NEWS

NEWS UPDATE 5TH DECEMBER 2007

The latter part of 2007 has been both a busy and exciting time for me, culminating in the long awaited visit to the Okavango Delta in Botswana at the end of October.

In Sept/Oct I carried out my first underwater photographic workshop at the new venues hosted by Eco Divers. Attended by students from the UK and USA it was a resounding success, the first week addressed wide angle photography in the Bunaken Marine Reserve using Tasik Ria as our base. Week two saw us moving over to Kungkungan Bay Resort to concentrate on macro photography in the Lembeh Straits. The help and support given by the staff at both resorts was invaluable and lead to everyone returning home having achieved all the goals they had set themselves.

Returning to the UK for two weeks saw the NEC dive show come and go and in straight succession successful talks at the inaugural meeting of the East Midlands Underwater Photographers Society at Stoney Cove. Visions in the Sea at Kings College London and finally The British Society of Underwater Photographers Imperial College London.

It was now time for me to depart on what was for me one of the highlights of 2007.
The Okavango Delta Botswana is the largest freshwater delta in the world and a magnet for the wildlife in the area as the only source of life giving water for hundreds of miles.
On this first visit we were assessing the possibilities for underwater photography for this and future visits over the next 2/3 years.

At a personal level I thought I had experienced what I had thought was the wild side of life. This experience showed me that I hadn’t. Our first day saw us travel by small boats taking with us everything we needed to survive the five days some 80km deep into the delta sometimes along channels just wide and deep enough to manouvre through.
Lining the banks were scores of crocodiles of all sizes from 12 inches to 16 feet, elephants, hippo’s and birds of every description, in numbers I had never witnessed before.

Arriving at our base camp in the late afternoon, whilst setting it up we were repeatedly charged by an irate elephant who obviously saw our campsite as his patch of land.
Behind us was a pool with a lone bull hippo in residence and in front of us five hungry crocs lined the banks of the channel we had arrived on.

The five days that followed were full of similar encounters, charged by three grumpy hippos. Mark and Gail woke up at 3am one morning with an elephant’s trunk in their tent and I looked out of mine to three hippos grazing contentedly around my fragile home.

The diving was possible, this was the dry season so the water in the channels was never more than two metres deep and deep brown in colour from all the tanning staining the water from the numerous peat beds. What it did show us is on subsequent visits we will have to schedule more time to set up hides for introducing the small ROVs we took to take the camera’s closer to the hippos, and photographing the crocs will be done during the cooler wet season when we go in July. But as a trip with diving opportunities this was the ultimate experience to really get up close and personal with the wild animals so numerous in this oasis of the Kalahari Desert. We all cannot wait to get back there in July 2008, to continue the task we have set ourselves of documenting the delta from an underwater perspective.

NEWS UPDATE 1st JUNE 2007

Well I did it again after promising not to leave the news section of my website updated. Again I must apologise for doing so.

During the first half of 2006 I was for personal reasons unable to do any of the planned events. Which meant missing the sardine run and the annual trip to the Tiger sharks at Aliwal Shoal.

But from September it has been all go again. Firstly to the Squid Run at Port St Francis South Africa, where we witnessed the congregation of literally millions of squid mating during the closed fishing season of November. In attendance were the usual array of predators, Sharks, rays, seals and although not seen many times we heard the song of Whales in the distance.

Jan/Feb 2007 was spent in Aliwal Shoal diving with the Tiger sharks and the unexpected arrival of many Whale sharks, on one special day we had over 20 in attendance in good visibility.

The following week was spent in Sodwana Bay diving the world’s most southerly tropical reefs. Highlights from this week were more Whale Sharks and sightings of the pregnant female Raggie Toothed Sharks as they incubate their young in these warm waters before returning south to the colder waters to give birth later in the year.

