#fakarava

Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you: Bohemian Sharksody (Part 1)

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Natural Dream Beach Teahatea, Fakarava Atoll, Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia

Video by @JenniferHayesIG // sponsored by and captured on @GoPro #TripOn #GoProTravel // Watching hundreds of gray reef sharks relax in the currents is better than meditation. Scientists estimate that an astonishing 700 sharks inhabit the South Pass of Fakarava atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. As shark populations plummet around the world, these sharks are a welcome sight. Protected from fishing, every individual is a symbol of a healthy ocean ecosystem. By day the sharks separate into a few distinct groups in the deeper regions of the pass, where divers can easily view them from small ledges without disturbing their behavior. As night falls the sharks aggressively patrol the bottom in groups looking for fish to reveal themselves in the reef, and then the chase for a meal is on.

A gray reef shark devours a short-nosed unicornfish. Groupers are usually too big to be swallowed whole, but sharks kill hundreds of them at Fakarava. Yet it remains a good place for groupers to spawn: The tidal current rushing out of the channel spreads their offspring far and wide.

Fakarava South