Worldwide Diving and Photography Adventures with Character

BigAnimals' distinctive expeditions take you to the places you've always dreamed about, but never thought you could get to; the places "only" naturalist teams from National Geographic, The Discovery Channel, and the BBC can reach.
With BigAnimals, you can visit – and thrill to – those same exotic locations. Enjoy the same experiences and wildlife encounters as famous nature photographers and writers. When you return home, it will be with unmatched tales of a lifetime to share with your family, friends, and coworkers.
Many will exclaim in astonishment: "You went where? And you did what?" Your BigAnimals experiences may help you to connect with new friends, and allow you to meet others who share your interests. You may inspire someone else to go beyond what he or she thought was beyond their own limits. One thing is certain: your journey with BigAnimals will fascinate all those with whom you come in contact.
Other travel agencies lay claim to visiting "exotic" destinations. How many can boast of allowing their clients to pirouette with Leopard seals off of Antarctica, witness polar bears at close range, stand face-to-face with a Narwhale, or swim alongside a Blue Whale — the largest mammal on earth. Who do you know who has witnessed the Pink Floyd-esque light-ray show at Cueva del Dolphin? Who among your acquaintances has found themselves a mere fin kick off the North Pole, or who has camped on an island where communication was once accomplished by whistling to your neighbors? Where else could you spend your surface interval chatting with an astronaut such as Dr. Kathryn Sullivan about what it’s like to be in space, or discuss the oceans of the world with renowned marine biologist Dr. Sylvia Earle?

Bragging rights are the perrogative of everyone who travels on a BigAnimals expedition. To seek out yours, read through our newsletter, visit the other expeditions on our Web site, and contact us to get on board:
(415) 923-9865
expeditions@biganimalsphotography.com

A CHANCE TO WIN $10,000 FOR YOUR UNDERWATER IMAGE!

Join Guest of Honor Amos Nachoum at the SanDisk underwater photography competition April 24 – 29, 2006 Eilat, Red Sea, Israel.

Picture yourself on a beautiful beach on the Red Sea, diving while photographing coral reefs and some of the world’s most amazing marine life. Add to it a check for $10,000. All this could be yours if you register for the SanDisk 2006 Red Sea Underwater Photography Competition. The place: sunny Eilat, Israel. The dates: April 24 to 29, 2006.
Open to amateurs and professionals alike, the SanDisk competition is divided into two parts — the Eilat Shoot-out and the Images of the World. Photographers can enter the Images of the World competition by taking photos anywhere, at any time, and simply sending them in. An International Panel of Judges will review the results.
This year Mr. Amos Nachoum, photographer and explorer from the United States — aka "The Ambassador of BigAnimals" — will serve as a guest of honor and the the Master of Ceremonies.
In addition to the $10,000 first prize, there are two additional cash awards of $3,000 each. Not to mention a prize of one thousand bottles of beer plus other special and unique prizes. The competition in Eilat has a fun-packed schedule that includes great parties and even a showing of the winning films from the Antibes Film Festival. Visitors and participants will be in for a great time!
For more information and registration please pay a visit to www.sandiskredsea.com
Or contact Amos, amos@biganimals.com

2 C THE EMPORER PENGUINS IN ANTARCTICA

You have seen the amazing nature survival film "March of the Penguins". Now it’s time to see the amazing Emperor Penguins with your own eyes, just as the award-winning filmmakers saw them.

Quark Expeditions has invited me to join a few selected agents and our very special guests on a singular voyage to Snow Hill Island in the Weddell Sea off the Antarctica Peninsula.

A rookery of 4,000 pairs of Emperor penguins was located near Snow Hill Island in November 2004. In October 2006 we will make our first return to the rookery. This rookery is located at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, reducing the duration of the voyage necessary to visit these remarkable creatures to only 14 days.

Click here for interactive Antarctica routing.