From here in February we got an unexpected call from Mark Addison of Blue Wilderness diving to rush down to Cape Agulhas in the Western Cape of South Africa. Here after much research and failed outings during 2006 in various other locations we managed to dive with Great White sharks in 20 to 25 metre visibility and 24C water temperature.
This is due to the Agulhas current the most powerful current in the world pulling closer into shore during the months of Jan to April bringing with it ideal conditions to dive unencumbered by cages with this awesome apex predator. For me this has to be the highlight of my career.
I then attended LIDS in the UK with my usual stand and was glad to welcome many friends and clients that I had not seen for many months.
Now for the rest of this year, I will be running an underwater workshop at Tasik Ria and KBR resorts in Manado Indonesia in association with Eco Divers. Then the Birmingham dive show in Oct in the UK.
From here it will be another first as in association with Mark Addison we will attempt to dive the clear fresh waters of the Okavango Delta in Botswana, with possibilities of encounters with Elephants, Crocs and Hippo’s. This for me will be a very challenging outing as it has not been attempted before.

As for me after three years in residence in South Africa, I have made the decision to move back to the UK by the end of this year to be nearer to my family and many friends there. This again will be both a sad and joyful time as I leave the many friends and colleagues behind in South Africa I have made over those years.
If you have read this thank you and I look forward to meeting some of you during this year. To the rest I wish you good and happy bubbles.

NEWS UPDATE 08 AUGUST 2005-08-08

It has been sometime since I have updated this section and for that I apologise.
In the last year I have spent much of my time planning and putting into action my most ambitious project so far which hopefully will culminate in the publication of my first book which now has a working title of “The Wildest Ocean” this will be a journey from the warm waters of southern Mozambique down the east coast of South Africa recording the many and varied marine animals and events that take place here
This has and will mean me spending much of my time in South Africa which I have come to love and recognise as my second home.
Over this time I have with Mark Addison of Blue Wilderness developed a diving itinary for the next 18 months that will see us encounter some of the worlds most beautiful marine creatures.
Already I have been in the company of tiger and great white sharks. This years Sardine Run was one of the most exciting I have encountered with all the main protagonists attending. Thousands of common dolphins, cape gannets and of course 100s of sharks (we even had a penguin diving on the sardines which is rarely seen this far north).
For the future I will be going out as the opportunities present themselves until November, when for the first time I will attend the Squid Run which until last year had never been dived before.
Situated off Cape St Francis in the Eastern Cape the fishing fleet here has a closed season when the squid will mate, this again draws in the predators from small cat sharks to the formidable great white.
December will hopefully see me photographing the southern right whales off the cape itself. These magnificent creatures congregate here in large numbers during this time to calf and mate before returning to the cold waters to feed.
Febuary 2006 will see me in Sodwana and Ponta D Oura to photograph migrating whale sharks and the congregation of the raggied tooth shark as they incubate their young. In Ponta we will encounter the resident pod of Dolphins and the sharks of the pinnicles, and so it will go on.
For me this is my greatest adventure as you can see from the tour pages on this website there is room on some of these encounters for a small number of people to join me. So if you fancy taking part with me please ring me or Graham at divetours to find our more. If not then I promise not to leave the news section so long without an update in the future so please come back on a regular basis to see how this wonderful project develops.

Leybourne Lake Dive Centre expansion plans on track

Leybourne Lake Diving Centre


The evening of July 2nd 2004 saw a gathering of representatives of the dive community and equipment manufacturers, from the South East of England to celebrate the opening of the latest addition to Leybourne Lake Dive Centre the onsite dive shop and PADI Resort Association Centre.
Tony White was very proud to be invited to do the official opening with centre owner Peter Simmonds, and a good evening was enjoyed by all attending with the food, wine and conversation flowing freely.

Tony White and Peter Simmonds

Peter and his wife Paula have been running Leybourne Lakes as a water sport centre for over 13 years; increasingly it has become the premier inland dive location for the South of England. The addition of the dive shop is aimed at offering the complete service to both Dive Schools and divers from around the region, and is just one of a number of ongoing expansion plans in place for the future.
Open from Tuesday to Sunday 10.00-1700 daily; there is a wide range of equipment on sale. Mares, Seac Sub, Apex and Northern Diver products are but a few. With equipment servicing and air to 300bar. Diver training from Open Water to Instructor Development, Peter has spared no effort to ensure that the complete customer service is on offer.
Further information can be got by ringing Peter on 01622 790055 or visiting www.leybournelakedivecentre.co.uk. The centre itself is at Unit 1 Brook House Larkfield Kent ME20 6GN just off Junction 4 on the M20.
A full range of Tonys Limited Edition prints can be viewed and purchased at this dive centre.

