Blacktip Reef Sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) don't bite people very often but when a couple of them come this close it does make you wonder if they are particularly hungry or if maybe you are in forbidden territory.

They are bigger than a big, dangerous dog and can be very territorial - especially when they are pregnant. Fortunately, humans are also big, dangerous creatures in a coral reef environment and are known to spear just about anything that swims by. The sharks in the New Caledonia World Heritage site - even in remote areas like Ilot N'da - have had close encounters with many humans and all it takes to get them to swim away at top speed is to mentally conjour up a vision of shark fin soup and then swim slowly in their direction, like you are trying to creep up on them.

This makes it really difficult to take close photos of them since that's what we photographers generally do. Point your camera at a shark and slowly approach it and zowie - it' gone. To get this image I just held my breath and didn't move at all. Well, not until after I took the photo; then I could not help but imagine a nice big bowl of shark fin soup and they were gone in an instant. In case you are wondering, I don't really eat sharkfin soup.