Scott McGee is a talented underwater photographer who lives in Carlsbad and is founder of Under Pressure Photography [http://www.underpressurephoto.com/]who recently had the opportunity to dive with the Sevengill sharks at La Jolla Cove after a hiatus of four years and I thought I'd give him the opportunity to describe in his own words what it was like.
"After a four year hiatus, I got another chance to photograph and video the ancient Sevengill shark in our local waters. My previous shot was featured as the centerfold in California Diver Magazine along with an article by Mike Bear: http://californiadiver.com/tracking-seven-gill-sharks-in-san-diego/
Even after hearing about epic conditions and 50+ foot visibility mid-week from Allison Vitsky Sallmon, I still wasn't planning on diving this past weekend. But after getting word from Terry Strait on Saturday that he'd seen "tons of sevengills" at La Jolla Cove, I couldn't fight it any more. Carolita and I re-planned our Saturday around getting tanks filled and charging batteries.
John Henry and Terry Strait met me at the Cove early Sunday morning and we found a lake where the ocean used to be. After the long surface swim out to the buoy, we dropped down into a magical kelp forest. My backup regulator was bubbling the whole time, cutting a little bit of time off the dive and annoying me, but it didn't seem to bother the sharks. John and I ended up staying in one small area the entire dive and just watching and waiting for the Sevengills to come check us out. Within a short time, they came out of the haze. The first visit was two at the same time, from opposite directions, criss-crossing in front of us. I caught eye contact with the closest one and captured this shot:
http://www.underpressurephoto.com/Underwater/Sharks-Rays-and-Eels/22104705_qjmmN3#!i=2437260507&k=hWTtbH6
Mike Bear has led the effort in San Diego to try to understand when the sharks are seen and when they aren't. If you see a sevengill shark while diving, please register the sighting so that we can track where and when these majestic ancient sharks are seen:
http://sevengillsharksightings.org/
To see more of Scott McGee's spectacular underwater photography, see here:
http://underpressurephoto.com
http://underpressurephoto.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/sfmphotog
For more on the Sevengill shark, see:
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