We've just launched a fantastic new site all about Sharks. Are they the dark mysterious monsters of the deep, or are they under threat from a bigger predator - humans?

Blimey, there's some weird looking sharks in there. That Elephant Shark doesn't even look real!

Is there anyone else out there that has been diving with sharks? I went at Christmas and loved it. I'd love to come face to face with a hammerhead - they look pretty strange too!

I was really keen to go diving... till I saw a trailer for 'Open Water'. Looks pretty scary!

Diving with sharks is fun! I've dived a fair bit with common species such as grey and blacktip reef sharks, which are usually a lot more scared of us than we are of them (selachophobia notwithstanding) - it's a pretty awesome thing to do, especially when they're circling around in fair numbers. I've had a couple of accidental encounters with other somewhat more worrying species - one in particular involving a tiger shark in western Australia which I didn't see until it was almost right on top of me. I'm typing this with all my fingers on both hands, so I assume it wasn't hungry...

The best fun of all was snorkelling with whale sharks on the Ningaloo reef (also in WA), where they turn up in large numbers between March and June. There is no thrill on the planet quite like jumping off the back of a dive boat and finding a fish the size of a double-decker bus swimming straight at you; they really are the most extraordinarily beautiful and graceful creatures. Ningaloo's probably the best place to see them reliably; book now while stocks last, as their numbers are sadly diminishing. There's a great site run by Geoff Taylor, who discovered the Ningaloo sharks in the 1980s - some fabulous pictures and fascinating accounts of his discoveries there.

As for hammerheads: you should go to the Red Sea, Michelle. You'll see hundreds there in the right places, which may or may not be a good thing

S.

I'd like to dive with blue sharks - they're my favourite. Very sleek and fast. I guess it would be a cage dive though. You seem like a man in the know Sean, where would I do this?

Well, Sweet Pea: the good news about diving with blue sharks is that they are very common all over the world, so there's a good chance of being able to dive with them just about anywhere you happen to be; South Africa, the east coast of North America, California and New Zealand are all good places to see blues. I don't think you'll necessarily have to dive in a cage, either. Like most sharks, blues can be dangerous if you antagonise them but they're generally pretty safe to be around. That said, in some parts of the world they live alongside some much bigger and scarier sharks; off South Africa, especially, there's always a chance that a great white might turn up, in which case you may very well decide that a cage is the safest place to be

Closer to home, there are lots of blue sharks in UK waters too, especially off the Cornish coast, but finding dive outfits who know how to locate them is not always easy. The bad news about blues is that they are an oceanic species, and tend to live a long way offshore; that can make them hard to find without a lot of local knowledge. It's worth checking out some of the scuba-specific discussion boards and asking around - and it may even be worth asking some fishing operators too, as many of those in the south-west run shark fishing expeditions and are good at attracting the fish with chumming techniques. I'll ask around!

S.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sean,

Thanks Sean! You seem to know a lot about this - in which case can you offer any advise on buying an underwater digital camera - or point me in teh right direction?

I have been diving with great white last year in october in South Africa and it was great. We were cage diving and there were from 4-6 different sharks.4 m was the biggest Then we were also diving with regged tooth,there was 7 different sharks all big and fat. they were wery friendly. Now I would like to dive with whale shark and hammerhead. i think, that once you dive with sharks, you just want to do it more and more.Well forgive my english if it was no so good as it should be. Happy to find this site, hope to hear some more from you
cheers Luki