“You’re gonna need a bigger boat!”
This is One of my favorites
This shot is from Florida Shark Diving, but it is my edit of the image.
I was truly blessed this day, my biggest dream came true. To swim with the most beautiful apex creature of the deep, obviously my opinion. I would snuggle up to one if someone would just let me! They’re so neat!
Can you believe I was within inches of what most people consider the most dangerous and scary creature on the planet?! That’s crazy! I consider them sweet misunderstood puppy dogs.
“Sharks are beautiful animals, and if you’re lucky enough to see lots of them, that means that you’re in a healthy ocean. You should be afraid if you are in the ocean and don’t see sharks.”
People think sharks are scary but here’s the thing; there were 129 sharks attacks last year, worldwide. 39 of those were provoked, can you believe that?! A human started that fight intentionally! How many died you ask? Welp, 13. 13 sharks killed humans in 2020. That might seem like a lot but more people died from a cow; on average 20 a year. Oh! Or choking. Just in the U.S. alone in 2019 5,228 people choked to death. Car accidents caused 16,650 deaths! What I’m trying to say is, you’re more likely to die or be injured by just about anything else, than be bit or die from a shark attack! Those are neat odds considering you probably get in a car everyday! And you know what that means? Swimming with these amazing creatures isn’t nearly as unsafe as getting into that car, and we do that with ease. Why? Because we do it often, we’ve become comfortable!
Fun Fact!
Humans kill over 100 million sharks a year! Demand for shark fins, bycatch from commercial fisheries, overfishing generally, and global habitat destruction all attribute to the decrease in shark population.
Extra Fun Fact!
Finning is the act of which fisherman slice just the fins from the shark, often throwing the still alive shark back into the water to bleed out and suffocate. It’s gruesome.
by “fun Fact” i DEFINITELY don’t mean fun. It’s more of a rhetorical comMent to get you to read the facts.
We got up early, got coffee, I put on my Clark LittleXHurley shark board shorts and we set off. We got to the marina early, it was a bit windy but a bright and sunny day. Our trip had been cancelled days before, so we were really hoping the weather would hold. We met the crew, Alex and Alexis. Both our shark safety divers, photographers, captain and first mate. Alex, the caption began taking the boat out and told us we might get a few splashes. Understatement of the century we would soon learn. Because of the wind, the waves right outside the marina rock walls were averaging between three to six feet! This man proceeded to put on a wet suit hoodie and zip it all the way up, then threw on some Back To The Future stylized sun-goggles(?) and sped the boat up. We were soaked by the time our thirty minute ride was done and we were sitting in crystal clear wavy waters.
Alexis jumped in the water in full wet suit with her Sony AR7III in what I assume an aqua tech housing, I can’t quiet remember. I was too excited that she had my soon to be upgrade and that bonded us for life. (Also, Alexis if you’re reading this, love the photos. Hope you approve of my murky edits on your crispy captures.) Captain Alex asked who wanted to go first, obviously I jumped up in an excited stupor at an opportunity to be alone in the water first with some fins. Boy oh boy. Was this an experience!
All the photographs were shot by Alexis with Florida Shark Diving. I did slap a murky edit on myself though! If you’d like to see more from her or FSD check Instagram
@aflatteron @floridasharkdiving
What an amazing group and can’t wait to go with them again! If your interested for you and some friends to have an experience of a lifetime, follow the link below.
Happy Swimming!