Thanks to the Manta Ray Sanctuary program, started by Bill and backed by the State govt, all big animals benefit from the habitat protection. The lagoon and mangrove areas are important for the sharks, as well as the Manta Rays. Yap is a big animal ecological reserve and the result is a healthy population of not-that-shy reef sharks that don’t mind divers, cameras, strobes or boats. Here’s a weekday morning on the East reef. Vertigo, a 20 minute boat ride from the Resort, is where shark dives are happening everyday, year round. This day we brought about 8 guests and a wire box of fish bones. This type of shark dive has everything but the feeding, the bait just brings everything in closer for longer. This is how you can get as close as you want to these animals while they circle the reef. Photographers can work around the reef wall shooting 360 degrees of shark behavior as long as you want. Sharks in the blue, making tight turns between divers and swimming right up to your lens making eye contact. Mostly Grey Reef sharks with a mix of Black Tip and, occasional, White Tips anywhere between 3 and 7 feet long make up this group of animals. There’s every opportunity to photograph these sharks from being under the corral head with them, or in the clear blue. Dropping down the wall and watching the shark school from depth offers a surreal view. This is also a popular snorkeling site due to the closeness of the encounters, you don’t need scuba, the show is almost as good at the surface. We are ramping up the shark education and diving with Dr. Erich Ritter where we’ll be learning more about these animals, their behavior and diving with them and shark scientists in the last week of May. Call or email Bill for travel tips, flights, routes or booking questions.