He's not a big shark - just an average grey reef shark. Ordinarily, you wouldn't give him a second glance other than to admire the streamlined perfection of his form. He's been circling for a while, steadily moving closer, but still this is not unusual behaviour. We watch with growing concern as he begins to swim in short, erratic bursts, then suddenly turns straight towards us, arches his back, drops his pectoral fins and rushes us. It's classic posturing and it means: 'I don't like you being here - get out of my territory. Now!'
It's over in a blink an eye and he veers off a few metres in front and circles back to his original position. If we were to ignore his warning he would do the same thing perhaps once or twice more, then finally lose his temper and bite. But we know who's boss in the marine world, and withdraw from
his patch of reef.
We are diving in a remote atoll in the northern Marshall Islands, one that until two years ago had never seen scuba divers and has seen precious few since. So let's consider the shark's point of view. He has probably never encountered a scuba diver before, so to him, we're an unknown threat. It's no wonder he's upset.
Most diving enthusiasts who travel regularly to Asia's long list of dive destinations harbour a dream to discover a hidden paradise: to be a true dive pioneer. With the blooming of diving's popularity in the past 15 years, however, this will remain a dream for the majority. Dive operators have explored and set up dive resorts or live-aboard trips in nearly all accessible locations in the Asia Pacific region.
But not all. The name Rongelap atoll will probably mean nothing to you - but how about Bikini Atoll? Also part of the Marshall Islands, this was the site of the infamous Bravo atom bomb test by the United States in 1954. The fallout from that - and subsequent - explosions drifted southeast 100 kilometres to the Rongelap atoll group, and its small population of islanders was evacuated. They were erroneously allowed to return long before radiation levels were safe and were taken off again in 1985. It was only in
the summer of 2002 that the region was finally declared safe (radiation readings are now no higher than at the average city airport).