Swimming With the Sharks!

The amazing thing perhaps is that I still have all my important body parts and appendages..

In order of size as I remember seeing them..

Dogfish – I used to work as a commercial diver, and sometimes schools of the local small shark species (Squalus acanthias or Spiny Dogfish). would sneak up behind me when working on the bottom.  One or two were no bother, but when whole schools of the showed up it got a bit creepy, so I would actively shoo them off me with a water jet.  

Six Gill Shark   – While working at a local aquarium, one of the local fishing boats, a dragger (a particularly destructive method of fishing) had snagged a six gill shark and thought they could make some extra money, so they kept it on deck and sprayed water on it for the hour or two it took to bring the shark to the aquarium.   Given the duration of time it was out of the water, and the fact that it was caught by a dragger (sure to beat the heck out of the animal while in the net), I myself didn’t think it had a great chance, but we were game to still try to save its life.  We decided the quickest way to get it into a tank was by carrying it on the kitchen tabletop in the staff room, and then as soon as it was in water, I jumped in and got its mouth near a water jet and was actively pumping its jaws with my hands to get waterflow and oxygenate its gills.  It worked slightly, enough for it to revive a bit give a reflexible snap of it jaws, and I felt my gloves snag slightly on the teeth as i pulled my hands clear.. but it was a momentary reflex unfortunately. 

 

Leopard shark

White Tip

Blacktip

Galapagos Shark

Caribbean Reef Shark

Hammerhead

Nurse Shark

Grey reef shark Maldives

Bull Shark

Tiger Shark

Great White Shark

Whale Shark