Today was an unforgettable day spent with folks who will be life long friends.
frogman_5 AKA Rich
Missdirected AKA Tracy
Lil' Sis AKA Carissa
CoolTech AKA Jim
TheCaptain AKA Dario
We divided into two groups to make sure the boat (Rich's) was adequately manned at all times. Rich, Tracy & Carissa were in one group while Jim, Dario & I were in the other. Arriving at the area near South Jack Wreck (off shore the Bradenton area), we dropped anchor and prepared to hit the water. Since Jim, Dario & I had set up our gear before we left the dock, we were designated as the first group in the water. I splashed first, followed quickly by Dario and Jim. While waiting for them to arrive, I looked around this beautiful blue water (about 80 feet of viz). Right below me, near the bottom, swimming slowly to the north was a Bull Shark I estimate to be about 8 - 10 feet in length. All three of us got a pretty good look at this magnificent creature as it reversed direction a couple times, finally going north as we moved south toward the wreck.
After swimming for way too long, we finally decided we'd missed the wreck. I kept checking in all directions hoping to see some evidence of the wreck, but only saw one small chunk of metal. We saw a couple large Barracuda (3 - 4 ft range) and lots of bait fish, but no further sign of the Bull. We closed up and signaled an ascent to eyeball the Irish Wake (Rich's boat) and see if we could determine our position relative to the wreck. Just before we began our ascent, we saw the same Bull (or one very similar) right below us. It circled a bit, then left.
Reaching the surface, Dario announced it was his first shark. We figured we were directly east of the wreck, signaled OK to the boat and dropped down for our westward swim. As we dropped, we discovered we had not one, but two Bull Sharks circling and crisscrossing around us at a depth of 15 - 20 feet. I flashed OK signals at both Dario & Jim, they both returned them. My thoughts at the time were that the sharks were too close and too aggressive, but we were probably OK for now, but unless they left us, we needed to leave the water.
We started our westward trek accompanied by the Bulls who were still too close for comfort. We circled a bit to keep them in sight and swam toward them when they got too close. They backed off and before long disappeared into the blue. We continued west alone for a few minutes with no shark coming within sight. We were all three looking in all directions as we swam.
Time for another position check. Looking below, I saw the Bulls closing in again. I waved the distress (come pick me up NOW!!!) signal to the boat and immediately dropped under to meet the approach of the sharks. Dario & Jim followed pretty quickly. We backed them off as we moved in the general direction of the boat. Again we were able to seemingly get them to leave, but after their history, I wasn't about to trust they'd actually left. Rising to the surface for a quick check to see how close the boat had come, I was surprised to see not only was it not moving, they weren't even pulling the anchor. I couldn't understand why as I was sure they had seen my signal. Jim and I were agreeing to forget about a pick up when I heard Dario very calmly say, "Shark's coming."
Ducking my head under, I, to my horror, saw one of the Bulls heading right at Jim and Dario, closing in rapidly from the rear in a 45° angle ascent. I began an immediate descent, swimming as quickly as I could right at the Bull. I felt helpless as this big Bull was a couple of seconds away from Jim and I was not close enough to block. I yelled "NO!!!!!!!" while continuing to charge the Bull. At that instant, the Bull turned 180° and swam away.
We coordinated our swim to the boat with no signals. Dario and I stayed below to watch for sharks and keep them away while Jim stayed at the surface and kept us headed the right direction. We did not see them return after the aborted charge.
Why didn't they pick us up? It seems Dario saw that Jim & I were calm and apparently unconcerned about the sharks, so he didn't feel threated. Right after I signaled distress, Dario signaled OK. He didn't see my signal. The guys on the boat were confused by the conflicting signals and were unsure of what to do. They were also confused by us surfacing and immediately descending.
frogman_5 AKA Rich
Missdirected AKA Tracy
Lil' Sis AKA Carissa
CoolTech AKA Jim
TheCaptain AKA Dario
We divided into two groups to make sure the boat (Rich's) was adequately manned at all times. Rich, Tracy & Carissa were in one group while Jim, Dario & I were in the other. Arriving at the area near South Jack Wreck (off shore the Bradenton area), we dropped anchor and prepared to hit the water. Since Jim, Dario & I had set up our gear before we left the dock, we were designated as the first group in the water. I splashed first, followed quickly by Dario and Jim. While waiting for them to arrive, I looked around this beautiful blue water (about 80 feet of viz). Right below me, near the bottom, swimming slowly to the north was a Bull Shark I estimate to be about 8 - 10 feet in length. All three of us got a pretty good look at this magnificent creature as it reversed direction a couple times, finally going north as we moved south toward the wreck.
After swimming for way too long, we finally decided we'd missed the wreck. I kept checking in all directions hoping to see some evidence of the wreck, but only saw one small chunk of metal. We saw a couple large Barracuda (3 - 4 ft range) and lots of bait fish, but no further sign of the Bull. We closed up and signaled an ascent to eyeball the Irish Wake (Rich's boat) and see if we could determine our position relative to the wreck. Just before we began our ascent, we saw the same Bull (or one very similar) right below us. It circled a bit, then left.
Reaching the surface, Dario announced it was his first shark. We figured we were directly east of the wreck, signaled OK to the boat and dropped down for our westward swim. As we dropped, we discovered we had not one, but two Bull Sharks circling and crisscrossing around us at a depth of 15 - 20 feet. I flashed OK signals at both Dario & Jim, they both returned them. My thoughts at the time were that the sharks were too close and too aggressive, but we were probably OK for now, but unless they left us, we needed to leave the water.
We started our westward trek accompanied by the Bulls who were still too close for comfort. We circled a bit to keep them in sight and swam toward them when they got too close. They backed off and before long disappeared into the blue. We continued west alone for a few minutes with no shark coming within sight. We were all three looking in all directions as we swam.
Time for another position check. Looking below, I saw the Bulls closing in again. I waved the distress (come pick me up NOW!!!) signal to the boat and immediately dropped under to meet the approach of the sharks. Dario & Jim followed pretty quickly. We backed them off as we moved in the general direction of the boat. Again we were able to seemingly get them to leave, but after their history, I wasn't about to trust they'd actually left. Rising to the surface for a quick check to see how close the boat had come, I was surprised to see not only was it not moving, they weren't even pulling the anchor. I couldn't understand why as I was sure they had seen my signal. Jim and I were agreeing to forget about a pick up when I heard Dario very calmly say, "Shark's coming."
Ducking my head under, I, to my horror, saw one of the Bulls heading right at Jim and Dario, closing in rapidly from the rear in a 45° angle ascent. I began an immediate descent, swimming as quickly as I could right at the Bull. I felt helpless as this big Bull was a couple of seconds away from Jim and I was not close enough to block. I yelled "NO!!!!!!!" while continuing to charge the Bull. At that instant, the Bull turned 180° and swam away.
We coordinated our swim to the boat with no signals. Dario and I stayed below to watch for sharks and keep them away while Jim stayed at the surface and kept us headed the right direction. We did not see them return after the aborted charge.
Why didn't they pick us up? It seems Dario saw that Jim & I were calm and apparently unconcerned about the sharks, so he didn't feel threated. Right after I signaled distress, Dario signaled OK. He didn't see my signal. The guys on the boat were confused by the conflicting signals and were unsure of what to do. They were also confused by us surfacing and immediately descending.
