A marine biologist switched the north-east for the shark-infested waters of the Caribbean.
Lauren Smith first travelled to the shark watchers’ paradise of the Bimini Islands in 2006 to study for her PhD, and has harboured hopes of returning to the tropical waters ever since.
The region is famed for the plethora of sharks on show including lemon, nurse and the fearsome bull breeds.
But there was no doubt in Dr Smith’s mind what she wanted to see – the unmistakable hammerhead shark.
And now the Aberdeen University graduate, who works closely with Macduff aquarium, has achieved her goal of swimming with the sharks.
Miss Smith said she was delighted to see for herself the great hammerheads, and possibly even the legendary Harbour Master – a huge hammerhead known to patrol the docks of South Bimini Islands looking for fishermen’s scraps.
She said: “On average we only had to wait around 20 minutes until the hammers were spotted from the boat, a speedy kitting up and grabbing of camera equipment ensued and we descended down to the white sand with depths around six metres.
“Seeing these animals up close in the water was incredible, I certainly don’t possess the vocabulary or the literary skill to do them justice, they are truly humbling and awesome.”
Miss Smith has always fought to cut through the man-eating mythology of the predatory fish, and has spoken during Macduff
Marine Aquarium’s annual Shark Fortnight about their endangered status.
The great hammerhead population is now declining and their fins are highly prized for shark fin soup.