Some people may say I’m a Dare Devil Diva, but I just happen to love the ocean, and I feel comfort and bliss under the deep blue sea.
Many people may be afraid of the ocean because of what lies under the sea, but if you know your surroundings and understand ocean life, then you wont be afraid. I’m actually more afraid of snorkeling on top of the water, then actually being underwater scuba diving face to face with a shark. Most sharks are scavengers so if they see something splashing about on top of the oceans service, they think its a animal in distress. When your underwater scuba diving, they will not mess with you, there actually more afraid of you then you are of them.
Not to say I’m still not cautious of them when they come up to me, I still will cross my arms close to my body, just to be on the safe side. I have learned so much about Sharks over the years, and have grown a appreciation and respect for them.
I started swimming with sharks at a very young age of 7 years old, with my Mother in La Jolla, CA. Every Summer our family would travel and stay in La Jolla to beat the Palm Springs heat of August & September, during that time is the breeding time for many shark species such as; Leopard Sharks, White Tip Sharks, Black Tip Sharks and my favorite; Nurse Sharks. My Mom & I would go into the shallow ocean waters, while she held my hand and we would be swimming with hundreds of sharks. As a child I was so fascinated with all these creatures swimming around me. I would be laughing the whole time while they would constantly bump into me, and when I would look up into the distance I would see beautiful Leopard Sharks through the crashing waves. My favorite shark is the Nurse Shark, because they are actually really docile, they are the only shark that raises their young, those were the ones that I would sometimes pet. Obviously my Mom, would supervise making sure I only pet the top of there bodies, making sure my hands didn’t go anywhere near their mouth because after all they still have teeth and you need to be extra cautious.
So ever since I was a child I was exposed to sharks, great big and small, which I guess gave me a assurance that the ocean was a beautiful place, and not to be afraid of anything.
After all fear is just something in your mind!
Fast forward I got my scuba certification in Cebu, Philippines in 2008 and I have been avidly scuba diving ever since. I was so excited that I recently was able to go cave diving with sharks in Maui, Hawaii with my boyfriend Christopher. It was so amazing to go into these dark caves with just a flash light and watch sharks swimming into the black abyss. Here is a few images from my cave diving with the sharks.
One of my favorite pictures, flashing our light from inside the cave, there in the distance a shadow of a shark.
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