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tiger sharks

SO WILD… The Final Adventures of the Year.

As I prepare to wrap up the 2024 season, I am on the boat, motoring out to Tiger Beach as I write this.

The familiar sight of the open ocean and the anticipation of seeing my old friends (the tigers), fills me with excitement and gratitude.

This year has been nothing short of extraordinary. From unforgettable wildlife encounters to the incredible people I’ve shared these adventures with… 2024 has been a season to remember.

I’m deeply grateful for the moments that made it so special—the wildlife, the people, and the experiences that stay with you long after the trips are over.

These final two trips are my chance to soak in every last bit of the magic this year has to offer.

I’m looking forward to sharing what we see out here with all of you—I love bringing a little piece of the wild back to everyone following along.

While I’m excited about the possibilities of a new year and all the adventures to come, right now, I’m focused on savoring these last moments of the season.

Here’s to making the most of 2024’s final days, and to saying goodbye to an unforgettable year.

Stay tuned for updates from the field, and thank you for being part of this journey!

Tigers and Great Hammerheads... Final Trip of 2021.

This is my trip report for our final trip of the 2021 season… I do hope you enjoy.

Day 1 - We arrived at Tiger Beach, Bahamas around 2 PM. The sharks were waiting there to greet us; 30 plus reef sharks were already swimming around, along with a handful of lemon sharks. Down below on the ocean floor, we could already see tigers. Conditions were beautiful, the kind of water you dream about when you plan trips to this spot. This first dive was a gear check, so we did not add any bait to the water. But, I tell you, it is always a great check-out dive when you have tiger sharks hanging out. Without adding chum in the water, we had four tigers hanging around.

The view under the boat.

When I dropped in, I noticed the massive school of horse-eyed jacks hanging out underneath the boat. There were tens of thousands of them. It was a nice-sized school, the biggest I’d ever seen. Looking at that, I knew if the weather and the vis held up, it would be great opportunities for everyone to capture different images of the iconic sharks that hang out here.

One of my favorite things about this dive site is the reef itself off Tiger Beach. Because there are so many sharks on this reef, nobody fishes or spear fishes here, so it is stunning and filled with life; Massive groupers, hogfish, huge snappers, reefs filled with cleaner fish. It is a sight to see, just perfection, unlike anything else you will ever see in the Bahamas. Most of the reefs with no sharks are empty compared to the spot we dive at TB.

We finished the day with two dives and four tiger sharks…it will be a great week of diving!

Day 2 - Conditions were murky today, so we decided to dive with the sharks without feeding them. We had a bunch of hungry tigers hanging around, so I know they were disappointed with this decision, but for the safety of our guests, I felt it was best not to bring a box down and just enjoy the action diving around the area with the sharks. It was a really good day of diving and so much fun. We also had our first bull shark of the trip show up. It was a solitary individual hanging around us. Usually though, when one shows up, more will follow.

We had five different tiger sharks here with us. Jitterbug, Emma, Carrie, Kim Possible, and Freckles. It is always great seeing these big sharks show up. Especially old friends like Emma, she is still around, which makes my heart happy. Unfortunately, she showed up with a damaged jaw from a hook on the left side of the corner of her mouth. Poor girl, we almost lost her. It truly is tough being a shark.

Bull shark.

Day 3 - Today was an EPIC day of diving. From the moment we woke up to every single dive of the day. Damn, it was so good. We started the day motoring over from the spot the captain took us to for sleep. He always leaves Tiger Beach at night to sleep in calmer waters. When we arrived at Tiger Beach, we were greeted by a pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins. They were in a social mood, and Finch asked us if we wanted to go for a swim with them. Of course, most of us said yes, and off we went. We had a couple of fun sessions with them, dancing and rolling around - after we returned to Tiger Beach and began our day of diving.

We dove four tanks today. Our final dive was a dusk/night dive with the tigers. From the word go, it was just a great day of diving. I fed on the second dive, and it was crazy good and scary. We had 11 tigers show up. Ten of them were players, all coming into the box. There were a lot of intense moments for me on that dive. But thankfully, the tigers were all well behaved, and it turned into just one of those dives that will stay with me forever.

