I woke up early as usual and quietly got my gear together - my room mate, whom I had met on the bus on the way to Sydney, had been sick on the bus to the resort and had not slept much.
When I was done, I figured I still had some time on my hands before breakfast, so I went in search of the elusive internet. I'd been told that I needed to purchase a card to use the computers here. I asked at the front desk thinking that I would have ample time to at least send word of my safe arrival, before breakfast.
I learned that we don't do things quickly in Fiji. Buying a $12/h internet card took 15 min. Alas that meant no internet time for me, no news for you. Time for breakfast...and then to the boats!
I shan't give you the play-by-play of breakfast (buffet, pretty good), or of the bus ride across the street (literally) to the dive shop (in fairness we all did have a lot of stuff to carry), or of the administration of getting ready to board the boats....except maybe to say that getting into a neoprene wetsuit, when it's hot and humid and your skin is clammy...well, it's not pleasant. Let's get to the good stuff.
The boat took us out about 30 min from shore, to a place they call "the Bistro". We drop in, the water is a comfortable 26 degrees. "Why do you need a wetsuit then?" I hear you ask. Well, underwater your skin, anything pale in colour, looks remarkably like the white belly of a fish. Would you want to look like anything resembling a fish near a shark? No exposed skin is the rule.
We drop to 28m. On the way down we see thousands of hand sized fish flitting about, mostly Sergent - Majors - black and white striped fish, but there are also Moorish Idols and ....geez I really gotta learn the names of more fish!
Then we start to see what we came for, the smooth graceful moves of sharks. At first we see smaller Black Tip Reef sharks, they're about 2 meters long, thin and sleek. Then we see the slightly larger Tawny Nurse sharks with their small mouths and Fu-Manchu mustaches, they are bottom feeders and use their mouths to suck their food out of hiding places instead of chasing it like their other brothers. Lastly, we see the Bull sharks. They are bigger again about 3-5 meters. They're not lean and sleek like the others, they look like the have a hump on their backs and are more barrel chested. And their teeth...jaggedly sticking out in at odd angles. They have a reputation of being mindlessly aggressive. But we don't see that. They check you out as they pass with their strangely cold white eyes.
They are magnificent. We are all mesmerized.
Soon I begin to notice something. One of the Bull sharks has this weird growth on the side of his mouth: its an old hook. His body has tried to incorporate it into its body somehow. There's also a Nurse shark with a big hook through it's nostril - a gross parody of our piercing culture. Yet another trails a long line behind it, the hook still embedded in it's body somewhere. Many have damage to their fins - from fighting with fishing lines, reckons our guide.
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| Not my photo - someone else from the group took this one |
The dive leader tells us later that when she first arrived at the Bistro she had a hook in her mouth. It was fairly new so they decided to take it out...VERY carefully (don't try this at home, kids). Her dorsal fin is missing a fair chunk and looks quite ratty. She may have won the fight with the fisherman, but she now has a permanent reminders of the altercation - just like the others. They have named her Survior.
Too soon the fish heads that the guides have been handing out to attract the sharks are done. The sharks disperse, and it's time for us to leave. None of us wants to, but we will soon be back. Just an hour at the surface.
The hour passes quickly. We are told about the various sharks we saw. We are told some stories about the characters that some of them have - There's even a "special needs" shark who is a bit of spaz. They tell us of the hierarchy in the species that we saw in action moments before. They also tell us that the marine fee we pay goes directly to the village that tends this section of the reef. If there are poachers - the villagers take care of it. The tuna industry that once was a big money maker here nearly wiped out life on the reef here. When the dive operator first approached the village elders with his idea to re-generate the reef by protecting this area and bringing tourist dollars to help, the elders thought he was mad. "You think people will pay you to swim with sharks? We won't have to pay them??"
The plan seems to be working.
We don't do as deep this second time, only 18m. Again we're mesmerized by these amazing creatures. They've seen their fair share of humans and they like to swim right up to you to size you up....actually they just want to know if you have any fish heads. Not a good idea to reach out and touch one even if they are so close...the shark feeders also hold out their hands, but they have fish heads - you don't. You really don't want to be mistaken for one of those guys.
Once in a while I'd look up and behind me and once in a while I'd see one swimming just above me or behind me. What a privilege I have to be able to do this.
Again the fish heads are gone too quickly, and the sharks disperse. There's a shipwreck nearby and we go for a closer look since we still have air left (air = time) to explore.
I discover this relatively flat bit where the coral has started to grow. This area is teaming with baby coral fish - it's like Finding Nemo...without the clown fish (didn't see any of those). They were so cute!!
I also saw my first moray eel - his head was the size of both my hands together. They aren't very attractive. Those things freak me out more than the sharks.
Too soon it's time to come up again...to a torrential down pour - at least we won't need a shower!!
By the time we reach shore its beautiful and sunny once again. Gotta love the tropics for that!
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