Susan Cocking, a reporter for the Miami Herald came out with us to visit the Great White Sharks of Isla Guadalupe She has written this excellent article about her experience with our toothy friends at the island.
Like most of our divers, Susan had an expectation what it would be like to come face to face with a Great White Shark. She was expecting a "giant, fearsome creature" that she had traveled thousands of miles to see. When a 16.5 ft shark, named Jaques in our photo database, approached the cage, her reaction was different than expected. "Instead of cowering back behind the bars, my three companions and I
waved, banged and stomped to attract his attention, and readied our
underwater cameras"
Her reaction to encountering a Great White Shark at close range the first time is actually quite common. We are so used to thinking that these sharks are mindless killers with dead black eyes. Instead of trying to bite her, Susan discovered that these magnificent creature "meandered to within about eight feet of us and cruised the length of the
cage, seeming to stare at each of us in turn with its blue/black eye"
I'm glad that Susan had a chance to come out with us and experience first hand how our toothy friends really are. Since the sharks get so much bad press, Shark Diver is happy to be able to allow reporters like Susan to find out what they really are like and share their experience with their readers.
Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO
Shark Diver
About Shark Diver.
As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.