Friday 19 August Bull shark encounter

Yesterday we sailed up from Beqa to Pacific Harbour and dropped the hook off the river entrance to the lagoon which is where Beqa Adventure Divers have their HQ. The dive boat collected us and our dive kit from Jackster just before 8am when they were on their way back to base after having been out to the site to deposit the wheelie (aka garbage) bins full of 600kgs of fish heads for feeding to the sharks.
We went with them up the river to the HQ to collect the other divers who were coming out today, only 11 of us out of a full capacity of 20, and then on the way back down the river to the sea we had our dive brief. Papa is the man in charge. He and his friend Gus started the shark feeding and education programme 13 years ago turning Shark reef into a marine reserve and encouraging the local villagers to stop fishing in the area and not to put any rubbish into the sea. In exchange each diver pays a F$20 levy to the village and a F$10 levy for the up keep of the marine park and the tourists get close encounters with the big stuff.
They say this dive is for all levels and everyone has a big tank of air and suggest an extra pound or two in the weight belt to be 'heavy enough on the 5m safety stop'. Some of the guests had so much lead weights they sunk like the proverbial stone – well you would with 14lbs. David used 1/3 of air and me 1/4 for a 40 minute dive which gives you a good idea of how unstrenuous it was – drop, kneel down, ascend.

Are you lookin' at me?



My best side for the camera

 First dive we went straight down to 30m and knelt behind a wall of coral while the handlers fed fish heads to 6 bull sharks. They're as big as mini submarines and as graceful as ballerinas, spinning away as fast as a dolphin when they need to. For me it was thrilling to see such beautiful animals so close but if we were diving on our own and met one of these monsters it would be scary. From 30m we ascended to 10m where Papa had a drum of fish to feed to the smaller reef sharks; white tips, black tips and grey reef which are the Jack Russell terriers of the shark world. Smaller, leaner and punching above their weight, ready to pick fight with any fish coming their way. We meet them often on dives and they are harmless, more wary of the big black thing blowing bubbles then thinking 'dinner'. However, this was close and Papa had them trained to line up, only to come in one at a time for food and only to approach from the front. Who'd have ever thought you could train a shark like a dog? Papa knew them and them him so well he was stroking their noses, hugging them and treating them like pets. The safety stop on a rope at 5m was more reef sharks and then we were out of the water for an hour.
While we were off gassing Papa was telling us about the research on bull and tiger sharks they've been conducted. He's seen 117 different bull sharks on this site and they are visited by 7 tiger sharks. All the bull sharks we saw are females, some pregnant and due to depart to give birth and mate in rivers and shallow water in the next month. Why only females come in for feeding? Apparently the males are solo souls who stay deep and offshore. The tiger sharks come in from now to November when the water is cooler.
Papa told a story of a female tiger shark who was found dead on a nearby beach. The villagers had telephoned to report the unusual event, Papa identified her as Doris from their description of her markings. When he asked if there was any indication of how she died, ie fish hook or propeller blade marks they said no but she did have half of a horse sticking out of her mouth and a leg through her gills. Tiger sharks are 7m / 20' monsters and they also go shallow to breed and birth. She must have gone inshore and met the unfortunate horse standing in the water and mistaken it for lunch. The horse was half swallowed but on thy way kicked hard enough to get a leg through a gill and poor Doris died by drowning. A real case of biting off more then she could chew.
Our second dive was to 20m and on this one there were at least 20 bull sharks. The handlers float above the divers with wheelie bins filled with fish heads and drop them out for the fish to swim in to catch. This is all above are heads so a good sight. Then Gus, the partner of Papa, sits on a rock in front of us and casually hand feeds the girls. This is when they come in close, 6' away, and you can have a good luck. We were able to stay for 20 minutes before getting decompression warnings on our dive computers. And that was it for the day. We ascended for our safety stop and with all the food gone so were the sharks. Back to the boat and they dropped us and our kit off on Jackster.
It was good, very good, with the emphasis of the day on education rather than sensation. Papa and his crew are passionate about their animals and we had the opportunity to get close to these beautiful animals without being held in a cage. Bull sharks do have a higher incidence of biting people but this is probably because we are in the rivers and shores when they come in to breed. Any lady gets tetchy before she gives birth to 20 or so youngsters. But these dives are peaching to the converted – we dived because we love sharks – they are as sleek as racehorses and one of the oldest species on the planet. What a shame some nations covet eating their fins as a delicacy.