VIDEO!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWYhIFK9vrc
Let me start off by saying this was possibly the coolest thing I have ever done. Any bucket list must add dive with great white sharks.
The trip started on Saturday at 5:30 in the morning. I got to watch a beautiful sunrise and fairy meadow beach, then I was off to the airport. I flew from Sydney to Adelaide. Conveniently, my plane landed late and since I am a baby adult, I booked my connecting flight too close. Even after sprinting through the airport like an idiot, I got to the gate only to hear that I had just missed it, Shit. Luckily I was able to sweet talk the lovely lady behind the desk into helping me out. She set me up on a later flight for free (thank god). Three hours later I was finally off to Port Lincoln. There I met up with my friend Isak and we headed to our HOTEL. Thats right, not cheap hostel for this trip. We actually had our own room, bathroom, and fridge. Talk about high class living. Day one was complete.
The morning started again before the sun rose. Within two minutes of arising from my slumber, blood started pouring out of my nose, a was a clear sign that many sharks would be seen. Upon arrival at the boat, we headed on a two and a half hour journey to the Neptune Islands. The ride was anything but smooth proved by the girl that I witnesses puking all over the deck. Luckily we made it with only the once mishap, which I'm sure only quickened the arrival of the whites. The cove we pulled into was surrounded by small green shrubs and the banks were full of innocent seal pups. This place was a shark's paradise. After the tour we anchored near the middle of the inlet and the cage was released into the water. It was time for the main event. Blood and chum were dumped all around the boat. Tuna gills and guts were tied to buoys and thrown out into the water. The theme of Jaws echoed in the cool morning air. I peered over the side of the ship. There it was; the king of the ocean. Holy mother of god are these things big. Soon one appeared, then another, then another. Three of them circled round the ship attacking the tuna lines as the skipper and deck hand yanked the lines as the giants attacked. I geared up to go down into the cage after the first group. The waters grew calm again as the bait was pulled in. I climbed down into the icy water. The combination of my buoyant wet suit and heavy weight belt made the cage feel like I was on the surface of the moon. Fish swarmed around the chum as the water again turned to a murky red. I breathed steadily. A large shadow approached. My heart raced. My breathing stopped. There the first one appeared. The rest of the 45 minutes in the cage were pretty much the same. Every time the sharks were close, I would forget to breathe. Four different sharks came around when were were down there. One of them was 5 and a half meters (18 feet). At some points I was literally a foot and half away from them. When our time was up it felt as if we had been down there for ten minutes. I climbed aboard only to find my nose bleeding again. Wonderful. At the end of the day we had seen a total of seven different whites, two of which were five and a half meters long (these only show up during june and july). It was an epic day that I will never forget. I can't wait to get this video up so you guys can see the beasts. None of the videos or pictures will do them true justice. When you are standing on the top deck looking into the ocean and one of these things shows up, you see how fucking big an 18 foot shark is. Breathtaking (as described).
Thanks for coming with me Isak. You made it a great trip buddy.
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