SHARKS, FINALLY!

After many days of not being able to go to sea, we finally got to go!  The sea was still a bit rough though.  Everyone that knows me well knows that I get pretty severe motion sickness.  I can’t even watch an IMAX movie without getting dizzy!  So, what do I do?  I sign up for 3 weeks on a boat! Only me!

In an attempt to combat seasickness I purchased Scopolamine patches from my doctor.  Everyone swears by these. I applied the patch as directed, 4 hours prior to getting on the boat.  I also took  8mg of Ondanestron (an antiemetic) to combat any nausea I may have. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me.  I didn’t vomit but I didn’t feel great.  

Shark Team is the name of our boat and we take clients out to sea for their great white shark cage diving experience.  Normally there are two trips scheduled each day.  During the busy season they sometimes take three.  The boat can hold 20 clients/volunteers and 5 crew members.  So the number of clients booked each trip determines how many of our volunteers can go along.  Right now we have 10 volunteers and we take turns going out to sea.  Our job is help the clients with their life jackets and wet suits.  We answer questions for them.  We help load the boat and drop the anchor.  When we return from sea we have to wash all the wetsuits and hang them to dry to be ready for the next day. We make the chum and we actually get to do the chumming!   The chum is a mixture of a chopped up whole tuna, anchovy oil and mashed up sardines.  It didn’t smell as bad as I expected and really didn’t gross me out that much.  Chumming is actually a great job on the boat as it has one of the best viewing spots.

Shark Team

Wetsuits

The chum creates an oil slick that goes with the current.  It attracts the sharks to the boat.  Then we have the bait which is two large tuna heads attached to a rope.  There is one crew member designated to throw the bait out for the sharks. He stands on the boat just above the cage.  His iob is to try and lure the sharks towards the cage while attempting to keep them from stealing the bait!  Not easy! 

Bucket of Tuna heads

When we got to the dive site, about 3 miles off shore. We put the cage in the water and got the first group of divers ready to go.  The cage can hold six people at a time.  It didn’t take long before we saw our first shark. This shark was juvenile about 6 or 7 feet long.  So awesome to see!  

Dive site - 3 miles off shore

Waiting for sharks

First Shark!

I did manage to do some chumming before I felt too bad and had to sit down.  I did not actually vomit (probably due to the ondansetron) but it still wasn’t pretty.  The water visibility was pretty poor so I actually saw more from the boat than I would have seen in the cage.

Roger - Chum Master

After everyone had their shark fill we went back to shore, cleaned the boat and the wetsuits and then us :)

All the volunteers take turns making dinner for everyone.  Monday night was my turn so I made lasagna.  It turned out really well!  Even better than what I’ve made at home.  Either that or we were just really hungry so anything would have tasted great! 

I went on the boat yesterday (Tuesday) on the second trip.  I removed my Scopolamine patch after the first day because it didn’t work for me and I had some pretty bad side effects - blurred vision and really dry mouth.  Instead, I took two meclizine tablets and an ondansetron at 5am.  Then I took two Dramamine at 10:30am and 0.25mg of Alprazolam to help with the claustrophobia (maybe?).  That was my best feeling day at sea but I didn’t dive because we had so many clients and it was a really windy, cold day.  The water was rough.

I went to sea today (Wednesday) on the first trip and the water was really calm.  I was hoping for a good day but I felt just a tad seasick.  I didn’t take the alprazolam and I took one less meclizine.  I really need to find the right combination of drugs.  I still feel like I’m on the boat and I’ve been off it for 5 hours…….

We have seen sharks each day.  A couple good ones yesterday and today.  The only bad day is a day with no sharks!

Great White taking the bait!

Great White taking the bait

I did do most of the chumming today which is actually kind of fun. You put the chum in the water and immediately all these little fish come up and eat the tuna bits from the oil slick.  They look like piranhas in a feeding frenzy!  I had to mash up some sardines to add to the chum.  You take whole sardines and put them in a bucket and stomp them like grapes.  Just like making wine :)  After they are all smashed up you add them to the chum.  I really thought this would gross me out but I actually like it!  Good times, good times……

Fish feeding frenzy!

This is pretty much the drill everyday so I won’t post the same thing over and over.  I will just post stuff that is different or extra cool.   More to come......

“If I had a choice between walking along a sidewalk with no rails and a thousand foot drop, or jumping in a tank full of blood and sharks, I’d choose the sharks.” 
― Jarod Kintz