How I Picked, The Perfect Shot

I was talking with some buddies of mine about how we should go out into the ocean to find real sharks to take pictures with. One of my buddies laughed at me and thought I was crazy.

On the other hand, my second buddy suggested that we all go for the fun of it. All we do is work and drink cheap beer at the bar so a change of pace was not all too bad to say for the least.

After closing my tab at the bar. I desperately looked up ocean deep diving tours that would allow the three of us to enjoy our time, all the while being safe out at sea. I found a rather interesting article online that talked about the dangers of deep diving with sharks, however, I simply ignored it. I mean, how bad can diving with sharks really be? Am I right?

About two weeks later when the three of us had proper leave time from work. We went about paying experienced deep divers that had their own boat and diving cage to spare for when people like my buddies and I want to go swimming with the sharks.

The three of us arrived with our own swim gear, but without any oxygen tanks. With some fortune, the people on board had a spare diving tank meaning that we could only go one at a time with the two deep divers.

These deep divers were a lovely and experienced couple who had been doing this for years they said, years. Anyways, at first I was a little skeptical because the couple seemed a bit jittery with their personas, but I did not want let their actions or mannerism dictate the great time that I wanted to have.

The couple sat in the front of the boat talking a lot about random nonsense. So, I turned my attention to my two buddies and to my surprise, my crazy friend Rick was gagging over the side of the boat, while the more humble and astute Alex was reading a book of all things.

"Hey, Alex, don't you think your book is going to get soaked? The waves are crazy today.," I said.

"Well, I suppose, but to be frank. This is a very common book that I am reading, so, I can easily buy another copy for a few bucks.," said Alex. I agreed with what he said and continued about watching the waves of the sea. In the distance I saw a huge shark jump out of the water to try and catch some seagulls flying low to catch some fish to eat. I looked at the cycle of sea life in front of me, and I could not help the fact that the shark almost seemed like the apex predator of the sea. However, the reality is that human's are the most dangerous creatures on the planet. I sighed and looked at the starboard view of the ship to see dolphins and other sea life jump out of the way of the boat's path.

"Okay y'all, we're here!," said the driver of the boat.

"Alright, my lovely husband and I are going to take one at a time inside of the shark cage, so who want's to go first?," said the other guy sitting in the passengers seat. They looked over at Rick and he was still gagging off the side of the ship, and Alex would not compute until he was done his book. So, I volunteered to be first. The two men smiled and helped me equip the gear properly. Rick finally had his stomach under control and peered at me in the full diving suit.

"Woah man, oh man! That suit looks sick Ray! You look like a character from a video game or something, *pew**pew**pew*!," said Rick. I laughed at Rick's animated personality and turned to the side to prepare to jump in the cage with one of the professional divers with us.

"Hey man, I am going to be honest, but I am not going to go swimming with the sharks, I am just here to make sure the both of you don't get hurt man.," said Alex. I chuckled and then thanked Alex for his sincerity. I imbued myself with determination and then I dove down. I saw the entrance to the cage and the other diver in it just a couple feet below the ship. I swam to the entrance and then closed the door. The diver next to me pointed in the opposite direction of where I was facing. I turned around and saw a shark right in my face. I jumped a bit, but then I realized that the shark can not hurt me if I am in the cage. I also figured that if I chose to be docile and not freak out, then the shark would not have any fear to sense.

So, I looked the shark in the eye and then I rubbed its nose a bit before it swam away. I was confused because I thought sharks were a little more tough than that. Maybe my cinema perception of sharks were wrong all this time, because the reality is that all animals are more afraid of us, then we are of them.

I turned back to the professional that was in the cage with me and I gave him a thumbs up to be friendly. The professional gave me a thumbs up back, but then the look on his face changed. I could not tell why he was frightened until the cage started to rock and jolt multiple times. To my surprise, it was the shark that I had saw in the distance from earlier. I knew that beast was big from far away, and not up close it looked bigger than a killer whale. The shark kept banging on the cage over and over again.

The professional was all ready to go, so, he tried to tug on the rope that was connected to the ship, but because the shark's attacks had the cage sinking below the level we were supposed to be at, he could not properly signal his partner. We were stuck about 15 feet below the boat with shark that was about 30 feet long. I thought about our only option. I turned to the professional and made opening gestures with my hands and the guy waved his arms saying no as best as he could. I was not one who listens well to others, it's the whole reason why my buddies work for me full-time. I opened the cage and swam as fast as I could to lure the shark away from the cage. The professional used this opportunity to swim to the surface.

15 feet below the boat, was just me and the shark. The 30 foot monster swam around me multiple times, testing my tenacity. Not once did I show the monster fear, and finally it came swimming directly at me. I put my hand up to stop the monster, but there was no use. The shark went to bite my hand and swiped my hand away almost as if I was in a cage with a raging bull. Again and again I dodged the shark by swimming out of the way as best as I could. I soon noticed that there were scratches on my arms, and soon the blood lust of the shark kicked in and it began to move faster. With every dodge I made sure to work my way up to the surface slowly. About 5-10 feet to the surface, a heavy rope was chucked into the water for me to grab on. I grabbed the rope and instantly felt myself being pulled.

The shark made one final attempt to try and hurt me as I was out of the water. The shark came closer and closer as it swam upward to try and get me one, last, time. I closed my eyes and prayed to God for forgiveness.

"I am sorry.," I said to the creature as I cracked a punch to it's nose. The creature flopped up side down while in mid air and fell back into the water. I noticed it regained it's balance and swam away. I was relieved that the creature was not hurt too bad.

I was pulled on to the ship and the couple and my buddies all let go of the rope and came to see if I was okay. I smiled and put a thumbs up, and then I passed out due to shock from the many cuts I had on my arms from the shark attack.

I wanted to believe that all sharks were not scary, but to be frank, not everyone gets to have a good experience when it comes to swimming with the sharks.