Great White Sharks!!!!!

                                                                    February 10 2013 (2:16 P.M.)

Here's just a couple of the hundreds I took!!!

 ASBOLUTELY UNREAL!!!!

                It finally happened. I saw my Great White Sharks! It was the most amazing experience of my life. I cannot even begin to put it into words. My hands are still shaking from the experience and it’s been a couple hours. I got so many pictures and videos. The hardest part is going to be organizing and uploading everything. It’s going to take a while but obviously worth it. I finally have some great material to show to Luke as well!

                When we got to the place, we knew exactly what to do, where to go and who to talk to. It wasn’t raining like it was supposed to, but it was getting cloudy and our group was getting nervous. I went with four other interns and we were all hoping the weather held up. When we started toward our spot, we could see rain clouds everywhere, but upon arrival, the clouds disappeared, the temperature increased and the sharks showed up; immediately. Our first Great White showed up before there was even chum in the water. I kept trying to keep calm and casually get to the side of the boat but what I really wanted to do was shove everyone out of the way and see it for myself.

                They asked who wanted to go in first and I don’t think my hand could have gone up any faster. I think I was supposed to wait for the rest of the interns so we could go as a group, but they didn’t have their wetsuits on yet and I happened to be suited up and ready. The cage can hold up to six people and with four people already in the cage, I snuck into the lineup rather quickly. Fortunately another intern was able to come in with me as well so I wasn’t with complete strangers.

                In the beginning, I couldn’t tell whether to try and take pictures and videos, or just stare fixatedly at the sharks for a while. I chose to stare in awe. There would be plenty of time for pictures. I have been waiting to see a Great White Shark my whole life and I wasn’t going to miss it with my eyes behind a camera. There was no scuba equipment required for this dive because the cage floated in the water. Each person only needed a scuba mask and wetsuit; camera if they had it. I was nervous about not being able to hold my breath too long but I quickly realized that wouldn’t be a problem. Maybe it was from all the excitement, but I was able to hold my breath for close to two minutes at a time while the sharks attacked the bait and swam by us. I think I may have hyperventilated from the pure joy, allowing me to hold my breath a lot longer.

                With all of us in the cage, the bait roper would throw the tuna head into the water and wait. As the shark approached, sometimes slow and sometimes fast, he would pull the bait toward our cage, allowing the shark to swim right in front of us. Sometimes the shark would come too fast and the bait roper wouldn’t be able to pull it away fast enough. The shark would come in flying from the bottom of the ocean and shoot into the air. Sometimes it would accidentally bite the cage, steal the bait, or even land on the boat or cage.

                In total there were seven Great Whites swimming around us at all times. From the moment we got to the spot, the sharks never left. The captain was ecstatic because apparently it doesn’t happen like that very often. Two of the sharks were over 4 meters in length. That’s more than 17 feet long. They were massive. It was unreal to see this humongous predator casually swim about six inches in front of your face. It’s something I want everyone I know to do. You cannot even understand how amazing they are until you see them up close. And each one was different. Some had streaks of gold, some had scars all around their faces and some were even missing parts of their fins. They were absolutely gorgeous.

                After my first time in the cage, we had to get out, letting other people have their chance. Fortunately the other people didn’t stay in too long and Ben, Ellie and I were able to go in for another round. We stayed in the water for close to an hour in the second dive alone. We didn’t want it to end. The two biggest sharks were breaching the water, biting the cage and getting close enough to hug. Plus they were getting smarter. They would attack the bait from different sides and gain more speed before attacking. In the last 15 minutes alone, the bait roper lost two tuna heads. When the sharks started getting a little too aggressive with the bait, the captain said it was time to call it a day. He didn’t want any of the divers, or especially any of the sharks getting injured.

                I also found out some great news! The place we were cage diving today is the same place I will be at during my next boat trip. I liked my odds of seeing more sharks!! Overall it was absolutely stunning. I hope everyone likes the pictures. This blog site still wont allow video uploads, but I have some amazing pictures regardless.