Eli Martinez

September 29, 2016

Guadalupe is White Shark Heaven!!!

Eli Martinez

September 29, 2016

Guadalupe bound…We left port, thankfully with a good crossing. Something, I was extremely happy about. My last major crossing had us in 15 foot seas. The ocean was screaming at us and it felt like we would never see land again. Nothing worse than being locked down in your bunk for 20 hours straight, not moving because you just felt like crap. The good and bad thing was I found out what my super power would be if I had one; Projectile vomiting. Disgustingly, I was amazing at it!

Thankfully this wasn't a crossing like that…Nope this was a heavenly crossing. We made good time and all of us were anxious to arrive. I was excited to see what the next few days of diving with white sharks would be like.

Our trip last year was good, but the whites were in and out, with a lot of down time in between visiting sharks. I was really hoping this years action would be better….and it was!

Typical Guadalupe with rolling clouds from our 2015 trip

We dropped our anchor into flat calm seas. As I looked around the first thing I noticed was that there were no clouds. There are normally clouds rolling off the top of the volcanic mountains here, but today there wasn’t. The skies were clear, the sun was out and the visibility looked amazing. Within an hour of arriving, our first shark show up and the mad dash for gear began. Shortly after that a second shark, then a third. Once we started diving, it just never stopped. From about 9 in the morning till the last divers entered the cages in the evening - the sharks never stopped rolling in.

September is such a great time to be here, because its the middle of the season. It’s good for both small sharks and the big boys. And on this trip, we had them all…from small, 10 foot sharks, to 17 foot, 3,000 lb. monsters. It was a dream. The stress of running a shark diving trip is that you are always worrying that no sharks will show up. The smiling faces and full camera cards told me that this was not going to be one of those trips.

The white sharks performed like rock stars. They cruised by our cages, over and over again, trying hard to take the hang baits off our shark wranglers. The sharks are getting smarter, you could see them trying to figure things out. They kept changing their approach strategies, using speed and stealth to steal the bait away. It was awesome. We had quite a few half breaches as the sharks would rocket up from underneath the cages to surprise our wranglers. Everyone got a show - Those that were in the cage and our guests that were topside. We all had a blast watching the cat and mouse game that was going on.

By the end of the day, everyone was exhausted and cold from hours spent in the cages. It is hard sometimes to explain to people who are there for the first time just how special a day like this is, because these kind of days are so rare. I was just thankful it happened on my watch.

Of course in the morning when we kicked off our 2nd day, I was half expecting it to be back to old Guadalupe, where the sharks come in, hang around for 10-30 minutes and then take off. But nope, when the cages were dropped (at 8am), within 20 minutes our first shark showed…and again, it was going off! The rest of the day played out like a repeat of day one. The only difference was we lowered one of the cages to 30 feet, to get a different perspective of the sharks. Those rides are always so much fun.

The day was just amazing, the sharks never stopped coming in. I shot over a thousand photos in a two hour session. Most ended up crap, but what was great was getting the opportunity to shoot that much. I got out of the water cold and happy, excited to see what day three would bring…BUT, our captain dropped a bomb on us. Tropical storm Frank was headed our way. So, we finished up our day of diving, pulled the cages and headed home.

We had one more day of diving left and even though everyone was not thrilled with leaving, riding home for 18 hours through a tropical storm was not something anyone wanted to do either. So we left and thankfully everyone was very happy. The two days in the water were so great no one really felt let down. I was excited for everyone and yes I admit, secretly even more excited about beating the storm for a smooth crossing home. Which meant, that my super hero, secret identity was not revealed on this trip. Till next season Guadalupe…You were amazing.

A video from our trip by one of our guests Steve Crawford. So much fun.

2016 WHITE SHARK EXPEDITION GALLERY

Eli Martinez

September 28, 2016

Our new website...Hell Yea!

Eli Martinez

September 28, 2016

Well, I finally did it. I updated our website.

This has been one of those projects that has given me hell for years, costing thousands of dollars, endless frustration, and disappointment after disappointment.

For almost a decade, I pretty much gave up on the idea of building a new site.

I stuck with the original, flawed as it was, because at least it was ours.

But every time I looked at that old site, it bugged me.

I knew it could be better.

So after one last, desperate search for help, I decided… enough was enough. I was going to build it myself.

I built our original website for Shark Diver Magazine years ago, after being let down by the first round of web developers. And here’s the thing, most web developers I’ve worked with try to get too fancy. They get excited about the latest tech trend or some new design tool, and instead of giving me what I need, they end up overcomplicating it. And, well... it usually ends in a mess.

I wasn’t the most tech savy, still am not… but I was determined to get this thing done.

Thanks to a good friend (shoutout to Jero), I gave Squarespace a try. After a full day of fumbling through it, I picked a template I liked and just started building.

