Emily B's most impressive thing she's seem

I’m not exactly the adventurous type, but when the opportunity presented itself to go shark cage diving I jumped. I figured when would I ever have the chance to see Great White Sharks in their natural habitat again, and I’m so glad that I did. As I learned it is estimated that there are only about 1,500 Great White Sharks left in the wild and soon there maybe none at all so the chances of me having this experience ever again is slim. Many critique shark cage diving as environmentally unfriendly and dangerous to the sharks but there are eco-friendly options available and one of my housemates, Jessica’s, friend found such an option. This company was based out of Simon’s Town and prided itself on its ecologically sound practices.

Bright and early (very early! At about 4:30 am) Jessica, her friend and some other girls from another study abroad program began the drive to Simon’s Town. We quickly boarded the boat and in about a half hour were out to the spot where we would be diving. The staff was clearly passionate about wildlife making sure they pointed out the different sea creatures that we past. We went by a small island covered with female seals and their pups, which was adorable. The first group got their wet suits on and headed down into the cage. One of the staff members put two lines of bait in the water, one that floated on the surface and one that hung below to pull the sharks in towards the cage. He would make sure to pull the line before the shark could get it though because feeding wild sharks is illegal. We saw some massive Great Whites swimming lazily around the boat. Though I was very seasick (I seem to forget how much I don’t like boats until I get on them) the time went by quickly. We quickly put on our wetsuits and plunged into the freezing cold ocean. After a few minutes someone yelled, “Shark!” and we dove under the water to come face to face with a Great White. Granted my knowledge of sharks comes almost exclusively from shark week in the Discovery Channel, but I thought that the sharks would come at us, biting the cage, trying to make us their breakfast. Rather the sharks swam lazily by paying little attention to the tourist in the cage gawking at them. After a half-hour in the cage and multiple shark sightings we had to (begrudgingly) get out. After only about 5 minutes on of the staff said to me, “see those waves over there? Those aren’t waves, they’re dolphins.” We started to head towards the dolphins and found ourselves in the middle of a pod of about 3,000 dolphins all herding schools of sardines into the harbor to eat them. Everywhere I looked there were dolphins diving in and out of the water, flying towards the harbor. I even saw quiet a few mothers and babies in the pod. As the dolphins jumped in and out, I got splashed a few times by their flippers. I could see millions of sardines swimming in schools trying to escape the dolphins. As the predators got closer the schools would panic causing the fish to flop on the surface as though they were trying to fly away. As the dolphins past, I noticed the water was glittering from what I thought was sunlight, but on closer inspection turned out to be fish scales of the unlucky ones who couldn’t get away. I though, this will probably never see anything like this again. I noticed that this was out of the ordinary when I saw all of the staff had out their cameras and GoPros to capture the moment. They seemed just as excited as all of us. While staring out at the dolphins I muttered to myself, “this is the coolest thing I Bright and early (very early! At about 4:30 am) Jessica, her friend and

Once the final group went, we started to head back to the harbor. have ever seen.” I didn’t realize how close the skipper was but he replied, “You will probably never see anything like this again. Only about 10% of the tours see dolphins, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it as good as this.” He ended with an enthusiastic, “I love this place!”

As we headed in towards the harbor leaving the dolphins behind I realized that part of the impressiveness of the moment was the fact that I was a witness to nature. I had never seen so many animals in their natural environment before, acting on instincts that have been a part of their DNA forever. Whether we were there for not those dolphins would have been herding those fish into the bay, and that’s what I liked so much about it. It has been so long since I have seen something that wasn’t touched by the human hand; it was inspiring to see, as a human, everything doesn’t revolve around us. Even though a week has past, as I reflect on the experience I can still say without a doubt that was the most impressive thing I have ever seen.