Shark Bait

I’m going to tell my shark diving story now, but first a quick update on my living situation. Amy and I never found an air mattress, but I did by a newer, bug free foam mattress with a permanent cloth cover in Sigatoka. It cost $75 dollars. It’s worth the peace of mind. I also had my first shower here. It’s a little worse than I remember it because it smelled like very pungent urine the whole time. I thought maybe someone had peed in the foot bath. This is a basin about the size of a large sink and just over a foot deep. It sits under the “shower head” and I think they fill it with water, squat in it and scoop the water over themselves to take a bath. I didn’t do that. I straddled the foot bath, washed off in the icy-cold water as best I could and made every effort not to let any of the inch deep water in the cement room touch my feet. After further inspection, however, I was convinced that the smell was NOT coming from the foot basin and was probably coming from the area where the toilet drained (this is right next to the shower). I’m not sure, I didn’t investigate further. Anyway, I wish I could show you the pictures of the bed-bugs, bed-bug ridden bed, shower, and “stove”. But I can’t get any of my pictures to upload over the internet in Sigatoka. It will have to wait until my next trip to Suva.
Okay… Now for the shark feeding dive! I can’t believe I actually went on a shark feeding dive. Sharks are one of my biggest fears. I’m totally fascinated with them, and I respect them very much, but they scare the be-jesus out of me (as you can tell by the pre-diving picture on smugmug). I never imagined that I would go on a shark feeding dive. But, Mark Hay (one of the professors in our department) planned on going and asked if anyone else wanted to go. It just happens that I’ve been pondering a way to pump adrenaline back into my life. I’ve gone sky-diving, cliff jumping and the like, but I hadn’t come up with my next great adventure. What perfect timing! So, I signed on. The night before the dive I was beginning to wonder if I’d actually thought this through thoroughly. In fact, I was hoping that the seas would be too rough, or the weather would be bad so the trip would be cancelled. You see… I would never back out, that would make me a quitter, but I could still imagine ways that I wouldn’t have to go. Even the next morning, when we had to get up at the butt-crack of dawn to make our 8:00 dive which was 45 minutes down the Coral Coast to Pacific Harbor, the “Adventure Capital of Fiji”, I was dreaming of reasons the dive would be cancelled. In all honesty, only a small part of me wanted the trip cancelled. I was just as excited as I was scared.
Once we got to the dive shop, I grilled the guy who checked us in as to how many people had been eaten. Zero. How many people had been bitten? Ummm… I think he said none. He said that they’d been doing it for 8 years with no casualties and that it was safe. Then he asked us if we all had full wet suites and gloves. I assumed it was because the water was cold. No. He said it’s because you can’t show any of your whitey-white flesh because it looks like a fish to sharks. Now, how do you think they figured that out?
Once all 12 divers and 4 guides were on the boat, Papa, the Fijian in charge, briefed us on our first dive. It was a bit disconcerting to see large, red “Danger Zones” marked on the dive map. I’m pretty sure they weren’t marked off under water. What if we accidentally swam into the Danger Zone, even partially? Would we immediately be eaten by a giant shark?
Before I go into the details of the dives, let me describe to you what was going through my head. I have certain recurring dreams when I’m under a lot of stress. In these dreams, I’m diving to collect coral, when all of a sudden a huge shadow passes over me. The shadow is so large that I think it’s some kind of ocean liner vessel. But when I look up, all I see is a dark, open mouth full of glistening, razor-sharp teeth attached to a menacing shark, usually of the man-eating species. The rest of my dream involves me trying to get away or hide from the shark whose sole purpose in life is to devour me completely. So, all I could imagine was a huge shark, waiting eagerly under the boat for me to plunge right into his watering mouth. It didn’t help that as soon as we anchored the boat, the guides began chumming and within seconds the water boiled in a feeding frenzy of hundreds of dark shapes.
I was terrified as we geared up, and not at ALL happy about jumping into a bubbling feast. But, as soon as we were in and I looked around, every drop of fear vanished. The spectacle of fish all around me was so beautiful I almost cried. We descended to 100 feet where there was a make shift wall of coral rubble to kneel behind. In front of us, in the arena, Papa held onto a metal pole that had been driven into the ocean floor. Beside the pole was a large metal bin. Inside the metal bin was several tons of dead fish. The other three guides took up their positions, two on our flanks and one patrolling the water behind us. Each held a large metal stick with a pointed end. This is what they use to “train” the sharks and keep them at bay. Sharks have very sensitive skin around their nose and mouth area. This is where they have the largest cluster of electromagnetic sensors. It’s very painful for a shark to get poked in that region. So, if you ever get attacked by a shark, you are supposed to punch it in the nose, or between the eyes. Yeah, right. Anyway, Papa opened the bin and began pulling out fish carcasses. The fish went crazy. The terrapin created a tornado of feeding around him. It was so cool! But, the wall of fish was so thick that it was difficult to see the Bull sharks as they approached. One of the guides picked up a large plastic pipe with caps on either end. He swam several yards above Papa and opened the pipe. It was also full of dead fish, so the terrapin and other fish followed him up into the water column. The Bull sharks stayed with Papa and gingerly approached to feed. I was surprised at how timid they were. In fact, they didn’t even really feed at this point, the initial dive was just to attract them. We could only stay at 100 feet for 17 minutes due to safety guidelines for scuba. Our next stop was at 30 feet for 30 – 40 minutes. Papa stayed at 100 feet to distract the Bulls while one of the other guides with the long white tube fed several black tip sharks (probably 8 – 10 feet long). These sharks are so sleek and graceful. It was stunning to watch them move.
Once back on the boat, we warmed up and waited for our next dive. It would be at 40 feet, just below where we fed the black tips. Papa told us that it was very important that we kneel down, hold onto the “wall” and be still. He warned us not to kick our fins too much because it agitated the 20 foot Tiger Shark that might approach. Tiger Sharks are very curious and not afraid of anything. He said that this particular Tiger Shark likes to swim right over the group of divers so close that she’ll bump you and could possibly knock you down. We were supposed to either lean forward laying flat on our bellies or limbo on our back when she swam over. Crap, I was scared again. But, once more, as soon as I was in the water, all my fears evaporated. This time, the 15 foot Bull Sharks came up to Papa and took the fish heads right out of his hand. Papa would hold the head up, wave it around and move it behind him in an arch as the shark approached. The shark would gently take it out of Papa’s hand and swim directly towards us until it was just a few feet away and then immediately turn to swim away. I was like a kid at Christmas; I was so giddy with excitement. I even laughed, cheered and clapped my hands under water. The only disappointment of the dive was that the Tiger Shark never showed. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to do it again. We’re thinking about this Saturday.
(BTW, I have some awesome video of the dive to show everyone. I can’t wait!)