 

Sardine Run 2004

Wave Crest - Sardine Run 2004

June 1st 2004 Saw Tony and Pete Whieldon depart from Heathrow for this years main event, The Sardine Run. But first there was a little show that Tony had arranged to do at Aliwal Shoal.

For the first eight days we would dive with Mark Addison who offers this unique experience to divers. Kevin my boat captain for the last two years on the Sardine Run would also skipper us during these eight days.
Our first day saw us some 6km off shore at anchor with Steve our safety diver on hand to prepare the floating bait stem. Which with a chum line would attract the sharks in (or so we hoped). Only forty minutes later our first Tiger appeared.

Tiger Shark Aliwal

Mark has a tagging process going and the tag on this Tiger identified her as Casey (named after Steve’s pet dog) a 4 metre pre-caudal female, so when she glided under the RIB that old saying came to mind from a certain infamous film "Kevin we are going to need a bigger boat" believe me she was equal to the RIB we were in and we were only minutes away from getting in the water with her.
Steve entered the water on snorkel and when he was satisfied the Sharks (more had turned up) were comfortable he signalled us to enter the water.
Vis was about 10-12 metres and on turning towards the bait stem Casey could be seen lazily swimming around Steve with not a care in the world.
We spent 90 minutes that day surrounded by these magnificent creatures that held us in awe; at no point did we feel threatened by this so called dangerous animal. Over the next 8 days Pete and I were privileged to get in the water another three times (weather and vies blew the other 4 days out).

Tiger Sharkand diver

I have to say that this with the Sardine Run have been the highlights of my diving career and will certainly be back in 2005, anybody interested??From here Pete and I moved onto the main event the sardine run. Stopping off at Durban airport saw another four clients join us for our trip down to Wave Crest a small resort near East London in the wilderness. (This year Mark had decided because of the no show last year instead of having a main base at Mkambati to have a number of bases along the coast so we could move with the sardines as they travelled north).
So a 2 hour plane ride to East London and then a 1 hour journey by light aircraft with Eric saw us land on a grassy landing strip besides our new home for the next two weeks.

Humpback Whale

Our first three days were seen chasing Humpback Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins and waiting for the sardines to arrive. On our fourth day we had a report for our spotter plane that a super pod of Common Dolphins were charging up the coast some 10 km off shore, we moved to meet them and what we saw coming towards us was just awesome.

Common Dolphin

Estimated to be 8,000 strong they were moving tightly packed at about 15 km an hour during our time with them whilst in the middle of the pod whichever way you looked to the horizon all you could see was dolphins.

Super Pod Common dolphin

The next day saw a similar sighting except this time it was an estimated 14,000 Cape Gannets circling overhead and diving in their thousands into the water.
The next morning saw the arrival of the sardines again huge in proportions 1 _ miles across 8 miles long and we knew we were sitting in 46 metres of water but the sounder was only giving us 5 metres, creating their own current we were literally sitting on billions of sardines.

Gannets - Sardine Run

The days passed with similar sightings of all of these magnificent animals in there thousands. Sadly the visibility was not good enough to get in with the sardines.
At the end of our fortnight we all returned to the UK a bit sad at not seeing the sardines but realising that the sights we had seen were truly on a unique standing. I don’t believe that you can see a more exciting wild life event anywhere else on this planet and will certainly be back in 2005.

