Another shark takes interest. Bahamas: MEET PATCHES, the hammerhead shark who is more like a cuddly puppy than a vicious predator. Named for the numer
Another shark takes interest. Bahamas: MEET PATCHES, the hammerhead shark who is more like a cuddly puppy than a vicious predator. Named for the numerous spots on her underside, Patches is around 13 feet long and is a frequent resident at Tiger Beach in The Bahamas. One image shows the playful shark swimming up to the photographer, investigating his prosthetic leg, gained from a previous shark encounter gone wrong. These images were captured by photographer and conservationist Mike Coots (43) as Tiger Beach, Grand Bahama in the Bahamas using a Canon 5D mark 4 camera. ?I was sitting on the sandy seafloor at Tiger Beach and Patches came up to have a look at me,? said Mike. ?You get a sense of the shark's personality. ?Hammerheads can often look humorous and almost cartoon-like. There really isn?t many species on earth so odd yet beautiful looking. ?You actually feel calm as their presence is so commanding. It forced you to be more submissive and In 1997 Mike survived a shark attack in Kauai, Hawaii by a tiger shark, resulting in his prosthetic leg. Despite this, Mike is an avid shark activist and loves being in the presence of sharks. "I know it?s a bit of irony having my prosthetic leg in an image that is a direct result of a shark attack,? said Mike. ?The reality is that it's much more dangerous on the car ride to a beach than any shark attack once in the water. ?I love looking back at images after the dive as it puts me right back to that incredible moment. Seeing a shark underwater is rare, and often leaves you mediadrumimages/MikeCoots
Size: 2581px × 3226px
Photo credit: © Media Drum World / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: diver, hammerhead, prosthetic, shark, underwater
