While traveling around New Zealand, I fulfilled my big dream - diving with the star of Jaws and the most dangerous shark on the planet. White (man-eating) sharks in New Zealand sail from the southernmost tip of the South Island from the town of Bluff to the Steward Islands, where the females of this majestic shark come to give birth to their shark offspring. Among other things, Bluff is said to have the best oysters in the world.
First, a sightseeing cruise
In the morning, we leave the harbour in Bluff and have just one chocolate bar for breakfast , which turns out to be a fatal mistake. After an hour and a bit of sailing, we are within sight of the Steward Islands. The waves are cool so far, and hopefully it will stay that way. When we arrive at the site, there is already a boat waiting, which is also here for shark watching. We have an easier job, with one shark just surfacing as we anchor. Probably to say hello. It's stunning, everybody shouts a chorus of "Aah!
I'm excited as a kid, but I'm not exactly going underwater...
There's ten of us on the boat. It's a mix of American, Swedish, English, French, Canadian, New Zealander and me. I was expecting a slightly bigger boat, but we'll make it work. :)
photo: sharkexperience.co.nz
The cage starts to slowly sink into the water and the first to go are the guys with a diving license, including me, but for the first time in my life I'd rather not have a diving license. After all, these sharks are up to 5 meters long and weigh something around a ton. And let's face it, their reputation precedes them...
Attracting sharks to us is a bit of a strange feeling
Our guide today, Mike, who is also the owner of Shark Experince, tries to lure sharks in with ground up old tuna mixed with water and salt. This horrible smelling cocktail pours into the sea every 15 minutes from a barrel. It's said to be a guaranteed shark lure, along with the old tuna head, and ACDC music. He still occasionally smacks the boat with something for good measure... they call him an expert. It's really working and the shark is back...
photo: sharkexperience.co.nz
Here we go... the nervousness is too much to bear.
The first dive is really very nerve-wracking and full of emotion. After all, I've read up on great whites and they weren't exactly bedtime stories, so respect. We plunge into the very refreshing 14 degree water just as a female of about four feet swims past the cage. Twice she jumps right in front of the cage for bait - an old tuna head. The female continues to hang around and parade in front of the cage. Wow! It's an incredible spectacle... Up close, it seems even bigger and more majestic.
Mom was right, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Twenty-five minutes later, we're out of the water and we're excited but frozen like a pretzel. On deck we yell, show each other our best videos and get tea to warm us up. The waves slowly start to rise and my breakfast deficit starts to show. My stomach starts to swim a little.
The second dive at the same spot wasn't as adrenaline-pumping. We could only see the great white from a distance and after ten minutes I climb back up on the deck, which is rocking from side to side. Now I just have to. The first time I'm still hiding it in the toilet, but the second time I wouldn't have made it anyway and I'm using my sabre to feed the fish. The big ones don't seem to like it because they haven't appeared for a while.
The cage holder broke... and ?! We're going under the water!
We head to the second dive site with the half-woven cage on the stern of the boat. As the waves are really big, the 5 cm diameter steel cage holder breaks on the way. The guys on the boat fix it with some rope and keep going. But in a moment this rope also breaks and it looks like a big problem judging by Mike's dismay. So we slow down a bit and we reach the next location, where the boat we met in the morning is waiting again. The better part is that we are already "lured in".
No more than 4 in the cage and no one on the cage this time.
Mike gives us instructions. No more than four to a cage and no one to a cage. At the first location, we took normal photos on the cage from above. "Why?" one of my colleagues asked a bit stupidly. "Because our cage is broken!" which didn't exactly put us at ease, as we could only see two cables holding up the steel structure of the cage. But we went ahead anyway...
photo: sharkexperience.co.nz
Imagination works wonders
On our second dive we saw about five sharks in total.
As they swam past us, I thought to myself, now the line will fart and the cage will sink. There we would be, defenseless against this lord of the seas, face to face and without a cage. Fortunately, my fantasies stayed in my head and the closest the shark came was about half a meter to the cage, not crashing into the cage (like in my fantasies) and just watching us.
photo: sharkexperience.co.nz
After surfacing, I put on a functional t-shirt and a warm sweatshirt, but I was still shivering like a rattlesnake because fourteen degrees is fourteen degrees and the adrenaline had worn off too.
Was it worth it?
After lunch (I put off the world's best oysters until next time due to the state of my stomach) we slowly set sail back towards the Bluff. I reconsider my expectations and compare them with reality. The main difference I see is that I anticipated a long wait before the great white would be released to come in. Then I thought we'd swing into the cage, the shark would circle us twice and be gone. So all of this was a pleasant surprise because the shark was there almost all the time, hanging around us and the experience was all the more powerful for it.
After an hour of sailing we reach the Bluff, where we get a certificate from Mike that we survived and made it through the dive with the great white.
I paid $430 for this experience, which lasted about six hours, plus an extra $30 for the opportunity to film on a gopro camera. If I didn't have a diving license, I would have paid an extra $99.
Of course it was worth it! It was an unforgettable adventure.
Long after I returned, I was still filled with emotion and the rocking rhythms of the sea. I had fulfilled my big adventure dream. I still often reminisce and tell my friends about the rope that held the cage and the feeding for the fish.
If you ever have a trip to the Bluff, definitely take the plunge for a great white shark. It's worth it!
