Shark assault survivor finds calling in underwater shark images

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – In 1997, Mike Coots survived a brutal shark assault whereas bodyboarding at a Kauai seaside. It severed his proper leg, nevertheless it additionally put him on the trail that will result in his true calling: images.

”I believe I’m very lucky. I don’t have flashbacks. I don’t have dangerous goals,” he stated. “Life’s been absolutely incredible since that morning.”

Now 46, Coots has made a profession out of taking underwater portraits of sharks — the aquatic animals that Hollywood typically depicts as man-eating predators looking for prey.

He views them in a really completely different mild.

“I’m a firm believer that if you see something beautiful, if you fall in love with it, you want to learn about it and in turn protect it. That’s really the end goal of my shark photography,” he stated.

His fascination with photographing sharks started about 15 years in the past when he was invited on a shark diving journey. He obtained within the water with a GoPro digital camera and began capturing.

”I keep in mind placing the reminiscence card within the card reader and placing that into the laptop computer. And on my laptop computer was a photograph of an exquisite nice white. I believed, ‘Gosh, this is the greatest subject on earth,’” he stated.

Since then, he has traveled the globe looking for completely different shark species to {photograph}. He estimates he’s taken hundreds of pictures of them, making use of the identical strategies he realized whereas learning portraiture in faculty.

The photos are visually beautiful.

”You can actually decide up on a smirk, a smile, possibly a catchlight within the eye,” he stated. ”As a wildlife photographer, I believe you’ve obtained to abide to ethics of telling these true tales. I’ve my images gravitate towards these true genuine tales.”

Three years in the past, Coots launched a ebook of his work referred to as “Shark Portraits.” It incorporates 240 pages of pictures aimed toward countering the detrimental narrative surrounding sharks.

People world wide have purchased his ebook.

”I really feel very fortunate with such a constructive response. I get messages on social media virtually each day of someone getting it as a present, as a Christmas current, as a birthday current,” he stated.

Coots is now engaged on his subsequent mission, a black-and-white fine-art assortment on nice white sharks.

”In a method I really feel sharks want publicist, and I’m possibly that publicist,” he stated.