Because of the uniqueness of this voyage I can bring with me only eight guests. Though diving is not offered, this journey presents remarkable and distinctive opportunities for learning, exploration, interaction with nature, and spectacular topside photography.
Following the worldwide triumph of the movie "March of the Penguins", Quark Expeditions rapidly sold out the two originally-scheduled departures for November 2006. However, in response to continuing demand, a third and final cruise was added for October 8 to 21, 2006.

This earlier departure to Snow Hill Island is even better for photographers and nature enthusiasts, as it will offer expedition members the rare chance to see the Emperor Penguins as very young chicks. This was previously impossible unless visitors remained in Antarctica for the duration of the full winter, as the documentary film team was required to do.

To get to Snow Hill Island in the frozen Weddell Sea so early in the season, Quark has chartered the Kapitan Khlebnikov. This powerful Russian icebreaker is serviced by an experienced Russian crew and is equipped with two helicopters for landing in remote locations. At 400 feet long, it can comfortably accommodate 100 guests in double, well-appointed, heated cabins, each with an exterior view.
Dates: October 8 – 21, 2006
Cost: $11,995 per person double occupancy, plus 7% fuel charge
Registration & information: e-mail amos@biganimals.com

TO THE ISLANDS OF THE SHARKS: COCOS & MALPELO

with Dr. Sylvia Earle and Dr. Kathryn Sullivan From mid-May to early June 2007. On board the Sea Hunter and Undersea Hunter.

Have you ever wanted to dive with sharks? Have you ever wanted to dive with hundreds and hundreds of sharks? Did you ever dream you could be in the company of a world-renowned shark expert and a famous astronaut?
From mid-May to early June, 2007, you can join me, Amos Nachoum, the ambassador for Big Animals; Dr. Sylvia Earle, a marine biologist; and Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, an astronaut, on an unprecedented expedition to the Islands of the Sharks.
We'll be going to Cocos, the legendary desert island of Robinson Crusoe, and remote Malpelo Island, 200 miles plus off Colombia in the Pacific ocean. We'll dive with never-ending schools of hammerhead sharks, perhaps the occasional whale shark, hundreds of white-tip sharks and bait balls, black tip sharks, silver tips, galapagos sharks and many others.
Dr. Sylvia Earle set the womens' depth record for solo diving at a thousand meters (3,300 feet), was named Time magazine's first "Hero for the Planet" in 1998, and is Explorer-in-Residence for the National Geographic Society. Dr. Kathryn Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space on October 11, 1984, and is a veteran of three space shuttle missions. Sylvia and Kathryn will be diving and sharing their vast and amazing life experiences with us on a daily basis. They will also lead some of the evening presentations during our diving expedition. Amos will share his skills and coach you in BigAnimals photography and both expeditions will have the unique opportunity to dive to a maximum depth of 1500 feet using the new submarine which is carried on the boats we have chartered.

Read More — Download the full article (PDF) .
Find out more about Undersea Hunter (PDF)
 
Expedition dates and prices:
1) May 18 – June 02, 2007. 15 days to Cocos and Malpelo with Dr. Earle and Amos Nachoum on board the Sea Hunter. 16 guests - $7,400 per person excluding airfare, hotels, submarine diving, and park fee.
2) May 22 – June 04, 2007. 13 days exclusively to Cocos with Dr. Kathryn Sullivan and Jay Wade on board the Undersea Hunter. 12 guests - $6,400 per person excluding airfare, hotels, submarine diving, and park fee.

THE BEST ORCA SEASON EVER IN THE VIKING'S FJORDS

The first time in 14 years I have shot over 40 rolls of film in one week; usually I only shoot 10 rolls. That is how active it was!

