Thresher Sharks at Malapascua

My next underwater photography trip - scheduled for May 2016 - will bring me to the Philippines. One location on our itinerary will be the island of Malapascua north of Cebu City where we are going to stay at the Ocean Vida beach and dive resort.

Malapascua is well known among scuba divers for regular Thresher Shark sightings. Especially on early morning dives.

The Thresher Shark, Alopias Vulpinus, or Fox Shark got its name from the unusually large tail. The length of the tail can easily be as long as the body of the stark (for more information visit Sharksider). The dive spot Monad Shoal is an underwater sea mount whose sides drop off to depth of 230 m. The Thresher Sharks live and hunt in the deep but in the early morning hours they seem to come up to the top of the sea mount attracted by the cleaning stations. Here they get rid of parasites through the help of smaller reef fish.

Thresher shark by Mats Forsberg (500px)

In preparation I will evaluate my non fisheye focal length wide angle lenses for use underwater in order to be well prepared on Thresher Shark dives. My experience so far on shooting sharks underwater is rather negative. Either they were too far - for fisheye lenses, or too quick in order for me to capture them well. But this time, with this rare and special species of shark I will be well prepared.

For photographers in preparation of a Malapascua trip: Jeremy Cuff provides a comprehensive underwater photography guide to Malapascua:
http://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-travel/article/underwater-photographers-guide-malapascua-island-philippines/