Guadalupe Island - August 2017

        Having grown up in New Jersey in the 80’s and 90’s, going “down the shore” with my family and friends during the hot, humid summer months was always an enjoyable pastime.  As a little kid, I was always fascinated by sharks and for no apparent reason that I can recall!  I was just intrigued and curious about these exquisite marine creatures that the common public thought of as terrifying man-eaters.  When not at the beach, I loved going to our local video store and renting all the movies in the JAWS franchise.  Despite what most people thought about sharks, I was never afraid of them and I never feared going into the ocean because of them.  Even as a 10-year-old kid, JAWS did not convince me that this was the true depiction of sharks in real life.

 

        Throughout the course of the next 22 years or so, I continued to admire sharks from a distance, casually watching Shark Week on Discovery channel every summer and continuing to be a seasonal beachgoer with no concern of stepping foot into their salty domain.  It was because of Shark Week that I learned a place called Guadalupe Island existed.  This remote island is where the species I admire the most, the Great White Shark, aggregates during the summer and fall months.  Upon learning about this place, I made the uninformed assumption that only scientists and technical underwater photographers had access to it.  After all those years, I don’t quite remember what exactly triggered me to search this on the internet, but to my surprise I learned that I could travel to this remote island as a civilian with no marine biology background or any intense underwater training!

 

        At this point, and with no apprehension whatsoever, I became very eager to put down a deposit to reserve my spot on something called a liveaboard boat.  Whatever the heck that was, I didn’t care!  I was so excited that somebody like me could have the opportunity to get in a cage and see these Great White Sharks up close and personal in the wild.  I was dead set on doing this.  And what did I hear from my family and friends?  Comments and questions like … “You’re crazy!” and “Aren’t you afraid they’ll attack you?” and “Didn’t you see that video of the shark getting stuck in the cage?” and “Don’t get eaten alive!”  I knew very little about sharks at this time, but even so, I remained unafraid and brushed all those negative comments and questions aside like dust under a carpet.  In all honesty, I was more afraid of a scuba equipment malfunction than I was of being attacked by a shark.  (And that is still true of me today!)

 

        Heeding little attention to all the negativity and disapproval I was receiving from many, there was only one obstacle standing in my way to get the full experience I was hoping for.  In order to be granted permission to go into the submersible cages (which were lowered 30 feet into the bottomless water column), I would have to be a certified scuba diver, which I was not.  Noncertified divers were only allowed to go in the surface cages which, by definition, simply hover at the water’s surface.  So what was my next move?  Quite obvious!  In 2017 at the age of 33, I signed up to get my Open Water scuba diving certification.  I never had any interest in becoming a scuba diver in the past and the only reason I decided to pursue my certification at that time was simply to go in the submersible cages at Guadalupe Island.  I had absolutely no interest in diving more or doing anything else scuba related once I completed this trip and had the “once in a lifetime experience” of being in the water with these Great White Sharks.  Little did I know, this expedition and these Great White Sharks would completely change my outlook on life as well as my view of the world and all things in it.

 

        With the emotional support of my husband who completely understood how important it was for me to pursue this dream of immersing myself in the realm of the Great White Shark, I flew by myself to San Diego with my Open Water scuba diving certification in hand and a mere six open water dives under my belt.  There, I met with the liveaboard dive charter group and boarded their shark-adorned bus for a 2-hour drive across the border to Ensenada, Mexico.  Following our arrival there and after going through customs, we headed to the marina and boarded the Nautilus Belle Amie for a 24-hour crossing (roughly 200 miles) from the Baja Mexico coast to the isolated, uninhabited Guadalupe Island.

 

        I’m not going to lie.  The crossing was ROUGH.  I had been on cruise ships and ferry boats many times in the past and I had never gotten any type of motion or seasickness.  That’s why I was totally caught off guard when I woke up the next morning with a case of sea sickness that I thought I would die from.  “Why did I want to come here and do this?!” was all I could think to myself as I lay alone, nauseous and disoriented in my bed.  Despite having traveled solo, the crew onboard and my fellow passengers were extremely gracious, providing me with seasick patches from their personal stash, making me ginger tea, and providing me with general advice on how to get through this unpleasant experience.  During the height of my seasickness, I was seriously doubting my decision to take this journey.  I was thousands of miles from home and hundreds of miles from civilization in a remote part of the world with very limited access to phone and internet, vomiting off the side of a luxury liveaboard boat.  I often get nauseous, but I had never experienced anything like this!  But when the Belle Amie approached the island and I witnessed this beautiful, volcanic landmass with fluffy clouds gently rolling down the sides of it, a sight that I had seen numerous times on TV, the seasickness instantly became a distant memory.  And that marked the beginning of an amazing three days anchored at Guadalupe Island.

 

        All of my personal history and the drama of making it to Guadalupe Island aside, let me now focus a bit on my actual encounters with these Great White Sharks!  They behaved just as I expected and my nonchalant attitude heading into this journey was one hundred percent validated.  Words I would use to describe my firsthand general observations of these Great White Sharks in their natural habitat from merely just inches away include the following; non-aggressive, calm, peaceful, slow-moving, deliberate, cautious, curious, majestic, beautiful, and above all else … misunderstood.  We had many individuals hang around our boat for the three days and they varied in physical characteristics and personalities, just as people do.  Some were bolder and some were shyer than others.  They all had names and identities.  The two I remember in particular were Sadface and Andy.  Sadface was easily identifiable with a big black circular wound on the left side of his head between his mouth and first gill and Andy had a distinct flat-topped caudal fin while most shark fins come to a point.  I was now able to witness firsthand that the perception I’ve had of sharks all my life has always been correct and that of the general public was way off. 

 

        We had unlimited time in the surface cages, as long as there was room available, and three scheduled 45-minute submersible cage dives per day (nine in total), so we had ample time in the water.  I even found myself getting up at six o’clock on the last morning to get in the surface cage in order to maximize my time with these beautiful creatures.  I was having the time of my life aboard this small vessel in the middle of nowhere with a group of people I met only days prior who shared the same love and admiration for sharks that I do.  The crew fed us well, provided amazing service of everything we could possibly want or need, and provided general education of Guadalupe Island, the Great Whites that migrate there, the threat they are currently under around the world, and the conservation efforts that are helping them thrive.  During this voyage I learned so much about Great Whites, sharks in general, and even about myself and my own personal resilience to adapt and overcome impediments.  And this was only the start of my journey.

 

        Over the next 6 years, which brings us to the present day in 2023, I have continued scuba diving and even advanced my training to gain multiple certifications.  I have accumulated all of my own dive gear, developed my own little circle of dive buddies which ranges from California to Florida and back to NJ, dove outside the cage with 12 other species of sharks, became an advocate for the ocean, and a voice for the voiceless.  I am on a personal mission to dispel myths about sharks and provide factual information through my experiences with them and things I have learned from literature, documentaries, and others I’ve met along the way.  (The non-profit organization Sharks 4 Kids is really helping me to progress with my mission, allowing me to help in their efforts to create a future generation of shark advocates!)  I have recruited my friends to become shark lovers, taking them on their first shark dives to share the thrill with them that I know and love because photos and videos cannot truly replicate the experience of sharing a moment in time with a gentle, inquisitive shark.

 

        I have a greater appreciation for this planet and the creatures that dwell within it and my curiosity of the ocean has expanded to depths unimaginable.  I’m a better person because of all that I’m now able to see and experience.  The unintended path my life has taken is something I would have never seen coming and I have absolutely no regrets about any of it … and I owe it all to the Great White Shark.