Luke Arner

A Different Kind of Shark Week

            Two years ago my family visited the small island of Bimini in the Bahamas for summer vacation.  As the trip approached we looked at the snorkeling and scuba excursions offered there.  I thought it was going to be the same as many other places we had been snorkeling or scuba diving at before, but almost every snorkeling landmark included swimming with sharks of some kind. 

            The second day we were at Bimini, my dad, two brothers, and I decided to try swimming with sharks.  My mom and sister were too scared to even think about it.  We headed to the snorkeling shop and got our gear together.  We boarded the boat and met the two men onboard, the captain and the diving instructor.  They were French, and both from Quebec.  After meeting each other we departed for the open waters.

The boat sliced through the crystal clear water away from the island into the open ocean.  The sound of wind overtook the deck as large portions of salty mist sprayed our faces.  The boat danced along the waves for about half an hour more.

 “Ker-plunk,” the sound of ladders unfolding and hitting the water was heard as our boat stopped.  This was just like any other time I had been snorkeling before, except this time we would knowingly be swimming with sharks.

I looked out the back of the boat and saw nothing but the clearest water ever for miles.  My heart stopped for a moment as I jumped in.  The familiar taste of salt returned to my mouth.  I started swimming away from the boat.  As I did, the water seemed to dim and I took a look around to see if anyone was near; there’s nothing, except rocks and corol.  I breached the surface, and looked back to see if anyone else was in the water with me.  The next person was just jumping in.  With another person in the water, it didn’t seem so scary.

I went back under and began swimming.  There were rainbows of fish everywhere and tons of types of coral, but no sharks.  I swam towards a rock that had a really colorful fish near it.  As I went around the rock a dark shadow slipped from behind some coral.  The next thing I knew a shark was coming straight at me.  I flailed my arms forward in an attempt to go backwards but before I could, the shark turned and in the blink of an eye disappeared.  I turned around and another one was there.  This one had a crooked dorsal fin and a gnarled eye.  I tried to swim towards it and saw my brother looking at it too. I looked back where it was and it was gone.  The sharks were like ninjas, they would appear suddenly and then disappear just as fast.  They were aided by the fact that they were pretty much the exact color of the rocks.

The diving instructor dove in and had a spear gun with him.  I wondered what he was planning on using it for.  He swam around this creviced edge of coral and rocks and aimed and caught something.  I’m not sure what he caught, but all I could see was a shark eat it in about two seconds.  The smell of fishiness and blood spread throughout the water. I thought the shark might attack, but it just finished its meal and disappeared.

After about an hour of swimming around we headed back to the boat and started back to the mainland of Bimini.  Before going on that trip I was scared of sharks (mostly due to things like “Shark Week” on TV).  After swimming with them though, sharks are my favorite animal.  They are amazing creatures, and I realized that they won’t attack you unless they have a good reason, which they usually don’t.  This taught me that things you are afraid of may actually turn out to be things you like if you just give them a chance.