I finally became a scuba diver at age 15 or so, and a couple of years after that, I attended a dive show that is held every year in Boston. It’s the oldest one in the world and it’s still going on – it’s called the Sea Rovers. Brian Skerry Read Quote
I was the first journalist allowed on a hunting boat during harp seal season in almost 15 years. Around the late 1970s, white coat pups became the poster child for the anti-fur movement, and by the ’80s, the media was lambasting the hunters for killing them. Brian Skerry Read Quote
I flipped through a book on harp seals in the late 1970s and saw images of them swimming in emerald green pools of water surrounded by huge sheets of ice. Right then I was hooked, and I knew this was a story I wanted to do. Brian Skerry Read Quote
The Oceanic White Tip is considered one of the most dangerous sharks in the sea along with the Great White and Tiger. It is responsible for some of the most famous episodes of man-eating in history, such as when the U.S.S. Indianapolis sank in 1945. Brian Skerry Read Quote
The bohar snapper – they have these huge canines. I got bit by one. One took a chunk out of my ear – they are much scarier than the sharks. Brian Skerry Read Quote
Sharks don’t particularly have a great interest in divers. It seemed that in a normal dive, I would jump in the water, and one or two gray reef sharks would swim in and kind of check me out – and then they would keep their distance. So they weren’t particularly threatening or anything to be afraid of. Brian Skerry Read Quote
I still think there’s a big part of the population that has a lot of misinformation about sharks. But I think it’s beginning to change a little bit. As good information about sharks permeates popular culture, things may start to change. Brian Skerry Read Quote
Kneeling on the sea bottom in a place known as Tiger Beach, I watched a 12-foot- long female tiger shark cruise over the turtle grass with three silver bar jacks swimming in front of her nose. Brian Skerry Read Quote
I have photographed sharks in waters around the globe, and I always want more and yearn to peer deeper into their world. To feed my passion and to raise awareness, I developed a story about sharks for ‘National Geographic’ magazine. Brian Skerry Read Quote
For decades I have tried to peel back the layers of mystery surrounding many marine creatures, though most have held tightly to their secrets. One animal that keeps me pondering is the shark. Spellbound by these enigmatic animals since I first encountered them in New England, I never tire of watching their special blend of power and grace. Brian Skerry Read Quote
