Shark Diver

As a scuba diver, sharks have featured prominently in my imagination. Having a true close encounter with them has been something I have looked forward to since becoming a diver. My first encounter was with a nurse shark lying on a wreck off of Fort Lauderdale. I would next come face to face with a blacktip reef shark while diving Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary off of the Florida Keys. Both encounters were enjoyable if somewhat brief. Since these encounters, I have hoped for something more intimate. Like the proverbial house reef and dive bar, shark dives have become a common feature at many popular Caribbean dive spots. Many of my fellow divers, on returning from that last dive vacation, have regaled me with stories of these unique and amazing animal encounters. I soon began to yearn for an experience all my own. I promised myself that if the opportunity arose, I would try one of these shark encounters for myself. On my recent trip to Roatan, I did just that.

For about the last eight years, divers visiting Roatan have had the opportunity to see Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharis perezi) up close. That is about how long Waihuka Adventures has been running shark dives off the south shore of Roatan . My shark dive day began with a trip to the dive shop. Divers that day watched a short video and listened to a detailed dive briefing on what to do and what not to do. We learned we would be diving a site called "Cara a Cara", which in Spanish means 'face to face'. We would be diving a site dominated by Caribbean reef sharks, though other sharks have been seen as well. After the briefing was over, it was onwards to our dive boat and our shark encounter.

Diving with my buddies among the reefs of Roatan that week, I had experienced dive boat trips that were marked by cheerful and extroverted divers, excited by the days upcoming reef exploration. Yet almost everyone on this dive trip seemed to have become meditative and introverted, perhaps turning inwards to contemplate the sanity of this undertaking. Travel time to the dive site was about forty five minutes. The site was marked by a mooring line that descended to a small wall. Current at the site was quite strong. It was a bit of an effort to descend the line. But visibility that day was fantastic, and appeared to be about over 80 feet. Descending the line and looking down, I could already see several sharks were circling the reef. Depth was about 70 feet. Divers including myself arranged ourselves with our backs to a small reef wall. Our divemaster stood in front. His only protection were hands gloved in chainmail. While the cameraman swam and filmed the action, our divemaster banged a bucket full of fish on the sea floor to entice the circling sharks. And circle they did.

There seemed to be sharks everywhere. All were Caribbean Reef sharks, and all were female. I estimated they were between six and eight feet long. They constantly circled the bait bucket and the reef. Watching the action, my feelings were not fear, but simply awe of these amazing animals. I could feel myself in the presence of true grace and power. They swam effortlessly around us. They came quite close, less than a foot away in some cases. I found myself trying to keep up with the action. Schools of snapper and grunt darted around the great predators. Sharsucker remoras seemed to be everywhere as well. As the sharks passed each other, remoras would leap from one shark to another. I was close enough to see that one shark had a fish hook in her mouth. One particularly brave Nassau grouper swam on the periphery of the action, seemingly working up his nerve to eventually enter the fray. The sharks appeared completely focused on our divemaster and his plastic blue bucket, and seemed quite indifferent to us.

Our divemaster finally tossed the blue bucket to an open area of sea floor, less than 10 feet from us. The intensity of the action increased, as the sharks began to circle ever closer to the bucket. Each shark began to compete for position, trying to be the first one to grab one of the fish scraps. Than one large shark made her move, and in a lightning flash, knocked the plastic lid off the bucket with her snout. Seconds later, she grabbed a piece of fish scrap from inside. Another shark grabbed another large piece. For the moment it seemed as if the drama was over. But the sharks continued to circle the bucket. Finally one large shark bit the bullet, and put her entire head inside the bucket to reach the last bit of fish scrap still inside. The action was almost comical, as the shark swam blindly for a few moments, its head stuck inside the bucket. The action was quick, fierce and amazing. It was a challenge to process it all. I would be thankful for the dive video I would later buy.

As the sharks began to swim off, our divemaster gave us the opportunity to move around the site and search for shark teeth on the sea floor. Than all to briefly, our time among these amazing predators was over. Back on the boat, full of adrenaline, every diver had suddenly become an extrovert. Stoic expressions on the dive ride outward had been replaced by smiles. It seemed everyone could not stop talking about the days awe-inspiring animal encounters. This was an amazing dive that I definitely will remember always.

For more information about this shark dive encounter see www.sharkdiveroatan.com .