Tony's Prints

The full range of Tony's prints can now be viewed and purchased at a new dive centre that has just opened at Leybourne Lake in Kent. A permanent gallery of his work has been incorporated at the new exciting venture by Peter Simmonds. The full address to visit is as follows
Leybourne Lake Dive Centre
Unit 1 Brook House
Larkfield Trading Estate
New Hythe Lane
Larkfield
Kent
ME20 6GN
Telephone 01622 790055
It can be found just off junction four on the M20

July/Aug 2004
Tony has been invited to be a guest speaker at the annual video and film festival 
"Celebrate the Seas" in July/Aug 2004 (see events and dates for more details)

Sept/Oct 2004
Joint Expedition to the world famous Galapagos Islands with world renowned underwater photographer Michael Aw Sept/Oct 2004 (see events and dates for more details)

January/February 2004 to Papua New Guinea and Kangeroo Island South Australia

January 7th saw me leave rainy Heathrow on the first adventure of 2004. This trip was to be split into two parts. The first part saw me flying via Singapore to Port Moresby the capital of Papua New Guinea as a guest of Mike Ball Dive Exhibitions, where I was to join up with 10 more Dive Operators mainly from the USA and one from Mexico City.

The first day saw us visiting the Loloata Island Resort some 20 minutes boat ride from the City, many of you will recognise the name as this resort is famous for its beautiful reefs and exotic and rare species. A few names spring to mind Lacy Rhinopias and Pygmy Seahorses to name but a few. The resort blends well into the Island flora and fauna with the chalet type rooms looking very comfortable. So it was after a relaxing 40 minute snorkel and a meal that we moved on to our main reason for being here to join the Paradise Sport the flagship of the Mike Ball Fleet for a six night liveaboard in the famous Milne Bay area of PNG.

Lacy Rhinopiasat Loloata Islan Resort and Morays at Milne Bay

Regarded as one of the top three "muck Diving sites" in the world I had great expectations for this trip to add new species to my library of photographs a lot of this was to rely on the expertise of the Mike Ball crew and their knowledge of the area and more importantly where all these rare species were to be found, I was not be be disappointed.

At Deacons Reef I encountered some rare and unexpectedly friendly Mandarin Fish, and was privelaged to see a Nautilus. Moving on to a Village on the Island of Boga Boga in the morning we dived the world famous B17 Blackjack bomber. Early after midnight on July 12th 1943 this flying fortress took off from Port Moresby, to attack a Japanese airstrip on Rabual New Britain.

Mandarin Fish

B17 Blackjack bomber

After encountering severe thunderstorms and with a lack of fuel Captain Ralph Deloach was forced to ditch the aircraft on the shallow reef adjoining Boga Boga Island. Unfortunately for him the shallow reef ran out and she was to sink into 48 metres of water where she now rests on a white sandy bottom, fully intact and looking like she only came to rest there yesterday. Luckily all the ten man crew were rescued leaving the legacy of an absolutely awesome dive. In the afternoon of the same day I was to encounter the rare and beautiful Lacy Rhinopias a species I had never encountered before.

B17 Blackjack bomber, upper turret

The expertise and care that the crew showed us during this six days was some of the best I have encountered and I look forward to returning to them in January 2006 accommpanied by a group of underwater photographers so watch this space for details!!!!.

From here we were flown up to the Tari Valley in the Southern Highland Province of PNG some 8,000 feet above sea level for a two day visit to Ambua Lodge. It was here that we were privelaged to interact with the Huli tribe one of the biggest and most colourful tribes in PNG.

Huli tribe

Known as the "Wigmen" due to the younger men of the tribe entering the Batchelor House for a period of 18 months where with the help of magic water they grow their hair. This is then carefully cut off and fashioned into a ceremonial wig, decorated with the prized Birds of Paradise feathers and everlasting flowers.

A Huli "Wigman"

During this two day stay we visited a number of villages which were excellently maintained to witness tribal dances and listen to both men and women explain their way of living and culture which I am proud to have witnessed. Truely a civilised and dignified people. Unfortunately this was the end of my visit to PNG and I look forward to returning there in 2006 to experience not only the world class diving to be had here but the culture of its people.

