This is Gilles Petre of “Blue Nui Diving” here in Bora Bora. Gilles owns the company and has four areas of operation throughout French Polynesia. We dove with Serge and Marc at his Manihi facility last August. Gilles has been in French Polyesia diving for about 15+ years. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
This is Gilles 16 year old daughter who dove with us one day. She lives in Raiatea at boarding school and visits on the weekends. The trip is only an hour by boat. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
At a site called Mari Mari (just seaward of the airport) we were treated to a large school of barracuda. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Though barracuda can be aggressive, they usually only react to shiny objects underwater that they assume are a tasty meal. Ladies, (and gentlemen), leave your shiny jewelry at the dock! Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
In the islands of the “Sous les Vent” (The leeward islands), shark diving is the main attraction. We were able to VERY closely interact with 7-10 foot lemon sharks. They do not do a “show” here in Bora Bora, but sometimes hide a small “treat’ to attract their attention. When I say close, I mean TOUCHING close. Wait till you see the video!….not to mention photos later in this gallery. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
These sharks are not seen very often above the terrain. They like to stealthily cruise the reef. Believe it or not, sometimes they are right next to you and you have no idea. Your dive buddy however is apoplectic!…. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Fred is the professional videographer for several of the dive companies and he is quite the Peter Pan underwater. Fred showed me how to TAIL RIDE a lemon shark, which he does carefully and briefly. They only do it with one, the “lovely” Blanchette. Apparently, she is quite tolerant of the guides. However, we still don’t recommend you try this at home!…..(See LATER IN THE VIDEO) Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Why do I use this goofy photo of him imitating a manta ray while bored on a dive. NOTE the back left of Patrick’s left calf!…. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Patrick doesn’t want to alarm the diving public. So he had a “motorcycle accident”. This by his own admission was his fault. He was doing a “show” for another dive company last year and dropped the fish head between his legs and didn’t notice it till one of his Lemon friends came to scoop it up. Problem is, it was driving a bigger motorcycle and got a piece of him. Patrick is fine, this is very rare and he no longer does “shows”…….. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
When I say close, you get the picture….. This gal was about two feet off the front of my camera when I snapped her close up. Amazingly, they have no interest in the divers whatsoever and ALWAYS turn away at the last second. At first, it does seem a bit like a game of chicken. After awhile, you realize they practically brush up against you as if you were part of the reef. They really aren’t interested in us at all……just the occasional “treat” that’s left for them hiding in a rocky outcropping. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Very agile, they can turn on a dime. Girthy like a white shark, teeth like a sand tiger or a mako. Despite their ferocious look, as long as you keep an eye on them, life is long. They have very small “cat” like eyes. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
You never get tired of watching these gals. Gals I say as we almost never see male sharks close to the reef. Partly it’s due to the females avoiding them if they give birth. The males would eat the infant sharks. Also, the Tiger Shark population here apparently stays very deep EXCEPT at mating season when they will feed on Gray Reef sharks exhausted from giving birth. GIlles tells us he sees Tigers, but only a few times/year. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
You get the perspective here of size. Cindy is 5 foot 4 inches tall, about 6+ feet with extended fins. This gal is close to 9-10 feet long, most likely at around 800+ pounds. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
She was going right at Cindy and at the last moment, spun away on a dime. Big Bad Cindy!…. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Lest you think we are too cutting edge, these dives are done here every day most of the year and have been for years. NO TOURIST has ever been nipped. Here you see one of the gals digging for her treat. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
We credit Gilles with not doing “shows”. That is, where the dive guide hand feeds the sharks with chain mail suit, etc. He also only rarely does the “treat” thing and then usually because guys like me ask. He’s quite eco sensitive and doesn’t want to over stress the animals. He keeps an eye on everything and everyone. Sometimes I thought he had eyes in the back of his head. We highly recommend Blue Nui if you dive in Bora Bora or any of the other islands his boats are at. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Up to four of these beauties were present at one time. They don’t fight each other at all and seem to have a pecking order which avoids them hurting each other. For the most part, they just cruise. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Despite the “treats”, it’s sometimes not easy to get these gals to come close enough for a face shot. However on our VIDEO, we had them in our wetsuits (figuratively speaking)…..I’ll have to get that up at an internet somewhere in the next few months. VIDEO TAKES TONS OF TIME to edit and get on to the website. Need really good internet for it too. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Here, I was sort of playing like a rock and got this gal to come a little bit closer. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
