I had a case of déjà vu when a shipmate called ‘Quick, quick, quick!’ and another yelled ‘Hurry, we’ve spotted one!’ On this occasion I was in Exmouth on a Kings Ningaloo Reef Tour to swim with whale sharks – the biggest fish in the ocean! They have been known to grow up to 12 metres long and possibly longer. They mainly eat plankton and they are filter feeders so are not a threat to humans. And we had just spotted the first shark. I was used to the drill from the day before and hurried to get my gear on and get to the back of the boat. I was in the second group so stood at the back platform as the first group swam towards the shark. I was right on the edge of the boat when the whale shark broke away from the first group and came towards the back of the boat.
We were on the boat for a couple hours without seeing another. We worried that we wouldn’t get a chance to swim with a whale shark. It was early in the season so there was a possibility that we wouldn’t see another. Rumours went around that other boats were having no luck finding the sharks either. The instructors started making our lunch instead. Our spirits were dampened. Until… ‘Quick, quick, quick,’ yelled a shipmate. ‘Hurry, we’ve spotted one,’ yelled another. The instructors dropped what they were doing. The lettuce remained half chopped; and potatoes left unpeeled. They grabbed their own gear and gathered everyone up, ready to jump in the water. In I went and followed the instructor. We were in line with where the shark was swimming, so we just had to put our heads underwater and then she swam straight past us. She was a lot bigger than the first one we saw; around seven metres, although she appeared even bigger. Everything is slightly magnified through snorkelling masks and the water, but she looked huge! She was a soft grey with white spots scattered along her back; but the water gave her a bluish tinge due to how deep underwater she was. The small amount of light that pierced the water made her appear as if she glowed. Her tail grandly swept back and forth slowly and effortlessly.
‘It’s a tiger shark,’ we were told, ‘Who wants to snorkel with this fella?’
Instantly my hand shot into the air! Yes, I know tiger sharks have attacked humans, but I figured the likelihood that I would be attacked was pretty slim. Especially since the food supply is plentiful in that area of the world. ‘Can we go in?’ Laura asked me, ‘I would like to go in too.’ ‘I think he was only joking,’ I said, because the captain hadn’t suggested we get in the water. Disappointed, I kept watching the shark. We followed along in the boat so that everyone could get a good look at it. ‘Mark, babe! We can go in! Grab your stuff!’ we heard yelling from the cabin. Laura and I looked and each other for a second, eyes wide, and then raced from the bow to the stern, along the side railing, flying through the cabin, and dived into the water as soon as we got our snorkeling gear on. There were five of us tourists that jumped in desperate to see the tiger shark up close. Some instructors had gone in before us and were swimming quickly towards the shark, which was swimming even quicker away. We took off after them, making every stroke count, chasing as quickly as we could. With my head under I couldn’t see the shark or the group of instructors. I lifted my head and could see them in the distance. I kept swimming. A few more moments passed. Lifting my head up again, it seemed we had made no ground at all. But I kept swimming. And swimming. Eventually, I looked up to see the group of instructors had all stopped and some were heading back to the boat. The shark was gone. I was disappointed we didn’t get to see the tiger shark once we were in the water, but still I was feeling brave for jumping in with it regardless. And the day had been filled with so many joys, I was very appreciative of what had experienced. If I had an opportunity to do another Kings Ningaloo Reef Tour I would take it in a heartbeat. www.kingsningalooreeftours.com.au
1 Comment
Emily O'Callaghan
7/7/2015 06:52:44 am
Nice account of your experience! It must have been amazing! Luv your articulate writing x
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