By Tom Dare
THESE INCREDIBLE images show the moment a shiver of sharks surrounded a group of models swimming in the Bahamas.
Pictures show the girls playing with and stroking the group of nurse sharks in the Bahaman district of Exuma, while others show them relaxing on a partially submerged dock while the sharks circle them.
Luckily, though, the fish aren’t dangerous, and are in fact sedentary sharks that feed mostly on small fish and invertebrates.
The amazing pictures were taken by Cuban photographer Gaby Rguez, who has been documenting her time in the Bahamas ever since moving to the area with her boyfriend four years ago.
“I moved to the Bahamas with my boyfriend and I instantly felt the need to capture everything I was seeing,” she said.
“So I got myself a camera and I started to snap. Everything I know I taught myself.”
Gaby says she got the idea for the shoot as a way to show people how gentle and delicate nurse sharks can be.
But she says she had a hard time convincing the models at first.
“Models say I can be very pushy. I literally had to force them to go in the water. At the beginning they were scared to get in the water with them, but after a while they got comfortable and loved petting the sharks.
“I just wanted to show people how friendly nurse sharks can be. They are like dogs who love to be petted and fed. At first I was scared of them myself, but it wasn’t long before I learned to love them.
“People can’t believe how friendly they are and can’t wait to get into the water with them.
“And this kind of work is great, because I get to be near the water all the time.”
Gaby says that the main aim of her work is to encourage people to visit the Bahamas, which she says can’t be fully appreciated unless you’re there.
“The Bahamas is full of adventures,” she said.
“When I first got here I fell in love with the islands, and I want other people to feel the same.”
