It's a very intimate experience with silvertip sharks. They are basically the Rolls Royce of the Carcharhinus world. They are beautiful, elegant sharks.
But the best part of this is that we were staying at the Kia Ora resort, which is the largest resort on Rangiroa. It is also like the silvertip shark, it is a very elegant place. You go from the luxury of a delicious breakfast croissant to facing this shark slicing merrily and cleanly through the water or watching it come in at night.
Susan: Again though, we are talking about the need of tourism to sustain this sort of place. What do you think will happen, David, if we got a lot of people coming here?
David: You have to manage an underwater system very, very carefully. You can't put too many divers into the system at Rangiroa without upsetting the balance or upsetting the ability to see things.
Keith: The writer on this story is Peter Benchley and he has been going to this place for a long time.
Susan: Peter Benchley who wrote "Jaws"?
Keith: Yes, he wrote "Jaws," and his sense was that this was one of the last, great paradises. It "hasn't been done" so to speak.
This is something that I talk about a lot on this show and others. It's just the notion of how much can we allow people to experience this, and if we can keep the experience small, containable and as David says, not ruin the thing that is the actual greatest attraction, you win.
Susan: Well, for those of us who won't be able to get to French Polynesia but maybe are planning a trip to Florida, David, can you just give us some quick tips for amateur photographers to get these spectacular underwater photographs?
David: The most important thing to make underwater photographs is time in the sea.
You have to spend as much time as you can and you have to have as much patience as you can. As far as making pictures underwater, it's not easy. There are no really good shortcuts or cheaper equipment to make the kind of intimate images that you see in your own mind. You have to have as much eye contact with a fish, with a shark, with anything else as possible. And of course, the fish's real desire is not to have its picture taken.
Susan: But, get down there at that level and try to get the good shots.
David: Get down there at that level, swim, watch, look around, and then begin to take pictures.
Susan: They are beautiful.Thank you so much for telling us and showing us this beautiful place.
National Geographic Today, airing 7 p.m. ET/PT in the United States, is a daily news magazine show available only on the National Geographic Channel. Click here to request it.
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