Slowly, it began to feel like something I could actually be proud of.

The first priority was getting back to the core of what SDM is all about, who we are and what we do: travel, adventure stories, and wildlife. From there, it was about creating a better experience for you, more content, more stories, and a gallery of images.

We’ve got thousands of photos sitting on hard drives, collecting dust.

So many moments worth sharing. Creating galleries was always something I dreamed of doing, and now it’s finally happening.

Next, I tackled the blog.

The old setup made blogging a total pain. I love writing, but it was just too clunky. Now, this new blog page is user-friendly, well, at least for me, and I plan to use it often.

So this is what you’re seeing now: the new look and feel of SDM Adventures.

We’re currently using sdmdiving.com as the main URL, mostly because I’m still figuring out how to connect sdmadventures.com. And there’s way too much history with sharkdivermag.com to let it go entirely. Eventually, I’ll migrate everything over, but for now, it’s baby steps.

My first attempt as web designer. — My first attempt as a web designer.

I’ve been blogging on sharkdivermag.com since 2005.

I haven’t yet figured out how to bring all those old stories over here, but maybe I’ll find a way to link them.

There's a lot of history there, too much to lose. Again, baby steps.

And speaking of history…

Sadly, the old website is now down, and with it, all the years of blogging I’d been doing since 2005.

Losing all that history of stories hits hard.

I had documented our journey in real time, our early trips, our wins and struggles, the animals, the people, the behind-the-scenes stories. So many memories. So many moments now lost in cyberspace.

It’s something I’m not happy about. But I’m not giving up on them just yet.

I’ll check old backups, hard drives, even see if our former hosting provider has anything archived. Maybe, just maybe, I can link some of those old stories back into this new home. Baby steps. Always.

But if none of it comes back, then this blog becomes something even more important. A clean slate. A tribute to what came before. A place to keep telling the stories that still matter. Because there are so many left to share, and I’m not done yet.

Now, the store, that’s been the hardest part. For some reason, it’s always been a stumbling block. Every time I hired someone to help build a store, it turned into something bigger.

I’d ask for a simple store, they’d want to redesign the whole site, and I’d say yes (so yeah, this mess is kind of on me). Thousands of dollars later… no working store.

But not this time. I’m building it myself. And when it’s ready, I’ll proudly share it with you.

current site on SharkDiverMag.com — The final look of our website SharkDiverMag.com (2016), before we moved over to SDMdiving.com.

The store will include our shirts, rash guards, back issues of the magazine, and something I’ve always wanted: an art gallery of prints, featuring some of the most powerful moments we’ve captured over the years.

For now, I’m just excited to share the new site with you. It looks great, it feels right, and I hope you enjoy it and come back often. I’ll be updating it regularly, and the blog will feature both written and video stories. There’s still so much left to share, so many animals, places, and moments worth remembering.

To all our friends who’ve been with us from the beginning, this is for you.
Thank you for sticking with us through it all.

Eli Martinez

September 23, 2016

La Jolla Shores is Freaking Shark Diving Heaven!

Eli Martinez

September 23, 2016

La Jolla Shores has always held a special place for me. It was the site of my first beach dive, and, of course, it’s full of sharks.

The first time I swam here was in 2006. As the editor of Shark Diver Magazine, I had already published stories about La Jolla Shores and its thriving leopard shark population, so I was eager to experience it firsthand. I finally got my chance when we included the location in the documentary I produced, Summer of the Sharks.

For this dive/snorkel, you walk into the surf zone, and just a few feet beneath the waves, you’re surrounded by these beautiful little sharks. As a shark diver, it doesn’t get much better than that. My first dive here in 2006 was an unforgettable experience, and from that moment on, I was hooked. I made it a point to return every year since.

What makes La Jolla even more special is that leopard sharks aren’t the only stars of the show. The waters here are home to an impressive variety of shark species. You can encounter tope sharks, horn sharks, grey smooth-hounds, angel sharks, and the big stars of La Jolla—the seven-gill sharks.

I’ve been lucky enough to see them all, except for the elusive swell sharks. But no matter where you swim here, there’s always a shark nearby, lurking just beneath the surface, waiting to remind you why La Jolla is one of the best places in the world for shark encounters.

The leopards weren’t the only reason I came out here. I was also after tope sharks. Swimming among the grassy sea beds is where the topes tend to gather. These sharks are a true conservation success story. Once nearly wiped out, their numbers have rebounded thanks to the enforcement of the gill net ban along California’s coastline. Their return is not only great for the ecosystem, restoring balance to these waters, but it also adds to the excitement of an already incredible dive site.

