As she floats underwater a shiver of tiger sharks begins to circle. Several meters beneath from the surface, without an air tank, time is running out. But finally, nearby, a camera shutter clicks. Meet Christina Saenz de Santamaria, one half of a husband-and-wife team of world record-holding freedivers, who travel the world teaching the sport and snapping incredible shots along the way.
Having grown up on the east coast of Australia, in Sydney, Christina has always had an affection for the water. But it was in 2005 during a scuba diving trip through Thailand when her love affair with freediving began. Stumbling across a freediving course on the small island of Koh Tao at the Apnea Total school, she was hooked instantly. And it was there she met her future husband, the school's co-founder, Eusebio Saenz de Santamaria. Over a decade later, Christina is one of Australia's most successful freedivers, with eight national records to her name.
Today, she can hold her breath for mind-boggling six minutes, while her husband can reach a whopping eight minutes without oxygen.
Today, she can hold her breath for mind-boggling six minutes, while her husband can reach a whopping eight minutes without oxygen.
Eusebio, originally from Bilbao in northern Spain, has spent years educating thousands of freediving fans about the sport. A three-time national record holder back home, he continues to push himself further in the field and is one of the few people able to dive beyond 100 meters. Not content with personal records, last September the couple set a world record together in a Tandem Variable Weight dive to a depth of 100 meters.
Maximum depths in the gulf of Thailand, where the pair are based, are only about 45-48 meters and so in recent years, the couple have begun traveling internationally, seeking deeper waters. "We travel around the world such as the Caribbean or the Mediterranean and seek depth. We were recently in Roatan (Honduras)," says Christina.
Maximum depths in the gulf of Thailand, where the pair are based, are only about 45-48 meters and so in recent years, the couple have begun traveling internationally, seeking deeper waters. "We travel around the world such as the Caribbean or the Mediterranean and seek depth. We were recently in Roatan (Honduras)," says Christina.
While freediving reveals a world few landlubbers get to see, it can be dangerous if the sport is not practiced properly. While discussing the risks, Christina says the first rule of freediving is: never dive alone. "If you were then to have what's known as a shallow-water blackout, which essentially means you black out in the last five meters of the dive or on the surface of the dive, you have no one there to save you.
"You really need to be in touch with yourself and know what you're capable of and respect your body and your mind. It's multi-faceted but if you dive within the safety rules, you'll always be safe."
"You really need to be in touch with yourself and know what you're capable of and respect your body and your mind. It's multi-faceted but if you dive within the safety rules, you'll always be safe."
Christina, pictured, looks to the surface while clinging to the limestone bedrock of a ceynote, a natural underwater cavern in Mexico. A healthy lifestyle is vital to a life of freediving but for the duo, it comes fairly naturally. "We always go to the gym and we spend a lot of time in the water because the best training for freediving is freediving itself. With that comes a healthy lifestyle so we are always watching our diets, and when you're training, you feel like staying very healthy anyway."
The pair split the year between Thailand and globetrotting. Once they've located a new dive site, like their recent visit to Honduras, they will spend between two to four months acclimating to the new waters and preparing their bodies for the intensity they will go through.
"We make sure we're as full (of air) as possible and we start to descend. We need to ensure that we start to equalize," says Christina. "As we go deeper and deeper the pressure, immense pressure at 80 meters, 100 meters of water pushing down on you at depth, will actually reduce your lungs to the size of oranges."
"We make sure we're as full (of air) as possible and we start to descend. We need to ensure that we start to equalize," says Christina. "As we go deeper and deeper the pressure, immense pressure at 80 meters, 100 meters of water pushing down on you at depth, will actually reduce your lungs to the size of oranges."
She adds: "We have to make sure that we are prepared beforehand to make sure that our lungs, our rib cage, our diaphragms are really flexible. And also we have to maintain a real strong mental focus when we're going down.
"We want our heart rate to be decreasing. We almost have to completely zen out."
"We want our heart rate to be decreasing. We almost have to completely zen out."
While traversing the globe, the freedivers have many opportunities most of us would die for. They've swum with Hawaiian spinner dolphins off the big island of Hawaii, pictured, as well as come face to face with tiger sharks in the Bahamas and leopard sharks in the Andaman Sea.
Swimming with these massive marine creatures, Christina explains that the sharks of the sea are misunderstood. With each underwater encounter, the pair are learning more about how each type of shark behaves in its natural habitat. With a desire to share their experiences with the wider ocean-loving community, the pair take beautiful photographs during their dives.
"We are both the photographer and the model, " says Christina. "We'll chat beforehand about what kind of photographs we'll be taking. When you're in the water you have to be flexible and spontaneous because the ocean is her own beast."
"We are both the photographer and the model, " says Christina. "We'll chat beforehand about what kind of photographs we'll be taking. When you're in the water you have to be flexible and spontaneous because the ocean is her own beast."
Underwater photography is a challenging experiment. But when done well, the results are simply stunning. Christina, pictured here with a PVC pipe to gently place between herself and a shark in case one gets a little too close for comfort, says that their skills are primarily self-taught through trial and error over the years.
"It's also very challenging because you're swimming around freediving with one breath and holding the equipment. You have to dive down, move around, get the right angle and be creative. It all happens very quickly."
"It's also very challenging because you're swimming around freediving with one breath and holding the equipment. You have to dive down, move around, get the right angle and be creative. It all happens very quickly."
"We have a creative idea of how we want to express the sensation of freediving to other people who might not know about it. This is why we use photographs and videos to try and express this surreal sensation and the freedom we feel underwater," says Christina.
Meanwhile, each year the couple's bucket list continues to grow with each underwater adventure. Christina explains enthusiastically: "We'd love to go with the humpback whales in Tonga. We'd love to freedive with the orcas in Norway -- which would be very cold in the fjords. And I think sperm whales would be on the list as well."
Meanwhile, each year the couple's bucket list continues to grow with each underwater adventure. Christina explains enthusiastically: "We'd love to go with the humpback whales in Tonga. We'd love to freedive with the orcas in Norway -- which would be very cold in the fjords. And I think sperm whales would be on the list as well."
And what does she hope people take away from seeing their photographs? "It is another world down there -- a magic world -- a world we know very little about. I hope that (the work) changes the perception about certain underwater animals such as sharks and that we'd like to encourage other people to go out there and experience the ocean. Whether it's by freediving, or snorkeling or any other different form because the ocean is something we have to protect as well as all the marine creatures."