Sharkdance By Night

Russian diver IRINA BRITANOVA lives her surreal dream, with photography by ANDREY NEKRASOV

HOORAY – IT’S HAPPENED AT LAST! From the moment I entered the diving world, the idea of being photographed with sharks while wearing a dress would not leave my mind, not only during the day but at night too.

I was looking through the photographs of “mermaid” Hannah Fraser with tiger sharks not only in admiration but with envy. I examined her movements, I studied the different emotions on her fantastic face, and I was sad to think that it would just be too difficult to organise a similar experience for myself.

My first open-water dives had been on a safari at St John’s in the Red Sea in 2010. My leaking mask had been a huge problem, and my buoyancy still wasn’t the best, but despite all that I felt as if I was inhabiting a fairy-tale. No HD TV screen can do justice to the range of colours, the textures of the corals, the beauty of the reef inhabitants or that cosmic zero-gravity feeling.

As our live aboard moved further from civilisation, so the sites became evermore interesting and the volume of marine life rose. I was feeling anxious about my first encounter with sharks, which didn’t occur until my fourth dive, when a long-finned oceanic whitetip approached us at Habili Ali Reef.

When I saw this elegant beauty moving gracefully towards us my fear vanished, leaving only enormous admiration and happiness. I realised that this sea-raptor meant me no harm, and the adrenaline flowing through me was of the positive kind. The shark was looking into my eyes as if trying to hypnotise me.

On that first dive-trip I spent time with big shoals of fish, small turtles and even dolphins, but that Longimanus inspired the most incredible feelings.