Today was shark day on the outer reef in the Philippine Sea at Vertigo, Yap’s most exciting dive site. Yap has a healthy population of reef sharks that is still growing. Locals say that they don’t remember seeing as many sharks as they do these recent years. Protective legislation of the Manta Rays subsequently protects these sharks as well, and it shows in the numbers and sizes of these animals. Diving in Yap means seeing sharks on just about every dive, the only site we don’t interact with them is at the manta ray cleaning station in M’il channel. There’s always excitement at Vertigo, you can roll in and fill your SD card any day of the year here with Grey and Black Tip reef sharks patrolling the wall and deep blue. Today we started out freediving with the school, there’s action here at every depth so the girls hit it with a snorkel first.   It’s exciting to get in the water with so many sharks so close. We rolled in with a photo op plan but when the ladies were surrounded by reef sharks with a cameras in hand, all I saw was Scuba Diver Girls going in every direction. The girls were stoked on the diving experience. Margo especially likes sharks and within minutes she was giving Yap Divers a round of applause underwater for developing such a great dive. Stephanie likes turtles more than sharks, but today she was mixing it up with the whole school. The dive day was planned to get some freediving in so this all went down before we got on Scuba. Both Suunto D6’s were switched in to freedive mode and the girls put on their Mares Coral 1.0 suits. It looks just like the Reef 2.5 they dive in and can double as a first layer under their wetsuit. It was just enough protection from the sun on the surface and warmth when on a dive. They came with an impeccable package for a tropical dive party – the girls were more than adequately setup for everything we’ve been doing, including the night action and freediving.     Today they looked like Mares mermaids with Vertigo and Yap sharks as their backdrop. Jan, Manta Ray’s 10-year veteran dive operations manager personally guided this Vertigo experience. These ladies promote good times in the ocean with a snorkel or a tank and understand the importance of involving people and participating with our planet. We share perspectives on surface intervals and the girls bring positive ways to show others the magic of our ocean. The future of our sport requires new people coming online as divers and the Scuba Diver Girls are doing their part for the diving industry. They host snorkeling tours in California, as well as scuba diving, with an understanding that snorkelers become divers, and divers become advocates to preserve and protect our ocean then involve more people. Everyone has a stake in this cycle – manufacturers, operators, marketers as well as underwater photographers – and this is how we’re bringing it all together in Yap. We rolled in and went to the edge of the reef wall for the shark spectacular that Vertigo is. You can get as close as you feel comfortable here and be right next to the action. There’s black tip activity at the surface and a consistent grey reef presence in the blue and along the reef wall. Take your pick on your spectating or shooting position and get a mask full of reef shark behavior. Sharks weren’t the only thing that come out to play at Vertigo, the girls were filming three large Moray eels in the coral with the circling sharks all around… and once in a while a huge potato grouper joins the fun. Yap is known all over the world for its resident population of manta rays and less known for its diving diversity and booming reef shark population. There’s something here for everybody, beginners, advanced divers, freedivers, even technical for those who really want to adventure down the reef wall. This week the Scuba Diver Girls are helping us get the word out on what it looks like to dive here and what to expect. Mares and Suunto are helping the Scuba Diver Girls do this in style, comfort and safety. Its been an action packed dive week as well as a good time putting together a project that helps the sport grow and bring people to Micronesia for some blue water awesomeness and unforgettable big animal encounters. Check out our facebook page for shark package specials going on right now. Hot deals on exciting dive packages with comfortable upgrades: