Posted by kelphead on April 05, 2001 at 11:38:03:
In Reply to: I agree it was a cool sighting. I wish I had been there... posted by Wayne on April 05, 2001 at 00:32:13:
"With my luck I would have been playing with some stupid
starfish and only heard about it after getting on board."
hehehe, i know what you mean, hehehe.
speaking of freaking out, i have wondered quite
often what my gameplan should be if i encountered
a large shark (of any species!).
when i first got certified, i was absolutely terrified
of the thought of encountering a shark in open water.
i thought people who wanted to willingly dive w/sharks
were nuts and freaks. i did not want to have
anything to do w/sharks while diving at all!
then i warmed up to the idea, learned a bit about
them, and then i was very gung-ho at the idea of
doing a caged shark dive. when in florida w/a
group of other divers in 1999, 4 of us got to dive
w/TWO nurse sharks at the same time (can't be sure,
but i would estimate one to be at 4ft long and
the other at 7ft long). the 4 of us swam w/them
for quite a bit of time (5 minutes at least). that
was a really neat experience.
then relatively recently, i had what i would term a
nightmare about sharks:
in my dream, i'm diving in casino park. there
was at least one other diver there, but i
can't remember who my buddy actually was. i'm
in the shallow, sunny end of the park, digging
at something in some rock. i know that there
was a diver in front of me doing the same
thing, but then when i turned around, with
whatever it is i had on my knife, i came reg
to snout w/a shark. at that point, i don't
remember there being any other soul in that
water w/me...i was literally alone in the water
w/this shark looking at me and thinking it
might want what i had in my hand. i got scared.
then as i start to look around, there are all these
other sharks of different species, small, large,
all kinds and they are all swimming around me
looking a little hungry at what i had w/me.
i think to myself that i have to get away from these
sharks and the only way out was to go to the deeper
part of the park. the water begins to get grey/blue
and as i'm swimming past a myriad of sharks, i
get to where the big daddy of sharks is. now,
i'm no expert, but this shark moved slowly
and was turning towards me and i figured it
was either a great white or bull shark. i don't
know why i thought of a bull shark in my
dream, but i did (i don't think i even know
what a bull shark actually looks like in real
life). and its posture scared me.
i really honest-to-God felt terrified in my
dream upon encountering this shark and i had
no clue what to do. i then turned around and
began swimming back past the myriad of sharks
back to shallow water.
i think that's about when i woke up from sheer
fear.
the emotions in that dream were pretty intense
and, though i know it was just a silly dream,
now i can't help but wonder if there is
anything one can do when encountering a shark
or group of sharks.
now i'm back to feeling wussy about sharks
and i'm not sure if i'd be excited or terrified
if i came "nose to snout" w/one.
oh, well...
= : )
kelphead.