Shark!

August 1, 2006
Today was another disappointing, unsuccessful day. I’m becoming very concerned that I may not finish my project, and I’m not sure what to do about it. Let me begin with last night. After my second snorkel, I came in and bathed as best I could to get the effluent from the pig farm off, then had a snack of some weird Japanese trail mix stuff. After a while, I started having sharp pains in my stomach. I lay down for a while and did some work before Akisi called me to dinner. I was feeling a little better at this point, but about an hour after dinner, the pains returned. I’m not sure what caused it, but I was preparing for a long night on the toilet with Ralph and Hairy (the spider). Fortunately that never happened and I slept through the night.
I woke up this morning a little weak and nauseated. I really didn’t feel like going out, but one has to do what one has to do to get the job done. Right? So, after a bite of cereal I packed up my gear and walked past the pig farm to the beach. Jay Jay (the dog) joined me and had a grand time attacking coconuts and pigs as we hiked through the bush. It was kind of nice to have some company (Amy is still in Suva). Anyway, I mustered up the energy, put on my gear and began my trek through the surf to the deeper waters that harbor the coral. I was about hip deep and putting on my fins when I heard yelling and whistling from the beach across the tidal creek. I could make out two figures of young men from the village. They were frantically waving their arms and yelling something. I cupped my hands to my ear to see if I could hear what they were saying. A third man joined them and one of them began to climb a coconut tree. Usually when this happens, I just wave and move on because everyone here likes to say “hi” and be acknowledged in return. However, these men seemed a bit more frantic than usual. So I moved slightly closer. This set them off in a frenzy of hand waving. Finally, all three of them at once yelled, “Shark!”. Crap. My first inclination was to run as fast as I could through the water to the safety of the beach. But, sharks are attracted to thrashing water, so I moved as slowly and as calmly as I could towards shallow water. My heart was racing and as soon as I reached shore I turned to see if I could spot the shark. Sure enough, about 20 feet to the right of where I had been standing I could see something pop up now and then out of the water. It gave me the shivers.
You may be wondering why the presence of a four to five foot shark bothers me now when a week ago I was in the water with 15 foot Bull Sharks. It has to do more with the situation than the shark itself. The majority of shark attacks around the world occur in shallow, murky water. This is exactly the kind of water that I need to snorkel through to get to my (potential) sites. Sometimes visibility is only 3 feet. I could easily swim up on a shark without knowing it, and a shark could easily mistake me for food. This is becoming a serious problem, and I may need to re-think my whole plan. I can assure you that after 3 Fijian men were screaming for me to get out of the water because of a shark that I certainly did not get back in. I considered it, but instead I begrudgingly walked back home and wrote this blog. I guess I’ll go to Sigatoka today. I don’t want to get in the water until Amy gets back. Having a second person around won’t stop me from getting mauled by a shark, but at least there’s a 50-50 chance it will get her instead. *grin*