Dude I saw a fucking bull shark in the Bahamas in this way, murdering a pretty big fish, did the same thing, but then found out 3 people had been attacked in that reef recently. And all I can say was thank god my brother in law, who doesn’t respect my shark fear, saw it and said, let’s get away from here, OR NO ONE WOULD HAVE BELIEVED ME EITHER.
I’m sure I would freak if I spotted a shark unintentionally while snorkeling in the wild, but my family and I did a cage free shark tour off the north shore of Oahu two years ago to intentionally seek them out. This is not something I would typically do, but it was a bucket list item for my teenage daughter, so I went.
You get ferried about 3 miles offshore to an area where sharks are known to frequent. Typically people see lots of small species on the 45-minute open water swim, except when a tiger shark is present. Their reputation as the garbage men of the sea, eating anything, apparently scares a lot of marine life away. They’re seen about once a month, and there happened to be one spotted right before we went out on the water, so everyone on the tour was getting excited. As a sort of delayed processor, I had no idea what to make of this news. Until this point, a shark was a shark to me. I wasn’t expecting to be super comfortable with any of them.
The only safety advice I remember was to stay together and near the rope tied to our boat. Not a problem for me! Once we got out there in the water, there was nothing. No fish, no little sharks, no tiger shark. Time was running out. I started thinking it was going to be a complete bust and was feeling a weird mixture of disappointment and relief. And then we spotted it in the distance. About 6 feet long, a young one. I gripped the rope but held my position, not daring to make a sudden movement. It came closer but not too close and then it disappeared.
Now, I think it was an awesome experience. I got up close with an animal most people will never encounter, and I probably won’t ever again.
I loved reading this!! I am in the crowd that would have thought the shark was amazing, but my 10-year-old had a meltdown when we went snorkeling last year in Hawaii because he could SEE the sea urchins all over the coral and rocks and was terrified, so I totally get being in either one camp or the other. (I later took him to an aquarium that had a touch pond and there were urchins there, so hopefully he's less scared of them now? Who knows.)
Not to make light of your fear, but the way you told the story totally made me think of the scene in Couples Retreat with Vince Vaughn and the shark. 🤣 Glad you were safe. I’m one of those people that would be bummed I missed seeing the shark.
Clearly I have to watch the movie! Someone just forwarded me a video of John Krasinski talking about seeing a reef shark while scuba diving with Emily Blunt and she passed out. He also says that reef sharks are like central casting for Jaws so I feel validated about that!
We had a family trip to the Bahamas in July. Swimming with the sting rays was my favorite activity and swimming with (nurse) sharks was my teenager’s favorite. We were with friends and one of them was terrified of sharks and had also been spending all kinds of time watching “for you” shark content. She bought the family some shark repellant anklets. 🤣 Glad you survived. Bull sharks are no joke!
*Edited to add the right handle of the photographer 😅*
So I live in Florida near the beach and we are very much beach bums. Please check out @anotherfletch on Instagram. He’s a local photographer that does regular “how close were you to a shark without knowing it today” posts. It’s beautiful and wild! We are in the water all of the time and it is almost always crystal clear and I’ve never seen a shark here in 20 years! Now when we go to the Keys - we always at least encounter nurse sharks while we’re snorkeling.
Equal parts of terrifying and awesomeness. I probably would've peed a little, but also would've stayed in the water - after I knew the shark had moved on. I also would've been way more hyper-aware.
great story. I liked it. I too am a sustacker writing on life on an island and other weird stuff. Key West, Florida in the 70s the epicenter of ????
I have left comments before on many posts but have never pitched my site. Truly.
If interested "search salty old beachcomber" Oh never wear a regular type life preserver while snorkeling UNLESS it is the type that inflates on demand.
I LOL’d at every “fucking shark” 🤣
Same. It was hilarious.
I did too 😁
They are no longer sharks. From now on, fucking sharks only 😂
Dude I saw a fucking bull shark in the Bahamas in this way, murdering a pretty big fish, did the same thing, but then found out 3 people had been attacked in that reef recently. And all I can say was thank god my brother in law, who doesn’t respect my shark fear, saw it and said, let’s get away from here, OR NO ONE WOULD HAVE BELIEVED ME EITHER.