We also had a great hammerhead do a swim by today. Everyone was super excited to see it, especially Steve. LOL, He saw the hammer and swam after it to get a better capture of it, mid-swim he caught himself and said, “Uh-oh, I screwed up.” LMAO, the hammer was gone. In all fairness to Steve, the hammer would not have stayed around. Unless the great hammerhead goes in for food, it will not stay around. They are timid that way. It was just fun to watch Steve kicking himself over it.

The whole day was just so much fun and beautiful. We had excellent conditions and a lot of tigers; it was the kind of day you dream of and want for your guests.

Day 4 - This is our final day of diving here at Tiger Beach. We have had a really good time here with a hell of a lot of tiger sharks. Today another bull shark showed up. So now we have two hanging around... It adds to the excitement of the dive, for sure.

I genuinely love this place. There is so much magic at this spot. Thanks to TB, we have learned so much about tiger sharks. The amount of time we can spend with them on a dive is genuinely a unique experience. A piece of my soul will forever be here. Tonite we leave for Bimini and the great hammerheads. We also discussed trying to find dolphins in the morning before we head to the hammerhead spot. It will be a cool way to kick off the Bimini part of the trip if we can find them.

Day 5 - We woke up to the sound of the DD engine starting up. Capt Scott arrived at Bimini in the wee hours of the morning and then passed out. So early this morning, he cranked the engine to life, and off we went to find some dolphins to swim with. It did not take long. We found a small pod of about five dolphins swimming around, wanting to play. So we quickly geared up and off into the water we went. It was a quick, fun session, and we managed to swim with them for almost an hour. After finishing with them, we went over to the hammerhead spot to begin chumming for these extraordinary animals.

Nurse shark.

The boys dropped in and began scraping bait, hoping to attract a hammer in early for us. It took a couple of hours of chumming before the first great hammerhead showed up. After a while, a second shark arrived. Of course, we also had a lot of nurse sharks hanging around as well. What a thorn those pesky nurse sharks can be, but they were entertaining during the downtime while we waited for hammers to come in.

Day 6 - We started chumming right after breakfast for the hammerheads. Playing with the Bimini hammers is so different than the TB sharks. Here off Bimini, you have to wait much longer for the sharks to show up, and the pace and the action are often much slower. Of course, when the hammerheads arrive, it is game on, and they are so much fun. I love them. It is always a fun ride.

Overall the trip was a huge success, the guests had a lot of fun, and the animals were on point! A huge thanks to the DD crew for always taking care of us, and to my guests who joined us...Thank you so much for the laughs and the fun, love and miss you guys… until the next one!

Love you guys!

Tigers Sharks... ALL Day and ALL Night!

Tiger Beach was a huge success. It was so great - everyone on the trip was a repeat guest. All 12 have joined me at Tiger Beach before. Such an amazing and humbling feeling to have people want to join us on our adventures, but to come back again... there are no words for how great that feels.

Taylor giving a resting lemon a back rub.

I was torn on what and how to write up a blog for this trip. Tiger Beach means so much to me. TB is where I truly began my journey into the shark world. The place is special. Special for the animals that call this place home, and special to the people who have had the chance to dive here. There is so much beauty that happens down there, and I learn so much on every trip. The sharks here are all so different, each with their own personalities. I continue to ask myself why they do the things that they do. For example, why do the lemon sharks always choose to stop and rest right next to us divers? How do they see us divers? What do they think we are? Why do they feel safe around us? I have so many questions.

I mean, maybe the lemons are just following our lead, and since we are all kneeling in one spot, they decide to do it too? I know they are simple-minded animals, driven primarily by instinct. I try not to anthropomorphize them, but sometimes there is no proper way to explain what is happening with these animals. It is stuff that even the scientists have trouble explaining. I have learned so much about the lemon sharks here, they are fascinating animals, and their behavior is so curious to me. I need to do a vlog just on their behavior. Maybe on my next trip out there with them in December, I will create something? We will see.

