It was World Ocean Day and it was a beautiful day for some epic shark diving off the coast of Jupiter, Florida. As we descended for our 3rd dive to about 75 feet at the Deep Ledge, the 82°F water was a welcome change from the previous dive which I would describe as bone-chilling at just 4° cooler. As our shark feeder, Liz, began to spread the scent of fish blood, we maintained our buoyancy in the calm, endless blue water column. The action was a little slow to start as we remained stagnant, looking left, right, and all around for any signs of life to emerge. And then she appeared.
A beautiful, shy silky shark,
probably somewhere between 5 and 6 feet in length, approached us slowly and methodically. She looked similar to the silky we
encountered on our first dive about three and a half hours earlier, but with
one noticeable difference. This stunning
creature had three or four hooks deeply embedded in the right corner of her
jaw, one of which appeared to actually be piercing through her thick skin like
a lip ring. In addition to these
painful, rusty hooks was the two to three foot nylon fishing line attached to
one of them, running along the side of her otherwise flawless body. As she swam about circling around us, I could
see the line wrapping around her from the right corner of her jaw to her left
pectoral fin, almost slicing into her side, causing the fin to twitch
uncontrollably. She was helpless to
unwrap it. To make matters even worse, a
heavy, bright yellow fishing lure was attached to the end of this line. This was undeniably creating unnecessary drag
so strong that it was causing the hook to penetrate deeper and deeper into this
helpless shark’s jaw.
She made several close passes within
inches of me and it was one of the most heartbreaking sights that I’ve ever
witnessed on a dive. Sadly, she knew she
was suffering but she had no idea why. Had
I not been immersed in this oceanic realm, I would have been shedding empathetic
tears for this brave creature, as I myself have endured intense physical pain
as a result of the carelessness of human behavior. But her situation was far different from what
mine was. She had to fend for herself in
an unforgiving environment, she received no sympathy or remorse from the
fisherman (or men) who did this to her, and she had nobody to make this pain go
away. But that would change today.
I watched intently with my GoPro in
hand as Liz worked endlessly to remove this line, and possibly one or more of
the hooks, that made this vulnerable creature suffer greatly. She lured the silky in, either with the
promise of a fishy treat or piquing her curiosity with the flapping of her
hands. Once the shark was close, Liz
would rub the sensitive electroreceptors beneath her snout to calm her, putting
her in a more relaxed state. But the
silky shark was not quick to trust anyone as she escaped Liz’s clutches
multiple times. Finally, after watching
this back and forth dance for the next half hour, Liz was successful in
removing the hook with the fishing line and lure from this astonishing empress
of the deep.
What I saw on this dive was not a
man-eating monster as so many would have you believe. What I saw was an innocent victim, a mere
gentle soul, a misunderstood being who has been villainized for decades and now
was suffering quietly and needlessly. As
much as I prefer to see multiple sharks, this silky shark was the only one to join
us on this particular dive.
Nevertheless, it was a dive I was glad to have witnessed and one that I
will never forget. Yes, it was highly
emotional and disturbing for me to see the careless, destructive nature of
human activity and the impact it leaves on helpless, innocent creatures. However, it also allowed me to see the positive
impact that we, as shark divers and compassionate human beings, can have on the
precious lives of our wildlife counterparts with whom we share this vast
planet.
