The first pass...
almost close enough to touch!

Pilot whales just cruising

The shark turning after Lisa, my Mom, who was right next to me in the water and had to put her fin up to keep the shark from getting a bit too friendly......pretty cool Mom, huh? What a crazy family to grow up in, swimming with sharks together....I wouldn't trade it for the world!

KENDRA'S PHOTO STORY

It has been a while since I have sent out a photo story, and it is definitely time! I have been engrossed since getting back from the 2004 Galapagos trip in putting all my Galapagos photos together for a slide show/DVD and it is finally done! Only problem is, it won't render to disk! I have crashed my poor computer 3 times now with little success. Will try again tomorrow since we have a down day with no charter........so those of you waiting patiently for the disk, I'd say "SOON". Maybe the end of the month...I am so over it now! Too much time spent on the computer!

Summer in Hawaii means long, hot days and warm, calm water. This year the water has been exceptionally warm - running around 80-81 degrees! Unbelievable, we have not had it this warm in 8 years. 80-minute dives become common, and Dive Makai does "Adventure Days" or long-range charters where we run offshore, specifically looking for big animal action. The most common big animals we run into are our resident short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melaena). If they are receptive to us, we will get in and snorkel with them. For reasons unknown, they will often have a "friend" or two with them, the Oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus). The whales usually show little interest in us, but the sharks are a different story. They have a very bold temperament, bordering on aggressive. For that reason, and their sheer beauty, they are my absolute favorite shark to get in and swim with. Photos are easy since they will hang with us and the boat for long periods of time and they tend to come very close....often a bit too close! I have personally been chased out of the water 3 times by these sharks, swimming frantically back to the boat with my fins in their snouts and they are bumping me the whole way back! It is quite an adrenaline rush. We have never had any serious problems with them and get out of the water when they start to get aggressive, but you must be on your toes (or fins) around them. We have been in with 7 at a time, I have seen these sharks "spyhop" - stick their heads completely out of the water and "breach" - jump full-bodied out of the water. There is no shark like the Oceanic and getting to spend some time in their watery world with them is a treat that makes me smile all the way home, thinking....."And I get PAID to do this job!" Gotta love summer in Hawaii!

Part 2 of Summer in Hawaii coming soon....it consists of more underwater creatures, but of the human type, a glimpse of the lighter side of Dive Makai Charters! Hope you are all well and good, having a great summer and loving life where ever you are and what ever you are doing! 

Love & Aloha, 
Ken