TIGER BEACH : CROISIERE PLONGEE AUX BAHAMAS ( DE VERONIQUE LEGER)
« This is not a vacation, this is a shark expedition ! » (ce ne sont pas des vacances, mais une expédition requins !) nous lance Jim Abernethy, spécialiste et grand défenseur des requins, avant notre première plongée à Tiger Beach aux Bahamas avec des requins citrons, des requins gris et des requins tigres. Nous avions eu un long briefing le matin même nous expliquant les consignes à suivre et les gestes spécifiques pour ce genre de rencontre sous-marine hors du commun.
J’avais déjà croisé des requins en plongée, au Mexique, aux Philippines, à Cuba, mais il s’agissait de rencontres furtives qui laissent un goût d’inachevé. Ensuite aux Maldives, j’ai plongé de nuit parmi des dizaines de requins nourrices et cela n’a fait que décupler mon envie de les approcher de plus près. Chaque fois que j’ai observé des requins patrouiller les récifs avec leur allure si élégante, j’ai ressenti une sensation d’harmonie. Ils sont vraiment les seigneurs de l’océan, des créatures parfaites façonnées par 400 millions d’années d’évolution.
La croisière de plongée nous emmène à Tiger Beach et sur les récifs environnants aux abords de l’île de Grand Bahamas. Sur le Shearwater, un bateau de 20 mètres, on plonge requins, on parle requins, on fait des images et on rêve requins. Le carré du bateau est tapissé de photos impressionnantes. On plonge quand on veut, autant de fois qu’on veut, toujours avec un « dive master ». Jim Abernethy et son équipage font de leur mieux pour que nous profitions au maximum de cette expérience unique. Une vidéo est réalisée pour chaque expédition.
Ils utilisent des appâts de poisson dans des caisses à lait autour du bateau et sous l’eau afin d’attirer les squales. A nous alors de nous jeter à l’eau et de savourer l’instant. On s’aperçoit très vite que les requins citrons et gris sont inoffensifs, on finit même par les caresser derrière les branchies ou sous le ventre. Il faut juste être vigilant quand les requins tigres apparaissent, toujours garder le contact visuel et savoir qu’ils viennent parfois heurter la caméra tellement ils sont curieux (attention aux caissons!). Pour ceux qui comme moi disposent d’une petite caméra, on nous fournit un bâton qui permet de délimiter son territoire. Il s’agit d’animaux qui peuvent atteindre 8 mètres. Emma, la femelle tigre mascotte du capitaine, qui est enceinte, atteint plus de 4 mètres et a un ventre bien rebondi. Elle est enjôleuse et mutine, cherche le contact et possède sa propre page sur les réseaux sociaux. Parfois au moment du « safety stop » à 5 mètres, il arrive que des requins gris très curieux nous tournent autour en se rapprochant de plus en plus. Il m’est arrivé d’en repousser doucement un qui se montrait trop familier. Les plongées donnent aussi l’occasion d’observer les stations où les requins font la queue pour se faire nettoyer la bouche et la peau par des poissons spécialisés. Ils sont toujours accompagnés d’un entourage de poissons pilotes et ventouses (rémoras). L’hiver on peut aussi observer les requins bouledogues (« bull sharks ») et les requins marteaux.
Les requins ont malheureusement encore mauvaise réputation et c’est injustifié car il arrive à peu près 10 accidents mortels par an dans le monde, causés par l’ignorance et la maladresse humaines. Les requins ne sont pas par nature des mangeurs d’hommes mais ils peuvent confondre les baigneurs et les surfeurs avec leurs proies habituelles ou être attirés par des activités humaines. Avant d’être notre terrain de jeux, l’océan est leur domaine. Respectons cela. La demande pour les ailerons de requins, l’huile et le cartilage ainsi que la surpêche exterminent 100 millions de squales par année ! Plusieurs espèces sont gravement menacées. Comme on ne protège que ce que l’on connaît, je recommande à tous les plongeurs de tenter l’aventure de Tiger Beach et d’en parler autour d’eux afin de sensibiliser le public.
écrit par VERONIQUE LEGER
I like what you guys tend to be up too. This sort of clever work and coverage! Keep up the fantastic works guys I’ve added you guys to my blogroll.
Do you have a spam issue on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was curious about your situation; many of us have developed some nice methods and we are looking to trade techniques with others, why not shoot me an email if interested.
Hello there! I know this is kinda off topic but I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest authoring a blog article or vice-versa? My site covers a lot of the same topics as yours and I feel we could greatly benefit from each other. If you are interested feel free to shoot me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Terrific blog by the way!
Hi great blog! Does running a blog such as this require a massive amount work? I have absolutely no knowledge of programming however I was hoping to start my own blog soon. Anyways, if you have any recommendations or techniques for new blog owners please share. I understand this is off subject however I just had to ask. Cheers!
Good day! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after reading through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely glad I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back often!
Hello there! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog. Is it tough to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about creating my own but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Thank you
Today, I went to the beachfront with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said « You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear. » She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!
Have you ever considered about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is valuable and all. But think about if you added some great images or videos to give your posts more, « pop »! Your content is excellent but with images and videos, this site could certainly be one of the best in its niche. Amazing blog!
Hey! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing a few months of hard work due to no data backup. Do you have any solutions to protect against hackers?
Hello! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with SEO? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good success. If you know of any please share. Thank you!
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own blog and was wondering what all is required to get set up? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very web smart so I’m not 100% positive. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Appreciate it
With havin so much written content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright infringement? My website has a lot of exclusive content I’ve either authored myself or outsourced but it appears a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my permission. Do you know any methods to help reduce content from being ripped off? I’d definitely appreciate it.
Howdy! Would you mind if I share your blog with my zynga group? There’s a lot of folks that I think would really enjoy your content. Please let me know. Thank you
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with a few pics to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is fantastic blog. A fantastic read. I will definitely be back.
I do not know whether it’s just me or if everybody else experiencing issues with your site. It looks like some of the written text within your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them as well? This could be a problem with my internet browser because I’ve had this happen before. Many thanks
I was curious if you ever thought of changing the layout of your site? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or 2 images. Maybe you could space it out better?
Good day! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after checking through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back frequently!
Hmm it looks like your website ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any tips and hints for beginner blog writers? I’d genuinely appreciate it.
Have you ever considered about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is important and all. But think about if you added some great photos or video clips to give your posts more, « pop »! Your content is excellent but with pics and clips, this website could certainly be one of the best in its niche. Superb blog!
I was wondering if you ever considered changing the layout of your website? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or 2 images. Maybe you could space it out better?