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Monday, April 22, 2013

S is for Shark Cage Diving


The movie "Jaws" came out in 1975. While having much success in the box office, it had quite an effect on society. It brought out a fear of sharks and the ocean. As someone who has spent a good portion of their life in and around the ocean, I feel much differently. Sharks are very much misunderstood and misrepresented. What better way to get to know them than to take a dip and see them up close. That is why S is for Shark Cage Diving.

After "Jaws" came out, there was mass hysteria every time there was a shark attack. The knee jerk reaction was to go out and kill as many sharks as we could hoping that one of them might be the so-called "man-eater". The fear of sharks and more so, the unknown, was great.

Image courtesy of biganimals.com
The reaction is still the same today whenever there is a shark attack. The days and weeks following, you will see many pictures of sharks hanging dead. While this may be comfort for some, there should be a different approach. I feel people should become more educated about them. Take a second and think about things. Sharks have been around millions of years compared to our thousands. They are a perfect example of evolution doing its job.

Shark cage diving is one of the newer trends. I have seen a number of sharks up close yet it is still one thing that is on my bucket list. It is one thing to see them from above the water while surfing but another entirely to be underwater with them, seeing them face to face. The most sought after shark would probably be the Great White simply because of its reputation (courtesy of "Jaws"). The best places for these would be off the coast of San Francisco or South Africa. For the less adventurous, I would recommend even going to a local aquarium to see leopard sharks, just as fascinating.

Image courtesy of Dive Discovery
I apologize if this sounded a little save the world-ish. I have been told I should be a PR person for sharks. The truth is that they are amazing creatures. 99% of the time an attack happens, they are merely "checking" to see if we are a seal. When they realize we aren't, they go away. Don't you check your meat before you eat it? Besides, if some stranger came into your house wearing a speedo, wouldn't you attack them too?


Aside: For anyone that hasn't seen "Jaws", please go watch it. I will admit it is a classic movie. It does a great job of capturing horror and suspense. While the book is loosely based on true events, it is in no way a true story. That would be like saying "The Ghost and the Darkness" is an accurate portrayal of lions (another good movie in my opinion). And if you still think all sharks are out to eat people, check out the video below:


GoPro: A Blonde and a Great White Shark from GoPro on Vimeo.

6 comments:

  1. You do indeed sound like the PR person for sharks..who ever said that is quite smart. And still, this sounds really crazy.

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  2. I love the sea just can't dive...little problem with claustrophobia! I'll just watch the video instead OK?

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    1. Haha. Fair enough. A love for the sea is a good compromise.

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  3. I still get goose bumps when I hear the theme song to Jaws!! Shark diving sounds an incredible experience, but not sure it's on my bucket list. I consider myself quite an adventurous person but being in the sea is something I'm not that comfortable with - the reason I've also never scuba dived. But maybe I should set myself a challenge...!

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    1. Thats too bad. Scuba diving is a very surreal experience. Even if it is not with sharks, just being underwater breathing, it sort of blows your mind. Some people have a hard time at first because they can not tell their mind to breath. I think it should be a challenge. If you don't want to get scuba certified, you can always try to find a Snuba tour. It is similar except the air tank is on a floaty above the water. You can't dive as deep but you still get the feeling of breathing underwater.

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  4. I've heard that a few years ago when all the shark attacks were in the news that statistically, there really weren't any more attacks that year than any other year. It was just the fad news story that year.

    I also want to go down in a shark cage. I would jump at the chance.

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