Jumping Off a Cliff
What was the two-note theme song, composed by John Williams for a 1975 Stephen Spielberg action/adventure/thriller movie? If you said “Jaws,” you are correct. And that was the very song that was playing in my head as I went on my first shark-feed dive yesterday.
I have been blessed in getting to know a dive instructor at a local resort. He invited me to go on a shark-feed yesterday for free with a group of Russian tourists. Score!
We boated out to the outer side of the reef and jumped into a magical wonderland of coral, fish, and other colorful creatures. After finding our spots on the reef floor, we sat there as the men in the boat overhead threw in giant blocks of frozen shark-bait. As soon as the fish-cicles hit the water and started to dissipate, the sharks came in droves like metal to a magnet. There were about 30 of the ravenous carnivores. Most were reef sharks (blacktip, whitetip and grey) with one or two other varieties filtering in.
It was incredible to witness their raw power as these majestic beasts gnashed and ripped at the bait only a short distance from where we sat perched. The feeding frenzy continued for about 20 minutes until there was nothing left and the sharks made their exit, leaving us to do some more exploring.
At the end of the day, I still had all my limbs and added another great adventure to my journal. Next time, maybe I’ll try hand-feeding the sharks.
The Grey Reef Shark is one of the most common sharks in Indo-Pacific waters. Click here for more of my shark photos.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Shark-Bait
