Who's Watching, What's Watching, Underwater

"Watching and being watched underwater"
The Right Blue™ (January 23, 2010)

"Recreational divers are essentially underwater sightseers. Just like sightseers on land, they take in the scenery and observe 'the locals' going about their business. In this case, of course, the locals are the critters that inhabit the reef....

"...At least we knew Brutus [a barracuda] was there -- really, you couldn't miss him! But sometimes creatures in the sea watch or even stalk divers while the diver is oblivious to their presence. As an example, we once posted a photo of a sneaky shark approaching a diver from behind, while the diver -- engrossed in what he was photographing -- remained unaware of the shark. Based on our own experiences, we think scenarios like that happen very often...."

There's quite a bit more - anecdotes and a discussion of why divers may not be all that aware of their surroundings - ending with this bit of good advice:

"...What to do? When you are diving, we suggest that you periodically glance up, and down, and look over your shoulder to see who or what may be watching you."

There's a photo with the article - but not of the shark and the diver.

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UPDATE (January 26, 2010)

Here's a link to that "sneaky shark" photo: therightblue.com/2008/09/sneaky-shark.html.

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A tip of the hat to bnsullivan, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this post.