Diver in Mexico Conveys His Love of Sharks Through His Underwater Photography Latin American Herald Tribune
go to original August 26, 2016

Follow Gerardo del Villar and his team in this adventure throughout his country as he seeks to prove its worth as a worldwide shark sanctuary. (Blue Ocean Film Fest)

Gerardo Del Villar, who says his interest in sharks was “love at first sight,” has spent 15 years scuba diving with his camera in the ocean and trying to get the closest shots possible.

The zeal with which he and his team pursue the perfect photo is such that they sometimes get too close, and “the sharks bump into us and even bite the camera,” he said in an interview with EFE.

Del Villar said the most awe-inspiring aspect about his work occurs when a shoal of fish that have been hindering his team’s visibility suddenly start moving away and the predator appears.

The diver returned a few weeks ago from the northwestern Mexican state of Baja California Sur, which lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California and was the jumping-off point for his team’s search of bull and oceanic sharks.

Cabo Pulmo, a small town of about 350 inhabitants that has shifted its economy from fishing to eco-tourism, is a place where sharks will at times fearlessly approach divers “because they feel certain that no one will hunt them,” Del Villar said.

He said his team’s work was aimed at “debunking myths about sharks,” whose behavior largely differs from what is portrayed in movies.

Read the rest at Latin American Herald Tribune

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