An excerpt from Amos Nachoum's trip report:
November 14, 2005...recalling the lyrics of the "Mamas & the Papas" — "I saw her again last night" — the diving was almost deja-vu from last year. A totally mesmerizing experience for my five guests and myself as well — even after fourteen seasons diving in Norway.
The water was cold, the wind was sharp, and the air was frigid — but no one on the boat cared. Not with a pod of energetic orcas from twenty-foot long males to newborns just learning the ropes feeding on a vast ball of herring directly before us.
Comfortable in our dry suits, five divers and myself entered the water in pairs to view this extraordinary feeding behavior. As long as we kept our distance from the food, the orcas accepted our presence, granting us a very special window into their underwater world. The stories and pictures my guests bring back from these encounters are unique in the world of diving.
They can be yours, too….
A few spaces remain for this season. Click here to learn more and see many more images.
Dates: November 3- 11 and November 10 – 18
Cost: $7,400
Number of Guests: Six divers only.
Vessel: The 90’ Norwegian live-aboard “Langoysund"
To register online - amos@biganimals.com

BACK TO THE SOUTHERN RED SEA

After twenty years away, Amos returns to his "cradle of diving" — the Red Sea — where it all started in 1967

For the past 20 years I have been pursuing BigAnimals everywhere else in the world except for the Red Sea. And now, 40 years after I started diving and exploring coral reefs in all of the seven seas. I still recall vividly that the most mind-bending quality dives I have encountered, among the reefs in the Southern part of the Red Sea, by the Sudanese border, at St. Johns and Elphinstone reefs. Between these two reefs I had encounters with BigAnimals such as oceanic white-tip sharks ... they've been calling me back.
In November and December I recall an aggregation in crystal-clear blue water of a dozen and sometimes two dozen pregnant, 9-14' oceanic white-tip sharks. They were followed by tens — and at times up to hundred — pilot fish against a drop-off that is considered to be the most vibrant coral reef in the world. A good reason to return? You bet ... and a few of you can join me.
The Oceanic White-tip Expedition to the Southern Red Sea is scheduled for November 26 through December 11, 2006. On this special expedition Mr. Ilan Vered, one of Israel's leading dive guides, will join me. Having scouted this area for many years, he will guide us on this specially oriented photo expedition. We will visit and photograph Cairo and the Pyramids for a day before proceeding to Sharem-El-Sheik. There we board the 130' live-aboard Sea Queen for ten days of amazing diving.
 
Dates: November 26 – December 11, 2006
Cost: $2,900, excluding all flights
Number of guests: Limited to 18 in double occupancy
Vessel: 130' Sea Queen. Accommodations for 24+ guests
Call now (415) 923-9865, as this promises to be a hot itinerary - nd at a very reasonable price. For more information and registration email amos@biganimals.com

ULTIMATE ANTARCTICA

Walk in the footsteps of history. Experience ice diving and roam among 100,000 ruckus penguins

Ernest Shackleton has always been one of my heroes. To commemorate the 90th anniversary of his legendary rescue mission, I will lead a 21-day diving expedition to Antarctica. BigAnimals will operate this historic voyage in conjunction with Oceanwide Expeditions, the pioneer operators of Antarctica scuba diving.
In January 2005, Oceanwide and BigAnimals conducted a reconnaissance trip for the 2006 expedition, which was a great success and few of our guests are returning for second time!
We dove and explored the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, as well as the Antarctica peninsula. We learned great deal from our first scouting voyage, and have adjusted our itinerary to offer more interesting landing sites and better diving locations.

Learn more about the upcoming adventure.
View rare images from 1917 by Frank Harley, Sir Ernest's photographer.

To register email –amos@biganimals.com

Dates: December 27, 2006 — January 17, 2007
Prices vary according to cabin preferences:
• Twin, Non-Private (Diver): $13,500
• Twin, Private (Divers): $15,300
Total Number of Guests: 44
(21 Divers / 23 Non-Divers)
Availability: 16 diving / 20 non-diving.

Ready to join us on our next trip?

We recommend early reservation to avoid disappointment since space is limited and interest is high.

If you know someone who'd be interested in this expedition, you can email this link to them.

All photographs by Amos Nachoum. Copyright © 2002. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.