Shark Diving!

Thursday was pretty uneventful, just class and some reading. Therefore, I will skip over Thursday and move to Friday when we spent the day diving with a Great White shark!

Friday, July 1, 2011
We left before the sun rose and drove about 2 hours to Gansbaai for our dive. We were all jumping with excitement and couldn't wait to get out on the water! We were served breakfast as we got a briefing on the dive and then headed out to sea. The boat took us about an hour along the coast to Dyer Island where the sharks are. Dyer Island is covered in Cape Fur Seals, so the sharks spend much of their time there lying in wait. Along the way we spotted two Southern Right whales (in the distance) and then saw a shark swimming right next to the boat! It was a very exciting boat ride. When we stopped, however, one by one, we started feeling sicker and sicker. There were large swells that just lifted the boat up and then down. This was not good. I got so sea sick I threw up over 10 times and after we had sat for an hour waiting and still hadn't seen a shark I just wanted to get back on land! We finally moved to another location where we saw a shark within 10 minutes. However, I was still feeling so sick that I did not even care. I was not going to get in the cage, because it did not sound appealing at all, but Adam got out and said, "Diana, get in there!" I did and it was the most amazing thing! The water was freezing and a rush of adrenaline took over my entire body! It was a combination of nausea, fear and excitement and my breaths were short and quick. As the shark came by they told us to go under and we looked down with our snorkels and watched as a 12 foot female Great White swam at us with open jaws. It was amazing! We were in for maybe 5 minutes and by the time we had to get out, I just wanted to stay in and keep watching. I got out and was so happy that I had gotten in! As the adrenaline wore off, however, the nausea returned and I threw up some more as we made our way back to the docks. I spent about 2 out of 3 hours throwing up, but that 5 minutes was worth every bit of pain! I am so happy I had Adam there to get me in the water, thanks Adam! You're the best roomie a girl could ask for! :)

 This rainbow stretched across the sky and was so big I couldn't even fit the whole thing into the picture! They are literally everywhere here!

 The rainbow literally dropped into the ocean, so cool!

 A few minutes later, it was a double rainbow!

 Excited for sharks! (Before the nausea set in...)

This is the only pic of the shark that I have on my camera. I stood up to take it, but felt so sick I sat down again and did not care to take another. Our guide took a bunch more and I will post an underwater one when I get it!