Wow, where to begin....Thanks to all for your comments.
Tim: good to see you here, too. I am still planning to be on Maui July 19 through....will you be around? No snorklers in the full shot. There were some inside the crater and Whitey could have had its pick, but obviously it wasn't there to feed.
Michelle: Believe me, we had rubber necks. No one else from the boat was in the water with us and had no idea what was going on. If it came back I was planning on pointing at Blesi with one hand and rubbing my stomach with the other to sway its dinner choice. When we got on board, Blesi hand signaled to her husband that we had seen a large shark and one of the students said, "So you guys saw the 5 foot reef shark, too!" Didn't laugh then, but now....
By the way, for $5000 I will wear a rubber shark suit and swim around you in a heated pool humming the "Jaws" music!!!
David: If it wasn't meant to be wet they wouldn't call it...oh, you know what I mean. I really never considered it was a White at the time, just a large shark and part of the show...until I saw Blesi (Maui long-time resident and my mentor) hugging the rocks. That's when reality hit and the photography stopped.
Renee: I CANNOT tell you how intense that moment was...It had no fear. My cat gives me less eye-contact. It has been mentioned that it may not have been hungry, but I have never seen a show that featured GW's that were tired of eating. Who knows what made it leave...or what made it go to Maui.
Vladimir: My plan for next trip is to rub bacon grease all over my wet suit. I hear that will allow me to get closer.
Best to all of you...this is a great forum and I look forward to communicating with all of you again.
Jon