Margate, South Africa
The body of body of water some me is filled alongside hungry sharks. In simply a few minutes, the sea has popular off thick alongside them, approaching from all directions. My ticker races.
I was nether thirty feet of water, without a cage, off the coast of South Africa. It was impossible to proceed rails of all the sharks some me. I counted at to the lowest degree nine inwards my immediate vicinity, alongside to a greater extent than dark shapes lurking inwards the murky depths below.
A nightmare scenario for those who are afraid of the ocean.
When most people think of sharks, they instinctively scream back the horror motion painting Jaws. Razor sudden teeth. Beady dark eyes. The ocean’s deadliest predator lurking beneath the waves, ready to strike without warning.
Embracing Your Fears
You’d think that hanging out underwater inwards shark territory would live the most unsafe house to live inwards the ocean. However our fears are non ever rational — to a greater extent than frequently they’re primal. Based on emotion rather than facts.
For most people, fright is something they avoid at all costs. For others, it’s what drives them. I consider myself the latter. It’s a personality trait known equally sensation seeking — someone who thrives on adventure, risks, together with sensory overload.
While swimming alongside sharks is non equally unsafe equally it seems, that doesn’t hateful it won’t laissez passer y'all a goodness jounce of adrenaline anyway.
South Africa Shark Dive
This is genuinely non my starting fourth dimension time scuba diving alongside sharks. I’d met them upwards unopen together with personal ane time earlier inwards Fiji, also without a cage.
Sharks are beautiful, powerful, agile creatures. Capable of both extreme violence together with incredible elegance. Attacks on humans are exceedingly rare, despite all the negative media attending they receive.
Don’t believe me? Talk alongside anyone who spends pregnant amounts of fourth dimension alongside them. Like marine biologists or scuba dive masters. Sharks deserve respect, non irrational fear.
Yes, some species assault humans from fourth dimension to time.
It happens when they fault us for animals they commonly eat, similar seals. But deep underwater, inwards their world, these intelligent animals are smart plenty to know nosotros aren’t on the menu.
Diving Protea Banks
In fact, sharks are frequently to a greater extent than frightened of us. As our grouping of divers starting fourth dimension descended nether the waves at Protea Banks, nosotros genuinely scared off a large tiger shark. Tiger sharks are responsible for the s highest disclose of attacks on humans. Yet this ane wanted zip to produce alongside us.
Too bad, equally this is the type I was most looking forrad to meeting!
Protea Banks is domicile to all kinds of unlike species of shark similar Black Tips, Bull Sharks, Tigers, Great Whites, Ragged Tooth, Hammerheads, together with many more. They come upwards to feed on large schools of tuna that thrive here.
It’s ane of the few places inwards the basis y'all tin dive alongside 12 human foot Tigers.
On this dive nosotros encountered to a greater extent than frequently than non Black Tip sharks, iv to v feet long. H5N1 schoolhouse of them circled the bait ball, a plastic device filled alongside fish heads that sharks can’t genuinely eat. After initially keeping their distance, they relaxed together with had no occupation swimming upwards to tell hi.
The bull sharks were to a greater extent than skittish. I could consider a few downward below. Bull sharks are responsible for the tertiary highest disclose of attacks on humans. I constitute it sort of funny that ane of the most dangerous species of sharks was likewise the most scared of us.
Shark Conservation
We spent an hr diving alongside the sharks at Protea Banks earlier surfacing to provide to the boat. I’ll never teach sick of these experiences. Visiting the underwater basis is close equally unusual equally it gets, aside from outer-space.
The to a greater extent than fourth dimension y'all pass inwards the companionship of sharks, the to a greater extent than your fright of them is transformed into honour together with admiration. Sharks are beautiful, marvelous creatures.
Unfortunately they are getting killed off at an alarming rate.
Millions of sharks are fished out of our oceans annually. No wonder they’re afraid of us!
So when y'all require heed close “attacks” similar the recent ane at a Jeffreys Bay surf competition, empathise that nosotros are the ones attacking their territory. We don’t ain these oceans, even then nosotros seem to beloved killing everything inwards them.
Sharks don’t fifty-fifty similar humans — occasionally they simply fault us for something else. Maybe nosotros deserve it. ★
SEE ALSO: Searching For Dolphins & Whales Off Reunion Island
Watch Video: Protea Banks Shark Dive
(Click to sentinel Protea Banks Shark Dive – South Africa on YouTube)
Location: Margate, South Africa
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Would y'all ever endeavor swimming alongside sharks? Are y'all a scuba diver? Drop me a message inwards the comments below!
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