BY ZORAH BURRESS / Kalamalama Staff
Last weekend I went shark diving on the North Shore of Oahu. The experience showed me that sharks are a misunderstood species.
Over the years, movies and TV shows have portrayed sharks to be bloodthirsty predators. Although these animals might look “scary”, they are actually peaceful, beautiful creatures.
HOW I FOUND OUT ABOUT SHARK DIVING
Last year, all of my roommates went shark diving through a company called Hawaii Adventure Diving. Unfortunately at the time, I had a broken ankle.
With that being said, I obviously couldn’t join them in this experience. They raved about how cool it was and encouraged me to do it when my ankle was healed.
Thankfully, now my ankle is better, so I could look into diving. My friend and I found Hawaii Adventure Diving online and signed up.
Though it was a little bit pricey, it was so worth it.
HOW IT WORKS
When we arrived on the boat, the crew was super welcoming and nice. They made sure to run through all the safety precautions just in case anything happened. They made us feel very comfortable when approaching the anchor spot.
When we anchored the boat, they explained how usually there are fishing boats around the same area, and that’s why the sharks react to the sound of boat motors.
There were only four of us that were diving that day — me and my friend, and a couple from California. When we got into the water, it was amazing to see how deep we were. We were surrounded by different shades of blue in every single direction.
As the boat motor revved, the sharks started to appear from the dark blue below us. They were very curious about what we were doing in their home.
Galapagos sharks were the most common type of shark we saw that day, but occasionally a black tip would come to say hi as well. The sharks moved swiftly and peacefully through the water.
During the dive, we saw a total of 15-20 sharks, which is a lot, as the crew explained to us later.
I never once felt scared or threatened. Throughout it all, there was an amazing underwater photographer, Danny Mako, shooting pictures of us and the sharks. Danny is a well-known photographer in Hawaii so it was an honor to shoot with him.
Overall, this was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve done, and can not wait to do it again. Sharks are misunderstood in many ways, and to coexist with them is one step in the right direction to spreading awareness about these amazing creatures.
