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THE GOAL: Document gray reef shark population of Rangiroa Atoll. PLAN: Fly to Rangiroa Atoll in the northeast part of Tahiti. Dive in Tiputa Pass to gain access to the 500 gray reef sharks that inhabit the pass.

SECRET WEAPONS: A Nikonos V camera with a 15-mm extreme wide-angle lens, plus twin SB-102 strobes for dual lighting.

MISSION TIMING: January, because Rangiroa is south of the equator and the seasons are reversed. This time of year provides the most benign weather.

MISSION LOCATION: Tiputa Pass, one of two major channels through which water flows into and out of the 48-mile-long Rangiroa Lagoon. The pass is barely 300 yards wide and about 100 feet deep. Tidal flows can peak at 6 knots. On an incoming tide, visibility can reach a spectacular 200 feet.

MISSION REQUIREMENTS:

• Certified Open Water diver who is comfortable around sharks.

• Quality dive operator with experienced dive guide to lead the drift dive.

• Lift bag with a 50-foot nylon line and spool for safety stop.

FIELD NOTES: This is a drift dive that runs at 1-2 knots, executed from rubber inflatables. On entering the water, the dive guide leads you to a cave on the side of the channel at a depth of 110 feet where you settle in to watch the show. Outside, the scene is surrealistic - more than 100 sharks lazily swimming in all directions but ignoring divers. It makes you feel invisible.

When the guide introduces a piece of baitfish, the once quiet scene becomes electric, as sharks rocket around in a feeding frenzy. One inexperienced shark came into the cave and snapped at my fin.

I was shooting photos as fast as I could thumb the film advance lever. I was shooting at close range, using a flash-fill technique with strobes on one-fourth power.

Suddenly the dive guide lost a grip on the empty bait bucket and it tumbled down the wall. The sharks charged the bucket, forming a living, rolling ball in search of dessert.

When the food was gone, the sharks immediately calmed down and resumed their languid pace. They made no attempt to follow us as we ascended to 15 feet, inflated the lift bag, and made our safety stop drifting toward the ocean.

It was a wild ride.

Rangiroa Lagoon is ringed by a number of small, flat coral islands. A local population of about 5,000 inhabits two of them. The islands are lush with foliage and hundreds of coconut palms. Life here is simple - mostly fishing and enjoying life.

The reefs inside the lagoon are ideal for snorkeling as well as underwater photography. More exciting adventures are to be found on the walls and drop-offs along the outside of the barrier reef.

Plate corals and table corals grow at a furious rate in formations of gigantic proportions. There are abundant, endemic reef fish, and at least five different species of sharks are common. Manta rays, dolphin, turtle and tuna are also common. ADDITIONAL SORTIES:

• Barracuda Point is a hard coral reef drop-off outside the lagoon loaded with silvertip and gray reef sharks, spotted eagle rays and dogtooth tuna.
• Whitetip Cave in the Pass is loaded with snoozing white-tip reef sharks.
• Red Fish Cave, at 50 feet on the inner wall of the Pass, is inhabited by a large school of bright red soldierfish.
• Avatoru Pass is the best place for seeing manta rays, bottlenose dolphins, sea turtles and barracuda.

RANGIROA DIVE CENTERS: Members of GIE PLONGEE dive centers association.

RAI MANTA CLUB Avatoru, Rangiroa, FRENCH POLYNESIA Tel: (689) 96 84 80 Fax: (689) 96 85 60 E-mail: [email protected] Manager: Ives Lefevre

BLUE DOLPHINS DIVING CENTER Hotel Kia Ora Rangiroa, RANGIROA Tel. (689) 96. 03. 01 / 96. 03. 84 poste 392 Fax. (689) 96. 03. 01 E-mail : [email protected] Managers: Junko Kida & Pascal Jogut

RANGIROA PARADIVE Pointe Ohutu c/o Pension Chez Glorine, RANGIROA Tel. (689) 96. 05. 55 / 96 . 02. 69 Fax. (689) 96. 05. 50 E-mail : [email protected] WEB: www.chez.com/paradive Manager: Bernard Blanc

THE SIX PASSENGERS Baie d'Ohutu, RANGIROA Tel. (689) 96. 02. 60 / 96. 03. 05 Fax. (689) 96. 02. 60 E-mail: [email protected] WEB: www.the6passengers.com Manager: Nanou Chapuisat