From here I spent four days in Singapore and then moved down to Adelaide to meet the seven members of my group. From here we joined the new boat Princess II to be welcomed by my old friends Josie and Jim Thistleton of Kangaroo Island Diving Safaris. If you are a regular visitor to this section of my site you will be familiar with this the most exciting destination of my year. I look forward to returning here as one of the most magical dive areas that I have visited in my career as an underwater photographer. This year has been no different with the new boat now geared to carrying ten passengers, with ensuite cabins and a luxurious lounge and a very spacious dive deck, a new onboard feature providing E6 processing on a daily basis. This now can be described as the ultimate dive destination.

Kangeroo Island group 2004

New Zealand Fur Seals

We were blessed with the best settled weather I have experienced here, with daily visits from Australian Sea Lions and the resident New Zealand Fur Seals. Add to this the exotic creature everybody had come to see the Leafy Seadragon and an abudance of the striking Weedy Seadragons both species carrying eggs everybodies satisfaction and enthusiasm was soon bubbling over.

Leafy Seadragon

Again we dived the Japanese freighter Portland Maru and witnessed the Beautiful Old Wives stationed around the boilers in their hundreds.

Old Wives

One day was spent diving the jetty in Kingscote where the rare Blue Ringed Octopus again made his appearance known. Coupled with two days land tours, Seeing the resident seals at Seal Bay, Pelicans as well as Kangaroo Islands own endemic Kangaroo, the nine days were thoroughly enjoyed by all and once again I look forward to returning here in January 2005.

Blue Ringed Octopus

If anyone of you are interested in joining me to either of these two destinations please do not hesitate to contact me through the contacts page of this website.

For me the exhibition is now running (Feb, March) at The Chapel Gallery at Hall Place Bexley and I am home for the next month before returning to Indonesia but then that is another story.

 

October 2003
National Geographic film begins broadcast in USA

July 2003 - Tony - Sardine Run Update

This years return to the Sardine Run off the East Coast of South Africa was a roller coaster of emotions from the unfortunate accident I had with a copper shark last year in the same place. This year I was accompanied by a nine man film crew who were going to shoot a one hour documentary for the National Geographic Channel in the USA.

Cape Gannets

So it was leaving the UK on the 4th of June it was for me like following a path I had only trod some days ago how this year has passed. Familiar faces where all there Mark Addison from Blue Wilderness Diving in SA again organised things to a tee. My boat captain from last year Kevin Smith was there to push us through the surf each day and expertly drop us onto the action. New faces in the form of our two safety divers Drew and Keith for ever gave of their expert opinion and encouragement.

Common dolphins

Doug Perrine and other world renowned photographers where all on site to witness the return of these billions of sardines and the entourage of predators that would feed off them 150,0000 Cape Gannets 30,000 Common dolphins, 8,000 Bottlenose dolphins and of course lets not forget the thousands of sharks.

Off-shore bottlenose dolphins

From day one we were thrown into a frenzy of activity mainly filming on the surface as the days and weeks passed. We encountered up to 40 migrating Humpback Whales a day and large pods of Bottlenose Dolphins but no sardines where were they?.

The weekly report from the sharks board plane was that there was activity some 100 miles north of us at Coffee Bay but still they did not move. No real explanation was forthcoming but we are dealing with nature and if that is where they were then eventually that is where we would go. After four weeks of waiting we decided to head north if they would not come to us then we would go to them (the film depended on this underwater footage). 100 sea miles turned into 400 track miles, no mean feat when you are dragging a seven metre rib and all the equipment. Anyway two days before our time ran out we arrived in Coffee Bay to see a huge amount of activity from the shore.

Common dolphins and seals

Still we could not get out now due to the weather and too high a surf for comfort.
So it was on the last day Kevin managed to get us through a fairly rough surf safely and for the next five hours we had our magical ending from one bait ball to another surrounded by thousands of Gannets, Dolphins and hundreds of sharks with the odd Cape fur seal thrown in vis was only about 5 metres but the footage and stills were amazing (some are shown here).

