Diving with Oceanic White Tip Sharks
Diving with Oceanic
White Tip Sharks by Jeffrey "Hammerhead" Philips
Between the islands of Conception
and Cat in the southern Bahamas is a fishing area called the Tartar Banks. An
underwater mountain. Its peak comes to within seventy feet of the surface, the
base sitting in over a thousand feet of ocean. And from those depths, come the
big game fish and their predators.
The Oceanic White Tip shark
is considered the fourth most dangerous shark in the world. I won’t argue with
that. A lot of people are so terrified of sharks; they will not even put their
tippy toes into the surf or dive off a boat and enjoy the sea. Many think
sharks lurk near swimmers, waiting, waiting to chomp down on them. That’s not
true. What is true? More residents of New York City are bitten by their fellow
inhabitants in a single year than all of the recorded shark bites in history.
It’s not sharks I’m worried about, its people from New York.
These magnificent creatures
of the ocean are usually in the 7 to 10 foot range, although the day I dove
with them, a 12 footer checked me out. They have a grayish body with a white
under belly. The most distinguishing feature is the white tip on their dorsal
fin. Looks like someone scratched the color off it. And they weigh in at 350 to
400 pounds. Be careful swimming next to one. Anytime you are bumped by a 400
pound animal, you’re going to feel it.
Speaking of which, these
predators do like to play games. One is called, “Bump the Diver”. Usually, this
species of shark completely ignores divers. He just wants to be left alone and
swim through the warm tropical waters looking for his favorite entre, tuna. But
barracuda and white marlin are a nice break from time to time. But on a lazy
afternoon, what better way to pass the time than to play a game with new
friends. Whether you want to or not, they expect you to play the game. I’ve
seen a lot of divers leave the water after just one experience. Some with a
brown streak behind them.
If you don’t want bumped -
it’s not that much fun, believe me - then when the white tip gets to within 4
or 5 feet, turn and face him head on. This shark likes to approach from the
rear for a more dramatic encounter. Sure, sure, doing a stare down with a
creature that owns the ocean may seem not quite logical, stupid (?), but it
works.
Once he realizes you are not
going to let him bump you, he banks and passes over you. From this view point,
his white belly can be seen and how it blends in with the surface. This helps hide
him from the really bad boys of the deep blue sea, bigger sharks.
I’ve always enjoyed my
encounters with large fish. Each has their own purpose in life. Sharks are
scavengers, preying on the sick or dead fish. I’ve spent many hours in the
water, marveling at their sleekness, the ease with which they glide through the
water, their ability to bend their bodies in tight turns, and the gracefulness
of their bodies. Sharks are an endangered species, not mindless killing
machines as portrayed by Hollywood.
On
a full moon rising, Cassandra, a local radio personality awaiting contact with extraterrestrials,
disappears while diving on Jesse Stoker’s diesel-fuming scuba dive boat. Stoker
didn’t want to charter the boat to someone he considered a hoaxster, but with
the bank ready to repossess his vessel, he relents to her and her fans.
Cassandra’s body is found is found
three days later. The M.E. says she’s only been dead 5 hours. When the police
learn Stoker filled Cassandra’s tank before her dive and the M.E. gives cause
of death as “oxygen poisoning”, he becomes their prime suspect. Stoker has
never lost a diver before, doesn’t believe in alien abduction, and doesn’t
believe she just died.
Stoker has additional demons that
haunt him. The memory of his allegedly deceased wife, also a victim of a scuba
diving accident. A stripper, Jade, who needs protection from her abusive
husband. And now the wrongful death suit the radio station has brought against him
because of Cassandra’s death. To clear his name he must figure out where
Cassandra spent the missing days and find her killer.
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| Jeffrey "Hammerhead" Philips |
Jeffrey “Hammerhead” Philips has
brought forth the underwater world and the people whose lives are controlled by
the ocean to a one-of-a-kind mystery.
Links:
website: www.jeffreyphilips.com
Facebook: Please invite
people to "Friend" me. I am the Jeffrey Philips standing on the stern
of a boat in front of a yellow shark cage cutting bait.
Comments
I am glad that I came across this post.
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