Gray reef sharks in Fakavara
When he returned from his tropical journey in 2014, the French marine biologist Laurent Ballesta I still couldn't believe it. What had prompted his latest expedition, dubbed the 'Gombessa II', was the investigation and observation of the festive annual reproduction of the grouper in disguise. This scientific project was the continuation of his desire to find underwater species yet to be discovered. The first, 'Gombessa', involved an encounter with the Coelacanth, a fish from the Cretaceous period that was believed to be extinct and had never before been documented, photographed and filmed in this way.
'Gombessa II' had taken him to Fakavara, a small atoll located in the Tuamotu archipelago, one of the paradises for diving and underwater observation. The objective was to record the mating moment of the Fakavara grouper in slow motion in order to be able to analyze every detail of its behavior and reveal the keys to a biological mystery still to be elucidated. And yet, when he reached the southern reef of this island, the surprise was enormous. As many as 700 gray reef sharks, counted by him and his team, swarmed around the corals and moved in coordinated and surprising ways. Everything indicated that this way of acting responded to a fishing tactic never before observed in some sharks.
He had to go back. Hence he introduced whitepain his project. This Swiss company, linked to the underwater world since in 1953 it presented the world with the first modern diving watch, had already supported Ballesta in his other expeditions. But ' Gombessa IV Genesis' represented the biggest challenge of its kind ever undertaken within the framework of its Blancpain Ocean Commitment, a underwater dissemination project born in order for everyone to know the richness of the seabed and, in this way, appreciate its value more and become aware of its preservation.
The result of 'Gombessa IV Genesis' is an overwhelming video that shows this explosion of nightlife in which they find themselves over 700 gray reef sharks with 18,000 groupers and a few divers catching it all.