SwimWithTheSharks.com
World's largest shark diving company! TM
Shark attacks
Although shark attacks are extremely rare, John M. Kocol, REALTOR® takes all safety precautions.
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Written by James Anderson
Though it is possibly in this site’s best interest to assuage one’s fears one about swimming with sharks, shark bite, bleeding in the water, etc., there’s no point in denying the obvious: The notion of being able to swim with the sharks inspires deep and singular fear. Hence its appeal, and hence why you’re here. For me, sharks have been a lifelong thing. When I was a kid I was seized by visions of many-toothed sharks swimming right at me (courtesy the Discovery Channel)—yet I couldn’t be kept from checking out every shark book in the school library and reading with total fascination. The singular fear of swimming with sharks allies itself with an equally singular fascination. Together they are responsible for the advent of the modern blockbuster (Jaws, anyone?), the longest running American cable program (see ‘Shark Week’), an active ecotourism industry and the very livelihood of guys like me.
It is well-documented that sharks and our fear of them have come to represent something deep and primal in the mind of man: the demon of our dreams and irrational fears. Likewise, the act of being able to swim with the sharks has come to me to be equally representative of something deep and primal (forgive me if I wax romantic). Some have called shark diving stupid and put the activity in the same category as free-soloing and other daredevilry. Done improperly, I agree, it is stupid. But to make heavy assurances of our watertight safety measures or shark-proof diving procedures is beside my point: Diving in to swim with the sharks is one of those rare acts wherein real and primal fear is faced and conquered, wherein fascination flourishes as new worlds are opened and temporarily inhabited. Sharks are creatures completely different from us human beings, what with their fifteen rows of teeth and dead eyes and incomparable sense of smell—and again, that weirdness is part of the appeal. They inhabit a world so alien to our own, at once predatory and benign, majestic and misunderstood. To swim among them is a literal, other-worldly immersion.
But, dispensing with any more of the schmaltz and romance, what is it that actually allows a sane person to voluntarily enter shark-infested waters? Does it take a specific type of person? I’m often told that people in this line of work “must be very brave.” My own interests aside, I’m going to say that this is pretty much nonsense, that it doesn’t take a specific type, and that just about everyone can come out conqueror/have an enjoyable swim with the sharks. The fear is always going to be there, no matter what type of person you are. That said, it does one good to realize that the stats overwhelmingly point to a safe experience. When we say that shark attacks are extremely rare, we’re talking a probability of 1 in 11.5 million. Besides logging such comforting statistics, the best one can do is to spare no expense in his/her preparation (a subject for another time), and finally, to use one’s fear to commit and take a swim.