I’m sure I would freak if I spotted a shark unintentionally while snorkeling in the wild, but my family and I did a cage free shark tour off the north shore of Oahu two years ago to intentionally seek them out. This is not something I would typically do, but it was a bucket list item for my teenage daughter, so I went.
You get ferried about 3 miles offshore to an area where sharks are known to frequent. Typically people see lots of small species on the 45-minute open water swim, except when a tiger shark is present. Their reputation as the garbage men of the sea, eating anything, apparently scares a lot of marine life away. They’re seen about once a month, and there happened to be one spotted right before we went out on the water, so everyone on the tour was getting excited. As a sort of delayed processor, I had no idea what to make of this news. Until this point, a shark was a shark to me. I wasn’t expecting to be super comfortable with any of them.
The only safety advice I remember was to stay together and near the rope tied to our boat. Not a problem for me! Once we got out there in the water, there was nothing. No fish, no little sharks, no tiger shark. Time was running out. I started thinking it was going to be a complete bust and was feeling a weird mixture of disappointment and relief. And then we spotted it in the distance. About 6 feet long, a young one. I gripped the rope but held my position, not daring to make a sudden movement. It came closer but not too close and then it disappeared.
Now, I think it was an awesome experience. I got up close with an animal most people will never encounter, and I probably won’t ever again.
I loved reading this!! I am in the crowd that would have thought the shark was amazing, but my 10-year-old had a meltdown when we went snorkeling last year in Hawaii because he could SEE the sea urchins all over the coral and rocks and was terrified, so I totally get being in either one camp or the other. (I later took him to an aquarium that had a touch pond and there were urchins there, so hopefully he's less scared of them now? Who knows.)
I had an experience where my leg touched coral by accident and got all bloody so I am super scared of getting to close to coral too!
Not to make light of your fear, but the way you told the story totally made me think of the scene in Couples Retreat with Vince Vaughn and the shark. 🤣 Glad you were safe. I’m one of those people that would be bummed I missed seeing the shark.
Clearly I have to watch the movie! Someone just forwarded me a video of John Krasinski talking about seeing a reef shark while scuba diving with Emily Blunt and she passed out. He also says that reef sharks are like central casting for Jaws so I feel validated about that!
Hilarious but also terrifying. Big nope for me.
We had a family trip to the Bahamas in July. Swimming with the sting rays was my favorite activity and swimming with (nurse) sharks was my teenager’s favorite. We were with friends and one of them was terrified of sharks and had also been spending all kinds of time watching “for you” shark content. She bought the family some shark repellant anklets. 🤣 Glad you survived. Bull sharks are no joke!
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL ...LOL
*Edited to add the right handle of the photographer 😅*
So I live in Florida near the beach and we are very much beach bums. Please check out @anotherfletch on Instagram. He’s a local photographer that does regular “how close were you to a shark without knowing it today” posts. It’s beautiful and wild! We are in the water all of the time and it is almost always crystal clear and I’ve never seen a shark here in 20 years! Now when we go to the Keys - we always at least encounter nurse sharks while we’re snorkeling.
That entire thing is insane!!
Equal parts of terrifying and awesomeness. I probably would've peed a little, but also would've stayed in the water - after I knew the shark had moved on. I also would've been way more hyper-aware.
But wouldn't you think that the shark probably has friends?
great story. I liked it. I too am a sustacker writing on life on an island and other weird stuff. Key West, Florida in the 70s the epicenter of ????
I have left comments before on many posts but have never pitched my site. Truly.
If interested "search salty old beachcomber" Oh never wear a regular type life preserver while snorkeling UNLESS it is the type that inflates on demand.
Again very cool story
You’re such a talented writer--I enjoyed reading about your frightening experience, odd as that sounds. 🤣
This is a beautifully told terrifying story; with a happy ending. I loved it!!
Would have probably fainted. Omg. And i was a lifeguard when i was younger!