On Thanksgiving weekend 2012 photographer Craig Dietrich had a rare opportunity to capture spectacular images of a large whale shark while diving offshore Pompano Beach, Florida. This event was reported by local news stations using images Craig provided. He’s been kind enough to give us the story in his own words and has allowed us to post the pictures; some of which have not before been made public. The images are posted in our Members Photos area
“One of the things I love about scuba diving is the fact that you never know what you are going to see when you jump in.
The ocean is an ever changing environment, and you can dive the same areas for years and you’re never guaranteed to see the same things. Well this Sunday, while aboard The Sea Dog Diver out of Pompano Beach Dive Center, we could never have imagined what we were about to experience. After just coming out of the water from our first dive, there was chatter on the CB radio
about sightings of a Whale Shark.The joke about the boat was, did they see mermaids also? About a half hour later we get a call from the dive boat Miss Conduct about how they have snorkelers in the water just outside of Hillsboro Inlet with a Whale Shark, and they do not have a camera and nobody is going to believe them. Without hesitation, we headed that way.
Everyone on board was overwhelmed with excitement. Could it really be a Whale Shark in Pompano Beach? When we arrived, all we saw was a fin in the water…and the captain yelled GO GO GO…and we all jumped in. As we put our masks in the water…there in front of us was the most massive, gentle creature we had ever seen! Just swimming along with his entourage of fish that followed him
whereever he went. The funny thing was that after the first pass we were all hooting and hollering about how amazing it was to get to see a Whale Shark…never, ever, imagining he was going to come back to us over and over again. After an hour he finally had had his fun with us and moved out into the vast ocean he calls home. Needless to say the trip back to the dock was filled with chatter about this once in a lifetime experience.” –Craig Dietrich
For More Information About The Work of Craig Dietrich Visit www.dietrichunderwater.com
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