sharks

I find that most people on the island become sedentary and don't like to "do" anything, so it's really best to simply do things by myself. I do quite a bit of lone snorkeling, and am getting to really know the islands' reefs and fish. I've swum in the vicinity of sharks on a number of occasions, including a 2 meter nurse shark which lives at the end of the jetty. (The jetty is a great place to jump off of with a friend at night and just tread water and chat...if you have a friend so inclined). On one occasion, I was night snorkeling with a friend and we were waiting to climb onto the jetty, but had to wait for the boats to leave. We had arrived at a busy moment and there was oil in the water from one of the local's dhonis. We were feeling quite cross with oil burning and itching on our skin and faces. Just then, he aimed his flashlight below my feet and there was the 2 meter nurse shark sleeping not more than a meter below my feet. I shrugged, more concerned with the engine oil on my skin than with the shark.

We have an unusually large concentration of sharks around our islands (my two resorts). The sharks we have are mostly reef sharks- white tips, black tips and nurse sharks. We are in fact doing a study on the black tips to try and find out where they go after they reach about 2 meters. Sharks are disappearing all over the world and are expected to become extinct. An estimated 100 million sharks are killed every year, and we would like to protect them. They are beautiful creatures and I love watching the babies play in the waves at night. When snorkeling over the drop-off I almost always see a lone shark in the abyss. Usually they steer away from humans. Most of the ones I have seen are between 1 and 1.5 meter reef sharks. The nurse sharks are the bigger ones, but their bodies aren't great and hulking, but grey and sleek with a rather large tail. Sometimes I have even swum after sharks (to their mild distress), just for fun. Once while doing just that, I caught myself thinking, "Hmm. That's funny behaviour I'm exhibiting. Chasing sharks. Hmm...no fear."

Yesterday however, I came undone. You see, late last year the Discovery Channel did a special on Bull Sharks. Although a lesser known shark, they account for more of the shark attacks on humans than any other shark. They have been known to travel up to 3000 kilometers upriver- yes, in FRESH water! They also hunt in very shallow water. Now, the Discovery Channel was trying to prove how these sharks didn't attack men on purpose, but just because they mistook them for fish. If you didn't wear jewelry, didn't go in the water after dusk, perhaps wore gloves because they could mistake the white flashing of your hands for fish...you'd be fine. In one particular scene, the cameraman, the scientist and the interviewer were all standing in murky river water with 8 foot bull sharks swimming around them. The cameraman had a camera above and below the water. Suddenly, one of the sharks took a bite of the scientist! Granted, with all of that blood in the water, all three men could easily have been in great trouble, but the truth is that the sharks didn't seem especially interested in pursuing. Still, I wouldn't want to be "tasted" to see if I taste good. He lost his calf.

Yesterday I was snorkeling to a part of the reef I had never been to before but that had been highly recommended. I was in shallow water, no more than 1 meter deep and had just reached the first outlying coral gardens. Suddenly there was a massive shark in front of me. Snorkeling goggles make things appear 25% bigger, but this was STILL a big hulking shark! It was broader and bigger around than any shark I had seen here previously. 2-3 meters from me, the shark veered and circled, giving me a view of the rest of his/her body. They looked to be over 2 meters, and really big around, rather than like the slender sharks I knew.

My first thought was that this was an ocean shark that took a wrong turn and ended up in our lagoon! My second thought was what kind- I knew it wasn't a tiger shark...I couldn't help the next thought. "Bullshark". We don't have bullsharks in Maldives. "Bullshark." We don't have bullsharks in Maldives. He/she circled me. They looked like they were just beginning their hunting. It was about 6pm, an hour before sunset. They checked out the coral gardens, and circled me again. I laid still on the surface of the water. Although I knew that I was too big to register as food, I was worried about my skin flashing like fish. I knew there was a patch in midriff that was exposed. I wasn't even thinking about my anklet with shiny silver/black dangling crystals flashing in the sun!

I stood up to get a better look at him. Yup. Still huge. What were they doing in such shallow water? Just then I got a clear view of the dorsel fin and breathed a great sigh of relief. It had a black tip on it. It was a rare sighting of a very large reef shark. Knowing it was a reef shark brought such incredible relief. I looked up at shore and knew that despite the relief, I still wanted to get out of the water. The mental damage was done. I had spent a few minutes in the water alone with a potential hunting bullshark. Knowing it wasn't a bullshark couldn't erase those minutes of uncertainty.

Thinking on it afterwards, I think my fear came mostly from feeling claustrophobic with the shark. He was so big that I couldn't see his dorsel fin, cause it broke the surface so that he/she didn't scrape the bottom. If we had been in the deeper ocean, I would have been more understanding of why it was there. Also, I think it wouldn't have been so close to me. If I had been with someone else, it wouldn't have been as scary, because that would be two people with the knowledge that these sharks aren't going to hurt us, rather than one person with the imagination and memory of the Discovery Channel show on bull sharks.

To be alone with one's imagination is to be with the best or worst companion imaginable.