[CamDiver]

Hi Jez,
It all depends on what you consider as a scary ordeal. I have been on the receiving end when animals have quite rightly defended their territory etc. Before giving any accounts of this I must just mention that I never use the word 'Attack' when it comes to what we perceive as aggression on the part of the animal. Everything, us included, has the right to defend it's own territory, family and food.

I have had to kick off an inquisitive grey reef shark when filming in the Micronesian islands of Yap. Around certain areas of the Pacific sharks are highly prevalent on most dives. The larger predatory species such as Tigers and Oceanic White Tips tend to stay in deeper water leaving the reefs to the more prevalent of reef species. Grey reef sharks can reach up to just shy of two meters in length and can move so, so very fast. Another species sometimes encountered is the Silver Tip Shark. I was once in a situation with a friend who got bitten on the face by one of these 2 meter long sharks. Again, it was our fault, we had tried to induce the animal into a state of higher agitation for imagery requirements and it acted defensively. My friend (an ex Royal marine) was shaken but not stirred. He had a small cut under his eye and a cut airhose on his breathing equipment. Mind you the shark did take his mask so he had to get a new one!!

I've swam in the open water with Tiger Sharks, in Palau, as they fed on the carcase of a dead whale and also with Great White Sharks in south Africa. These larger species are amazingly shy when it comes to using SCUBA equipment, they hate the bubbles. To get the best possible encounter you need to free dive, or hold your breath. I was working on a Nat Geo story in 2005 where we needed in water shots with these amazing creatures so we headed down to South Africa, close to a place called Fish Hoek almost at the Cape of Good Hope theer is a bay called False Bay. Don't know if you've seen the shows where the White Sharks are hitting seals and coming fully out of the water? Well, that's in False Bay. That behaviour aso happens to a lesser extent in another place called Gaansbaii to the north east , and is also the place where we found ourselves doing the open water filming segments for the particular show we were working on. Never one bad experience with the sharks though. They were cautious and wary at the best of times. Two ingredients that make them the perfect predators they are today. I just wish that Hollywood and the media would take a moment to show their real nature and not that which they only imagine it to be.

For terrestrial animals I have yet to find myself in asituation where I feel the animal could potentially be a threat to my well being. I will be working a ,ot more in the coming year or two on some projects in Botswana and in the southern regions of the African continent, plenty of beaties abound. As soon as I get the chance I'll post more news of the adventures I go through.

Cheers,
Mark.