OK, its unusual for me to see any kind of shark other than a nurse shark here in florida. And yes, nurse sharks are about as tame as they sound (unless they also get a whiff of your fish!).
Yesterday, while out spearfishing off the beach here in ft. lauderdale, i’d just speared a mutton snapper and was hooking him to my stringer, when i saw a big shark do a quick turn about 10 feet beside me.
When i say he was big, you may wonder how big. Anything bigger than me, particularly when it comes to sharks, i consider BIG.
I uploaded a video clip of a piece of the action… gotta warn you, its short and simple (hey, it’s not shark week, and he came a lot closer than in the clip!) Usually, just the sight of the man in the gray suit moving a bit jerkily is enough to get anyone’s heart pumping a little faster…
Anyway, a second shark shows up, and they were definitely more interested in me than my fish. That’s a first! Typically i’m the deterrent, and they keep the fish between us. Not these two!
They were circling me, and that’s when i pocketed the camera, ditched the fish and float and started swimming for shore.
The next minute was tense; i’m looking all around me, growing eyes on the back of my head. As the second minute thumped its way thru my beating heart, and i’d lived a total of about 120 seconds without seeing any sharks, i started reflecting on my mortality…
What the @#!*&+# am i doing out here anyway?
A great question, and appropriate for another blog. For now, suffice it to say it was a good reflection!
I love my life and i’m grateful to be alive.
PS: I love adventure too.
