowly cruising along the shelf, sweeping its head back and forth. You would see one, two, maybe even three or more swimming in groups, cruising along on this underwater freeway. Unfortunately we didn't swim with hundreds as some have seen on other occasions. We saw 20-30 in a group at the most off in the distance, most averaging about 7-8 feet in length.

Photographing them for the first time presented some challenges. For one, you were sitting in one spot, and basically had to wait for them to come to you. As they would come closer, this meant you had to hold your breath long enough to get them close enough for a decent image. (Yes, holding your breath is a normally not recommended in diving, and would not be recommended if you were free floating in the water) As soon as you exhaled, they would immediately turn and swim away. It seemed most of the cases where they came the closest, was when they approached behind you, and you would turn around and surprise them (and yourself for that matter), with barely enough time to fire off a few frames. This was definitely a skill to be learned, and had us longing for bubble-less rebreathers! It really makes you appreciate a close up shot.

Many people have asked us if we were afraid with all of these sharks around, and we don't mean to sound "macho" when we say we weren't. The feelings were more of awe than anything else. We already knew that hammerheads aren't known to be aggressive towards divers. Their diet consists mostly of small to medium sized fish, and possibly a baby sea lion if they are lucky. And as we mentioned, they are wimps when it comes to a few bubbles.

These amazing, graceful, efficient hunters of the sea deserve our respect, protection and appreciation, not our fear.