"I was filming a white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) on seal-predation sequence for the BBC. I had managed to get permission to use a seal carcass for the underwater shot, which was floating behind the boat. I had my polecam in the water. A large white shark arrived but did not seem very interested in the easy feast on offer. It would swim around the carcass occasionally bumping it with its nose. To make things even more difficult, the underwater visibility was very poor, about four meters (13 feet). After a time the shark disappeared, but I kept the camera rolling. After about five minutes, there was a huge splash and my polecam was airborne. The next thing that I was aware of in the ensuing chaos was that the head of this huge shark, jaws snapping, was sharing the diving platform with me. Note how the sharks eyes are rolled back in attack mode. Fortunately, there is no record of how my eyes looked at that moment."
Charles Maxwell

"It is not the shark that I am filming that worries me, it is the second shark that I have not seen that poses the potential danger."Charles Maxwell, Shark Alley, Dyer Island, South Africa, July 1998.

Charles Maxwell is an underwater cinematographer based in Cape Town, South Africa. A keen diver and lover of the marine environment for 35 years, Maxwell has made documentaries for the National Geographic Society and the BBC. He runs his own business, Underwater Video Services.

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