OUT IN THE BIG BLUE; OPERATION SHARK.

This is my first time posting a video on #haveyoubeenhere, I hope it gives you a sense of the atmosphere underwater.

In better times when we were able to travel, myself @biggypauls, wife "Koz" and friends Ernesto and Vanessa visited a special place. Tubbataha reef is a Unesco world heritage site in the middle of the Zulu sea in the Philippines.

Sailing from Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan we made a over night journey in calm seas, to arrive on site for diving at first light the following morning

100 kilometers from dry land, this protected site is out of bounds for most of the year but for 3 months a very limited amount of divers are given permission to visit. With high levels of protection you get a glimpse of how the oceans were in the past.

As a diver and ocean lover, I have seen with my own eyes fish stocks dwindle and in particular the large apex predators slowly disappear. Our main reason for this trip was to hopefully see many sharks, something that was common place 20 years ago but now sadly a rare thing.

Early morning on our first day we woke up to coffee and a light breakfast, there was a buzz of excitement on the boat. After a briefing about the dive site we set up our equipment and readied our cameras. I had my GoPro and DSLR rig with the hope of getting a nice mix of film and photos. All set we jumped in the zodiac speed boat to get us closer to the reef as the large boats have to keep their distance.

We were on a five day trip and full of anticipation of what the first day would bring. In two groups of five we made our first couple of dives then took a lunch break before jumping back in later that afternoon, later we took some time to relax and review our footage.

For my video I chose the music, Apres midi d'un faune, by Debussy as it was one of the favorites of Jacques Cousteau in his documentaries, It was watching them as a young boy that inspired me to become a diver and visit the underwater world.

Now sit back and relax and let me take you on a journey into the big blue, with these highlights of day one.