I always try and get Cindy into the picture for perspective if I can. The Lemon is actually about 10 feet further away than she is. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
You can see our dive boat at the bottom. Black tips are the hamsters of the shark family and never get too close to divers. They’re afraid you’ll eat them! Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Like in Fakarava, there are plenty of Gray Reef Sharks here too. I love the face and up angle shots. They’ll come check you out, but that’s all. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
These are one of my favorite sharks to watch swim through the water. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Really cool animals, very graceful Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Counter shading noted. If you look down from the top, their gray color blends into the reef floor. If UP from the bottom, they will blend in with the sun or light water. This is an evolutionary protection mechanism many sharks, rays, dolphins and whales employ. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Love the divers and sharks in open water. Wish I could have gotten her a bit closer. It’s not easy taking pictures underwater! Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Here you can see Cindy looking down on the Gray Reef shark below. If I hadn’t caught the photo where she was over white sand, she would have blended into the reef perfectly. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Black tips cruise around warily as we are indeed bigger than they are. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
In nature, bigger is usually boss. Here this larger (for a black tip) black tip at about 5 feet cruises by me. Note the divers bubbles in the right background. Still, a very pretty and graceful animal. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
I really like it when I can get a face full. Despite this, some enlarging is required as they just won’t swim right up to me most of the time. Maybe thats a good thing? Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
These sharks are a 150-250 lbs and about 5-7 feet long typically. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Gray Beauty. For the most part, these animals swim gracefully and slowly by. They have been implicated in a few attacks on divers, but usually around spear fishing. If unprovoked, they are fine to swim with, even in large schools as we did in South Fakarava. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
A bit taxonomical, but I still love the light and color on these beautiful sharks. As the saying goes, we “take pictures and leave bubbles”….. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Here, one of the “retails” (which we paying divers are known as in the industry) is taking a photo of Ivy Petre with a Green Sea Turtle. These turtles eat jelly fish and black sponges as well as munch on coral. This one is used to divers feeding it sponges, so it hangs around Muri Muri. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
No matter how fast I swam, I couldn’t quite get in front, but the lighting worked and you can see the nice detail on this pretty green sea turtle. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Gilles is giving a little belly rub to our Green Sea friend. They have a hard carpace top and bottom. They are a favorite appetizer for Tiger Sharks…… Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
We always love the various colors of the anemones (this one is unusually white) as well as the clown and damsel fish that live symbiotically in them. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
This is a lovely dive site INSIDE the reef at Bora Bora, just East of Motu Tapu. Lots of Eagle Rays, Anemones, Cow Fish, Clams, Nudibranchs and all the usual suspects. Large Anemone in the foreground Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
There are hundreds of these coral clams embedded in the reef. They are every color imaginable (except RED). I don’t have the right lens on here for them, but you get a feel for the three you see in this photo. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
The blue on the mantle of this clam (about 10″ long) is just electric. The reef is covered with these beautiful specimens everywhere. That is, that the locals don’t take and eat them! We saw the big cousins of these guys in Palau in 1992 at over 600 lbs and 5 feet long. SAME COLORS. But alas, not in this part of the Pacific. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
I was a bit too far for proper lighting and this little guy at about 18″ long wouldn’t let me get too close, but you get an idea of the variety of reef creatures we found here. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Either a slightly different species or male/female difference; we’re not sure. See the horns? Can you just hear it “mooing”?….:) Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
Well actually, the fish thought she’d have some food so they swarmed her just as she got in. The dive guides feed the little guys for the “retails” and to get lots of pictures with them and the fish. Cool in any event. Bora Bora – Society Islands – French Polynesia