I’ve been coming to this area since 2006, and while the sharks are always here and the diving is relatively easy, it’s not without its challenges. The ocean almost always has a strong surge, which wreaks havoc on visibility. Most of the time, I’m swimming in what feels like a muddy soup, trying to capture footage of these beautiful little sharks through the haze. Photography here is especially challenging. The constant movement of the water, shifting sand, and low visibility make it difficult to get sharp, well-lit images. Even with proper settings and adjustments, it’s a game of patience and luck.

This year, I finally got lucky. The stars aligned, and I had the rare opportunity to film them in near-perfect visibility. The surge was still there, and the sand was stirred up in places, but for once, I could see the sharks clearly, gliding effortlessly through the water. It was the kind of dive I had been waiting for.

We spent a lot of time playing with the leopards. Over two days, my friend, Margo Adamson, and my buddy Keith Brooks, and I logged about five hours in the water with them, and it was just pure fun.

Dive Tip. If you want the best chances of seeing them, I recommend diving during low tide. The vis is better during high tide, but they tend to scatter. During low tide, they gather in large groups, making for much better photography and filming opportunities.

The topes were a bit more challenging to film since they stay a bit deeper. On my second day, I went out later in the day, hoping for a chance to find them. Thanks to my friend Margo, who dives here practically every day, locating them wasn’t an issue.

They put me on them quickly, and I got to work trying to frame shots in fading light. Since I shoot with natural light, it was tough. The topes are much more skiddish compared to the leopards, so tracking them down, sneaking up to get a proper composition, and adjusting settings in low light made for an added challenge, but it was all part of the adventure.

Thankfully, the water here is super shallow, allowing plenty of natural light to filter through. With the great visibility we were lucky to have today, the photos turned out even better than I had imagined.

As I was heading back in, the SDG girls had one more surprise for me—a Pacific black sea turtle. This was a huge moment for me. I rushed over to photograph it, and like a supermodel, it stayed in place, patiently letting me take shot after shot.

I’ve set a goal of photographing all eight species of sea turtles, and so far, I have four. This is actually a shared goal between my daughter, Sophie, and me. The plan is to film them together one day, and now that I know where to find a black turtle, I can bring her back here to experience them firsthand. The one we found is a resident in these waters, which makes it even more special.

Photographing leopard sharks off La Jolla Shores was fun but challenging experience. The shallow water, ocean surge, and unpredictable lighting conditions pushed me to adapt on the fly. Looking back, there were a few things I could have done differently.

Here are five key lessons I took away from the experience…

1. Use a Faster Shutter Speed to Freeze Movement. I shot the leopard sharks using 1/320s shutter speed, which wasn’t quite fast enough to fully freeze their movement in the water. These sharks are constantly gliding, and between the motion of the surge and their natural speed, a faster shutter speed would have resulted in sharper, crisper images.

Lesson: A shutter speed of at least 1/500s–1/1000s is ideal for photographing moving sharks in natural light.

2. Avoid Auto ISO—Even in Changing Light. I’m usually against using Auto ISO, but in this case, I used it due to the rapidly changing light conditions. Some areas were only three to four feet deep, which meant a lot of light bouncing off the sandy bottom. This caused exposure shifts that I thought Auto ISO would help compensate for, but instead, it led to inconsistent noise levels across my shots.

Lesson: Manually Control ISO whenever possible, even in dynamic lighting. Instead of Auto ISO, set a base ISO and adjust in real-time as needed.

3. Work with the Surge, Not Against It. The constant water movement at La Jolla made it difficult to frame shots without the ocean pushing me around. At first, I tried to resist the surge, which only led to more camera shake and missed shots. I eventually learned to go with the flow—literally. By drifting with the water, I was able to anticipate movement and time my shots more effectively.

Lesson: Let the surge guide you into position rather than fighting it. Time your shots during the brief moments when the water steadies.

4. Use a Lower Angle for More Impactful Compositions. Most first-time shark photographers make the mistake of shooting downward, which flattens the subject and makes the image less dynamic. I made sure to position my camera lower in the water and shoot upward whenever possible. This approach separated the sharks from the busy background, improved contrast, and created a more engaging composition.

Lesson: Get low and shoot upward for a more dramatic and visually appealing shot.

5. Patience Beats Pursuit Every Time. Leopard sharks are curious but easily spooked. The more I moved toward them, the more they swam away. When I finally stayed still and let them come to me, they got comfortable and allowed for much closer shots. This not only resulted in better images but also let me observe their natural behavior without disturbing them.

Lesson: Let the wildlife come to you. Staying still increases your chances of getting close, natural shots without chasing the subject away.

Photographing leopard sharks at La Jolla Shores was a learning experience.

It reinforced the importance of controlling shutter speed, managing ISO manually, adapting to ocean movement, and being patient with wildlife. Every dive teaches a new lesson, and next time, I’ll be better prepared to capture these beautiful sharks with even sharper, more dynamic images.

Until the next one and thank you guys for reading.

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