Featured Image Credit:Adventure In You
Last month, four divers off the coast of Mexico had literally the scariest shark experience ever. To put it politely, if we were in this situation, we would need to see our mommies… and a new pair of shorts ASAP.
The team from Bluewater Travel Guadalupe headed off shore for their 2nd annual dive trip. The divers were obviously anticipating an exciting experience, but what they didn’t know is that they were about to have a nightmare experience.
The remote island is an awesome location for witnessing great white sharks because of the clear blue waters. Aboard the Nautilus Explorer there are two 35-foot submersible cages and 3 surface cages, which make for quite the up close and personal experience. This year the boat also got approved for “wrangling.” These pre-approved permits allow the crew to submerse chum bags, filled with tuna and other tasty treats, in the water. Pulling the bait bags through the water and back towards the boat sets the stage for those gnarly open-mouth shots. It is important to note that the sharks are never actually fed from the chum bags.
According to Katie Yonker, the operation director for Bluewater Travel, day one set some records over the previous yer. Instead of seeing only 2 or 3 sharks, they were witnessing 7 or more sharks at once. The much larger females also decided to grace the group with their presence this year.
Day two is when the real action happened. Around 3:30pm the 4 divers, Katie Yonker, Katie B., David, and Yann the dive master, climbed into the submersible cage and they were lowered. The dive was going swimmingly, per usual, when a 13 to 15 foot shark started prodding the cage. Yann nudged away the female shark, but was quickly followed with an explosion of bubbles from the emergency air supply. The shark accidentally severed the hose that runs from the surface. Here comes trouble…
Thankfully, Yonker and the other two divers did not lose their air supply. However, Yann, who is the experienced diver, noticed his regulator was no longer working, so he swam down and turned on the secondary valve. Problem solved. Right?
Wrong. The great white shark then attempted to enter from the top by jamming her body through the cage, which caused her to become stuck between the bars. Yonker recalled that “the cage at one point was at a 45-degree angle due to the shark’s thrashing.” The sharks commotion also knocked Yann’s regulator out of his mouth, forcing him to swim to the surface and signal to the crew to pull up the cage.
Lacking clear visibility from the air bubbles, the chum bag’s bloody cloud, and not to mention the huge shark that was also obstructing their view, the four managed to escape. The group was a little disoriented, but they were unscathed by the incident. Actually, Yonker mentions that she was more worried about the shark’s well-being. After all, this was not a shark attack because the instinctive animal was enticed by the yummy smelling tuna, rather than the humans.
The crew aboard the Nautilus Explorer deserves a huge pat on the back, not only for saving the lives of the divers, but also that of the shark. They were able to free the lady shark from the cage by tying a rope around her tail, pressing on her gills that were smashed against the bars, and gently pulling her backwards.
Katie Yonker ended her story by saying, “For better or worse, this trip was an experience that I will never forget. Thanks to everyone on the Nautilus Explorer for some amazing memories, and enabling us to live to tell the tale!”