Life in the land of Sharks
Yesterday, ruine_ and I went swimming in a large tank filled with sharks. Three metre long sand tiger sharks, to be precise, as well as conger eels, rays, and countless other fish.
My part of this experience had been a Christmas gift from someone too uncomfortable with sharks to even watch, so I decided ruine_ should come and watch. From inside the aquarium, of course.
We arrived early, and fortified ourselves with cheesecake and apple pie, then headed out to meet the other person diving. This lucky person, N, had been given his dive as a surprise 40th birthday present from his wife - he didn't even know he was going in with the sharks until he arrived at the front desk. He was still somewhat stunned as we wandered through, had the safety briefing and got changed.
I chatted to him a little in the changing rooms - and he made my day by saying, "It'll be a good while till your 40th, I'm sure". Hmm, about 1 month, actually :)
After the kitting out and training in a little pool, we moved through to descend one by one into the realm of the sharks. As N went down the rope with the divers, I paused to kiss ruine_.. my last chance for a while, as we'd both have our mouths full of breathing apparatus. There was something particularly intimate about sharing her last breath of surface air. As I opened my eyes, I saw a glimpse of a shark's fin just trailing above the surface, and a plaice skimming along the top of the water, checking out who was about to intrude.
I ducked my head under the water to watch ruine_ descend, and to try and take my first underwater image on the disposable camera we'd bought. I caught a wonderful image.. My girl descending, entwined with the instructor, as a large ray skimmed past her head, checking her out.
I was last down. I had a few troubles with my ear on the way down, but the instructor was great, and helped me back up a little so i could clear my ears.In no time, we were crawling along the bottom of the tank so the visitors could watch us.
Oh, yes. Crawling. You see, the big sharks have these fixed patterns they swim on, in endless circles. So, they pile us down with weights to keep us on the bottom, and make sure we're on our knees if anywhere near a shark's patrol route. That way, they swim overhead, they don't get spooked, and that way, we don't get spooked by an angry shark.
Mind you, I think most people, Dom or not, would get on their knees to avoid the anger of a 10 foot long shark. Interestingly, the big ones are the females. The male sharks are the smaller ones that swim around in lower, more submissive circuits.
My first glimpse of one of these sharks underwater was when the instructor told me to look up. I did, just in time to see Tinkerbell glide silently overhead. The first I saw was the rows of sharp hooked teeth, then foot after foot of gray white body slide above me, barely 3 feet over my head. Tinkerbell, ironically, is their name for the largest shark.
I took a lot of pictures with the underwater camera. Each one framed, for me a perfect moment. Sharks, rays, fish, ruine_ waving to small children as they passed through the visitor's tube, ruine_ stroking a sleeping Angel shark, .. Each picture is burned into my memory as the perfect image it would have been... if the camera had worked. Yup, disposable underwater camera didn't have enough light, and not one of my pictures came out. Ah well, I still have the memories.
I'd used up all the film by halfway round anyway - I didn't want to experience the entire trip through the viewfinder. The second half of the circuit gave me much more time and attention to fully appreciate how majestic the sharks are, and just how much the aquarium is their territory.. Circling overhead, they command the water. The aquarium's visitors, on the other hand, are pushed around on a conveyor belt in a long tunnel of glass -- being out in the water really lets you see just how much it is the humans, for once, that are imprisoned behind glass.
I really don't fully have the words for how wonderful an experience this was - or how wonderful it was to share that with my girl. I don't even have a picture of us to show you. But I'll leave you with a photo of two other people, doing exactly the same experience, and just say..
We did this, yesterday
My part of this experience had been a Christmas gift from someone too uncomfortable with sharks to even watch, so I decided ruine_ should come and watch. From inside the aquarium, of course.
We arrived early, and fortified ourselves with cheesecake and apple pie, then headed out to meet the other person diving. This lucky person, N, had been given his dive as a surprise 40th birthday present from his wife - he didn't even know he was going in with the sharks until he arrived at the front desk. He was still somewhat stunned as we wandered through, had the safety briefing and got changed.
I chatted to him a little in the changing rooms - and he made my day by saying, "It'll be a good while till your 40th, I'm sure". Hmm, about 1 month, actually :)
After the kitting out and training in a little pool, we moved through to descend one by one into the realm of the sharks. As N went down the rope with the divers, I paused to kiss ruine_.. my last chance for a while, as we'd both have our mouths full of breathing apparatus. There was something particularly intimate about sharing her last breath of surface air. As I opened my eyes, I saw a glimpse of a shark's fin just trailing above the surface, and a plaice skimming along the top of the water, checking out who was about to intrude.
I ducked my head under the water to watch ruine_ descend, and to try and take my first underwater image on the disposable camera we'd bought. I caught a wonderful image.. My girl descending, entwined with the instructor, as a large ray skimmed past her head, checking her out.
I was last down. I had a few troubles with my ear on the way down, but the instructor was great, and helped me back up a little so i could clear my ears.In no time, we were crawling along the bottom of the tank so the visitors could watch us.
Oh, yes. Crawling. You see, the big sharks have these fixed patterns they swim on, in endless circles. So, they pile us down with weights to keep us on the bottom, and make sure we're on our knees if anywhere near a shark's patrol route. That way, they swim overhead, they don't get spooked, and that way, we don't get spooked by an angry shark.
Mind you, I think most people, Dom or not, would get on their knees to avoid the anger of a 10 foot long shark. Interestingly, the big ones are the females. The male sharks are the smaller ones that swim around in lower, more submissive circuits.
My first glimpse of one of these sharks underwater was when the instructor told me to look up. I did, just in time to see Tinkerbell glide silently overhead. The first I saw was the rows of sharp hooked teeth, then foot after foot of gray white body slide above me, barely 3 feet over my head. Tinkerbell, ironically, is their name for the largest shark.
I took a lot of pictures with the underwater camera. Each one framed, for me a perfect moment. Sharks, rays, fish, ruine_ waving to small children as they passed through the visitor's tube, ruine_ stroking a sleeping Angel shark, .. Each picture is burned into my memory as the perfect image it would have been... if the camera had worked. Yup, disposable underwater camera didn't have enough light, and not one of my pictures came out. Ah well, I still have the memories.
I'd used up all the film by halfway round anyway - I didn't want to experience the entire trip through the viewfinder. The second half of the circuit gave me much more time and attention to fully appreciate how majestic the sharks are, and just how much the aquarium is their territory.. Circling overhead, they command the water. The aquarium's visitors, on the other hand, are pushed around on a conveyor belt in a long tunnel of glass -- being out in the water really lets you see just how much it is the humans, for once, that are imprisoned behind glass.
I really don't fully have the words for how wonderful an experience this was - or how wonderful it was to share that with my girl. I don't even have a picture of us to show you. But I'll leave you with a photo of two other people, doing exactly the same experience, and just say..
We did this, yesterday