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In
order to maximise the opportunities this safari will present,
I decided to obtain a foretaste of shark diving by participating
in a shark-feed. So I arranged a few dives in the Bahamas.
The
adrenaline level starts to rise as you read the contents of
the disclaimer form and realise that you are accepting full
responsibility for your actions - for the risk of personal
injury, loss of limb or wrongful death during the shark-dive.
The dive operator takes no responsibility whatsoever - the
buck stops with you! Your adrenaline level reaches a new high
as you watch the shark-feeder don his full head and body protective
chain mail over suit and you realise that you might just be
a tad vulnerable in your 3mm tropical wetsuit. Then the adrenaline
takes another upward leap as you prepare to enter the water
from the stern platform and watch the classic film genre of
triangular fins from a number of sharks cutting through the
surface water in anticipation of the feed to come. buring
the feed the sharks initially circle the feeder in an orderly
fashion, obeying some acknowledged pecking order, with one
breaking off on cue, to swoop in and wrench the bait off the
feeder's spear. After ten minutes or so, the action becomes
much more frenzied and occasionally the discipline breaks
down when several sharks attempt to grab the same piece of
bait. When this happens the feeder gets buffeted from all
angles by large, aggressive, fast swimming sharks. One shark
actually wrenched the bait and spear out of the feeder's hand
and swam off with it.
At
the height of the activity on this particular dive, I estimated
that there were around thirty Caribbean Grey Reef Sharks in
the area, anything between one and two metres in length. A
very impressive sight (is they circled round the feeder and
out and over or between the watching divers. Watching one
of these elegant predators coming straight for your head,
turning with a flick of its tail at the lost possible moment
and to feel its fins brush your cheek can be quite heart-stopping.
However, it does provide wonderful photographic opportunities
- if you are quick enough.
If
anything, this dive has whetted my appetite for what should
prove to be a wonderful week's diving with sharks early next
year.
It
should be recorded that I did not escape unscathed from this
experience - not from a shark bite, I hasten to add - I managed
to give myself a deep cut while shaving.
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