Behind the Scenes: The Great Whales/Sharks (continued) It was easy to see 30 or 40 blue sharks in any direction. The shark's method of feeding was to wait for the attacks of the small bait fish to herd the krill into tight balls. The sharks would approach from below, their eyes covered by a nictitating membrane, and swim through with their mouths wide open. Taking huge gulps, they seemed more like filter feeders than sharks. They ate so much their stomachs stuck out like bowling balls.
With no protection other than our cameras, my job was to keep the sharks off of Howard while he was filming. I was also told to take documentary still photographs and stay out of the way. The task of watching Howard's back, taking photographs and staying out of the way is still my job today. The blue sharks immediately swam towards us to investigate, and a good bump on their nose with our fists was the only means of keeping them from swimming directly into us. The sharks seemed very fond of Howard's orange camera housing, which they would bite constantly.
This was all happening within a few feet of the surface. Howard would periodically surface and look around only to realize we were completely surrounded by whale spouts. This was just a bit more than he could take. Once the "out of film" signal was given, we raced back to the boat, changed film and lenses, and prepared to chase whales. Howard turned to me and very casually said, "There is no way we will be able to keep up with them in the water, so let's go wait in a ball of krill and they will come to us." As I said before, I was new. I was knee-deep in that "I'll follow you anywhere" stage, so this half-brained idea seemed quite plausible at the time.
The water visibility was great, but inside the krill balls you could barely see your hand in front of your mask. So we would take turns poking our heads out to see if anyone was coming. The Jonah factor was high, and I was beginning to wonder if my day rate was a little low. All of a sudden, Howard grabbed my arm and we swam backwards as fast as we could. A freight train, shaped like a whale, swallowed our hiding place in one gulp. We were so close it was easy to see the whale's huge eye. It looked at us both, apparently not concerned with something so small. I began to understand what 100 feet and 150 tons really means. This was the most graceful freight train I had ever seen. I swam slowly back to the boat wondering if I had even remembered to take a picture.
by Mark Conlin, cinematographer
Sea Dwellers
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