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Dive Journal - Paradise Island, Bahamas - Bob and Maureen- May 2011
Paradise Island, Bahamas
By Maureen and Bob Kverek
Paradise Island, Bahamas
Part 2 - Shark Wall and Shark Arena
By Maureen and Bob Kverek
We chose the afternoon shark dive with Stuart Cove’s (after the previous day’s 2-tank AM dive). This dive is scheduled in the afternoon to accommodate the feeding schedule. Again, we were picked up by their shuttle transportation. The first dive was along a reef wall to experience getting used to the sharks swimming around prior to the “feed”. As we swam along the reef, I was a little nervous seeing a few 6-8 ft. sharks swimming around. But along the reef we saw a lot of other aquatic life that caught our interest; trumpet fish, squirrel fish, flounder, grouper, hermit crab, conch, and an eel (or octopus) that snuck into a rock hole. We then swam over to the shark arena where the “circle of death” was laid out in rocks where the shark feeding would take place. We sifted through the sand to look for sharks teeth---Shannon found one. There were lots of little fish that came over to eat what we were stirring up in the sand. We then ascended to the boat to change tanks and go over the dive plan for the shark feeding. As we did our safety stop, we saw a few sharks swim in a little closer waiting for the bait box that they knew was coming.
On the dive plan, the master diver who was controlling the feeding told us to keep our hands in and not to make any sudden movements during the feed and when he took the bait box off and we ascended to the boat, to not take our fins off until we had a hold of the ladder so that we weren’t kicking our feet like a wounded fish. This made me a little nervous.
The experience during the feeding was a once-in-a-lifetime. The sharks came in from all directions and would bump you with a fin or swipe you with their tail. But after the initial panic, it was like watching something on the Discovery Channel. As they brought the bait box around the circle and the photographer took our group’s pictures, it gave you the sense to want to reach out and touch one. There was a nurse shark that was giving the feeder a hard time trying to get into the bait box, but he held her off with his fin and pet her head occasionally. He also rubbed the noses of some of the sharks as they swam by and it was like petting a dog. You could see their eye cover flipping over their eyes as he touched them close to the eye. It was amazing that the sharks weren’t really in a “frenzy” as I expected. They did go for the speared fish bait but as one got it, the others just changed direction to come in for the next bait offering. The master diver told us there would not be as many sharks around since it was mating season. I think the 20+ that were there was fine---I would’ve hyperventilated if there were 40+.
It was definitely a great experience, but if I were diving on my own and saw a few sharks swim in, I’d be the first one back to the boat! With these 2 shark dives, we paid a little extra and received the PADI Shark Awareness Certification. We watched the required video and took the test online prior to our trip and these dives completed the requirements. Everyone on the boat thought this experience was amazing. Bob’s pictures came out amazing---and we bought the video that they shot---just to prove to our friends that we really did it! I highly recommend it---even for the Jaws generation like myself!:
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