Last day at White Shark Projects. These past two weeks have just flown by like you wouldn’t believe. I guess that shows how much I enjoyed my time here. Even though sometimes, some people, were impossible to get along with, or I was just so tired I would fall asleep on the futon still in my chum-smelling, fish and salt water incrusted clothes, the sharks always made it up to me.
Case and point: I got puked on yesterday. These past couple of days, the clients have been getting really seasick. I’ve seen more puke in the last week than I have in my whole life. And yesterday I got hit. It wasn’t a direct hit, but the outcome is still the same: puke all over me. I went out again right after that, with no break, and I was tired, and the boat was full of Swedes who wanted to get into the water RIGHT NOW, but the sharks, they must have know I needed a little pick me up, because they did not disappoint. They kept coming out of nowhere and getting the bait, which is something we try to avoid, but of course, is my favorite part. The get that tuna head and they go crazy; thrashing their head, swimming all around the boat, just trying to rip that tuna to pieces. We must have lost at least five baits yesterday, it was great. So even though I was puked on, and worked from 7 in the morning until closing time… which was 3 (but still!), I went back to the house with a smile on my face because of those sharks.
March 11th was a good day. We had two trips again, and the morning one was good (one puker) and I had my first kid diver. Within five minutes of him being in the cage, a shark came up and slammed into it, scaring the poor kid who wanted to get out right away (his dad was the one who puked). We went out again in the afternoon, and because there weren’t many clients, Kelly and I were asked if we wanted to dive, so we figured why not? We hadn’t taken up the offer in the days before because it was cold out and the underwater visibility was poor, but today it was sunny, the water was alright, and the sharks were good, really curious and had kept coming up to the cage.
Man, they did not disappoint. That was probably the most fun thirty minutes of my life. Other than the fact I was wearing a wetsuit at least two sizes big for me, so I kept floating instead of sinking, there was nothing bad about my time there. I was positioned in the left corner, and I had four sharks come right for me and stick their noses in the cage. Ugh! I wanted to touch them so bad, but there were clients in the cage so I couldn’t! But still, it was amazing. You would hear the dive master say “Down! Down! Down!” And you would jump down underwater and start looking in the direction they said. I would look and look, and sometimes not see anything, but then BAM! There he was: less than a meter a way and coming right towards me. The first two times I screamed and jumped back, because they just startle you coming out of nowhere, but then a second passes and you relax and just take it all in. The first one who came up starting biting the cage, so I got a close up view of his teeth. Awesome. The others just came and ran into the cage, wiggled around a bit, then would take off, finally understanding that they can’t eat this hard, cold thing floating in the water. The only unsightly thing they do is roll their eyes back in the head so they don’t damage them, so all you’re left with is pink and white flesh staring back at you. That’s a little creepy; the only scary thing about a shark.
The day before Kelly and I missed the afternoon trip, and were later regaled with the stories of the four meter shark they saw. He was massive! The biggest one they’ve seen in a year! And we were sad. But then, while sitting in the cage, Julia says, “the big one’s back. Get ready.” So we wait for a few minutes, go down once and don’t see anything, but then we hear a really excited “Down! Down! Down” and we go down and wait. Then, out of the murkiness of the water comes this shark, slowly swimming, and moving off to the side. I only got to see his head to his gills, but let me tell you: holy crap. The thing was huge! Four meters! And they can grow up to be 5, 6 meters, so this one’s not even full grown yet!! It was amazing. The past couple of days we’ve actually seen another 4-meter shark and seeing it from the boat is just as fun. These little 2, 2.5 meter sharks don’t even compare. When Big Mama (or Daddy, I don’t know what its sex is, and that’s only what I call it) comes around, you’re just in awe of how big, and calm this shark is. I saw it go for the bait once, coming from a vertical approach, and it was something else. I would not want to be the one who had to hold onto that rope.
I have one trip today that I’ll go on, and hopefully will see something amazing. Everyday here is amazing, though, because you see sharks in the wild, just doing what they do. Everyday it’s something, or someone, different, and even though the washing and hanging of the countless wetsuits is the same (which gave me a rash, btw), the sharks always make it worth it. Rash and itchiness and all.