We went shark cage diving in "shark alley." This was legit, as proven by a fellow guest on the boat. A videographer for Discovery Channel's 25th anniversary of shark week was enjoying the sights along side us. After 3 intense weeks of filming sharks, his idea of a day off was to go shark diving with us... Legit!
The seas were not calm. No boats were allowed out for the 6 days before us, but our captain thought we could make the trip today. With the sea sick pills clutched tightly in her hand, Jessica boarded the boat. As the last people on, we were relegated to the top, windward side of the boat, where we were consistently splashed with boat spray as we went over 6 meter swells! And that's... no, not yet. We had rubber, Lon John Silver coats on keeping the water off us and keeping us in our usual top fashion.
Then, we got to seal island. The best (worst) smelling island ever. It was like a fish market, but worse. The seals played, fought, mated and ate on the island that they clearly owned. Check out the attached panorama for a site of it. (Jason is experimenting with a new "picture stitching" app)
In a small strait between a constant food supply (seal island) and a bigger island with a lighthouse, the sharks have the time of their lives. We watched them chase seals and circle our boat. Then we jumped in... our cage. And that's the... No, not yet. The shark sightings were consistent thanks to the chum being thrown out the boat, a big hunk of fish meat as bait and a foam seal decoy. Some of the sharks would consistently jump out after the bait as it was being pulled away by our boat captain and first mate.
Aside from when our feet and hands would slip outside the cage, we felt completely safe. The biggest danger was swallowing too much salt water. That is not to say that these sharks couldn't get to us if they wanted to. The small, 8ft long sharks could easily ram the cage if they were interested, and we felt like the huge 20ft shark could just eat the cage. But, these sharks were basically full. When you can eat seals as easily as going to the grocery store, why go after metal?
When we were done we got out of the cages, wiggled out of our thick, hooded wet suits & booties and got hit by a blast of wind. And that is the coldest that Jessica has ever been! Jason's time would come.
After a few more sandwiches and shark sightings, it was time to go home. We sat on what we thought was the correct side, Jason in front of Jessica. But, the boat did an unexpected u-turn and got hit with a massive wave, shooting a wave of water up to the top deck soaking every inch of Jason's pants and even got under the rubber suit soaking his body. Then we zoomed home in the cold wind... and that is the coldest Jason has ever been! Jessica laughed herself almost warm. Not even the warm lamb and bean stew or coffee or hot shower could bring either of our cores back to normal.
We will just have to await our summer time adventures back on the northern hemisphere.
Sadly, this is just about the end of our adventurous summer. Soon, we have to settle for new adventures in Chicago.
Look forward to a blog on some of the food we have feasted on along the way. (if we have time with all the eating and drinking we will continue to do for the next 24 hours).
Forks up!
Jessica & Jason
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