Pan tropical dolphins

We are all back in the UK now after an epic trip. The film is being put together and hopefully will be shown worldwide in the latter part of this year. I will put viewing times on here as I get to know them so keep coming back.
For me it has put my demons to rest, on that last day I did return to the bait balls not without fear. This did pass after seconds and then I could enjoy one of the great spectacles this planet has to offer. I will be back next year for the full month of June so if any of you are interested in joining me please contact me or Divetours (the e-mails can be found on the links page). For now bon voyage I'm off back to Komodo.

Linda Dunk and Tony White Exhibition January 2003
at the Stark Gallery Lee Green London

The exhibition has now been dismantled and it is time
to reflect on the outcome from our first efforts. As Linda and I assembled it at the beginning of January, it was the first time that we'd had so much of our work together in one place. That first day started with nervousness as to whether the photographic styles would compliment each other. We needn't have worried as it started toothache shape certain themes came out, a red corner, shipwrecks and colours that blended well together.

Exhibition at the Stark Gallery Jan 2003

During the month that it was on not only were sales healthy, but the comments flowed thick and fast and all were very positive. Our private view was well attended with over 200 people attending from all walks of life and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves even the wine flowed well.



Over 200 people enjoyed our private view

So we do look back on what was for us an adventurous time, with pride. We are still talking to various other galleries who approached us during and after the exhibition showing interest in putting similar exhibitions of our work on. A number of commercial companies have also approached us wanting to purchase our work for offices and workspaces. We do consider that all the hard work that went into this venture has been worthwhile, most of all we appreciate all the positive comments that have been said to us and to you all we give thanks. So watch this space for the venue and time of episode two in the exhibition saga.


Group visit to Kangaroo Island South Australia Jan/Feb 2003

For me returning each year to this wonderful Island is like returning to the holy grail of diving. January 23rd saw four ladies and myself leave windswept Heathrow for warmer climes. Arriving on the Island midday on the 25th gave time for the group to settle in for two days at Gum Valley before the six days of Liveaboard diving with Jim and Josie Thistleton of Kangaroo Island Diving Safaris.

Leafy Seadragon (Phycodurus eques)

The first day saw some dayboat diving with Jim and the groups first sighting of the exotic Leafy and weedy Seadragons who obliged them with profiles to die for. The liveaboard side of the diving required some flexibility due to a couple of days of windy weather, this saw some new diving areas for me going round the island to Kingscote Jetty and finding the beautiful but deadly Blue Ringed Octopus (Hapalochlaena maculosa).

Blue Ringed Octopus (Hapalochlaena maculosa)

Diving what is left of the Portland Maru a japanese freighter that foundered on rocks in 1935 only the pushrods and boilers are still visible but held a myrid of creatures including mating Verco's Tambja Nudibranch (Tambja verconis). Combine all of this with frequent sightings of bottlenose and common dolphins and Australian Sealions, it has lead to four people returning to the UK very happy with their experience.

Australian Sealion (Neophoca cinerra)

After the liveaboard the group spent two satisfying days touring the Island. Witnessing Sealion colonies on the beaches, Penguins and Australian Pelicans. Again combine this with its own endemic Kangaroo (grey instead of red in colour), Remarkable rocks and Admiralty's Arch provided spectacular formations and scenery.

Verco's Tambja Nudibranch (Tambja verconis)

When we went out there the tour organised for January 2004 had already sold out. We have now organised back to back trips for 2004 and four spaces are now available for the 2nd trip next year the dates for this are leaving Heathrow on the 2nd February returning to London on the 16th February (one person from this year has already booked for the return trip so don't waitto long as the 2nd trip we are sure will fill up quickly). To all the people who helped make the 2003 trip such a success I send my heartfelt thanks and look forward to 2004 .Tony has virtually recovered from his shark bite and now back in the water taking classes and photographs! He is a very lucky man with 95% use of his arm back already.

Tony and Linda's prints are on sale in centres covering a wide area, here is a list of where they can be seen. Aquariums in, London, Plymouth,Hull, Great Yarmouth, Bournemouth.

See us at an exhibition or show and view the quality of our prints, postcards and greetings cards-you can always buy online with confidence afterwards if not at the time.