The notorious Jitterbug. She has a heart shaped head, which should signify that she is a sweetheart… but it is a lie! lol

As for tiger sharks, it was an EPIC week of diving. A total of eight different tigers spent the week with us, including the Queen herself - Emma, and the notorious Jitterbug, the mischievous bad girl of TB. The weather was fantastic, we had great seas all week, and low tide was not too bad. Typically low tide brings in dirty green water, with very low vis. But the vis was not that bad, and we were able to dive all the dives still. We even went out for three dusk/night dives.

Thanks to the excellent weather, we managed a total of 18 dives this week, which is a lot. We had tigers on all our dives except on our first-night dive; they were a no-show. The following two-night dives, we had tigers. The first-night dive, we had one tiger - Emma, and the second we had with five tigers, which was a first for me. We have never had that many tigers before on a night dive. It was an intense dive for all of us, especially me, because I have all these souls in the water that I worry about. All the big girls showed up for this one, and all the smaller ones left. We had Emma, Maui, Carrie, Marilyn, and Jenn. All of them are big freaking sharks!

Not just tigers on our night dives… all the kids want to play!

The dive started as a dusk dive, which almost all our night dives start that way. But of course, it ended in pitch black. I admit my heart was hammering, and I felt fear. Not only was visibility severely limited, but it was hard to tell where the tigers were coming in from. I was not just worried for myself but our guests as well. It is so hard to keep an eye on the waters behind them, to make sure nothing sneaks in, which of course, happens on a night dive.

Big beautiful Emma!

It is tough enough keeping an eye on the tigers during the day, especially when there is a lot. But when visibility is severely restricted, the intensity and emotions of what we are doing goes up. I am so glad we had an extra safety diver in the water with us at all times. That different set of eyes down there helps a lot. Ryan and Finch were helping me this week to keep things safe. They are freaking rock stars in my book.

And with Jitterbug back to her usual mischievous self, having those extra eyeballs helps a lot. It was intense and fun, and a dream - and a nightmare, all rolled up into one. I love the fire you feel inside when the tigers are excited, and they remind you that they are apex predators, which demand all your respect - all your senses are on full alert. It is so much fun and a great way to feel truly alive.

I can’t believe I am posting this pic… but Tu-Tu Tuesday is a thing on the DD. A tradition I have not embraced, but my beloved guests have. It would be a disservice to them to not include this image in my write up.

One of my favorite things is when you get back on the boat after a dive like that, and you hear everyone sharing stories, all of them laughing, jumping out of their skin with excitement, with an ear-to-ear grin. I live for those moments, and I am filled with so much gratitude. Not only that everyone comes back from the dive safe and happy, but also because they all just experienced a life-changing moment that will stay with them forever… Damn, I love my job!

Thank you guys for reading. Until the next adventure my friends!

Thank you, thank you, thank you - to these amazing souls who joined us out here. Miss and love you guys! Until next year.

Tiger Shark Madness in the Bahamas

Hey guys, just wanted to share our latest and the first episode of our new weekly Youtube series, entitled, SDM Adventures. We started our Youtube channel back in 2011, but it has been off and on for new shows through the years, with no real direction. So I decided to commit to creating a series that shares our adventures, the highs and the lows of this crazy life we are living. So with no further ado, here it is.

A little back ground on this episode; we visited Tiger Beach in the Bahamas, last week to kick off the winter tiger shark season. October is when all the big females return to these waters to breed, socialize and fatten up a little before they leave to give birth. We spent five days here and dove 16 times during the week. On our second dive of the trip we had two tiger sharks show up and on the second to the last dive, we had 9 tiger sharks show up. It was one hell of a week.

In this episode I take you through our week, hope you enjoy…

Thank you for watching, if you like what you see, please share this video. Truly would appreciate that. Again we will be posting a weekly episode so please subscribe to our channel to check out more episodes.

6 tiger sharks on our 4th day of diving.

6 tiger sharks on our 4th day of diving.