Photo by J.J. Newman
“I feel a kind of body prickling, a feeling of being watched, right before a spectral form slithers into my vision. As it nears, the mirage assembles into a 5-foot leopard shark, the long, majestic tail swaggering, propelling it inches above the sea floor. It's an eerie jolt at first. But more than that, it's a mystic thrill. The shark's coloring is nature's highest art, its dorsal-finned surface covered in mulberry-colored saddles and leopard-like spots of its namesake. The rest of the shark's body radiates bronze and violet as light pulses over it. Three sharks orbit me, making passes and figure-eights like fighter jets, bisecting and looping around one another, then converging back in formation, wing on wing. Two more sharks enter as one moves out. Their streamlined bodies writhe, each animal displaying a color and leopard pattern as unique as a fingerprint. Time stops while I'm among them. Once their curiosity is appeased, the sharks dissolve into liquid mist, leaving the ocean desolate again.”
Excerpt from Los Angeles Times article by C.J. Bahnsen (August 6, 2008) Please CLICK HERE to read the full article.http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-shark10-2008aug10shapeimage_2_link_0
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Photo by M. Royer
Photo by M. Royer
Photo by J.J. Newman
Photo by J.J. Newman
Photo by J.J. Newman
Photo by J.J. Newman
Photo by A. Nosal
Photo by A. Nosal
Photo by J.J. Newman
Photo by J.J. Newman