A long trip home, but arriving just in time ...

My flight back to the Caribbean left Nashville at 6:00 a.m. It is an international flight so they say you should be at the airport two hours early. My experience has been that at 4:00 a.m., there is absolutely nothing open in the Nashville airport, including the airline ticket counters and kiosks. But I still had to get gas and return the rental car so I left Murfreesboro about 3:45 a.m. Ugh.

I was flying United again so it was with some trepidation that I handed over my bag to be checked.

The first leg of my flight was to Houston, then hustle from one terminal to another for the next leg which was Houston to San Pedro Sula. I again, when making the reservations had faced the problem of if I flew into San Pedro Sula on any day other than a Saturday I couldn't get a flight back to Utila, so I would have to take a bus and a ferry and likely stay overnight somewhere, so I booked a flight to Roatan instead.

At the time it made sense, Roatan is another of the Bay Islands, I can on a clear day see it from the dive boat. How hard can it be to get to Utila from there?

I arrived in San Pedro Sula at about 11 a.m. Here is where things get worse. Every flight to Roatan from Nashville included a LONG layover in San Pedro Sula. Mine was about 21 hours. I tried to convince myself and anyone who asked that it wasn't going to be that bad. I've spent lots of hours in airports and while not great I have music, books, games on my myriad of electronics and a computer with all that time to write.

The problem with San Pedro Sula Airport is that there is almost nowhere to even sit. There are some tables and chairs at the restaurants but when the place is busy it is tough to find a seat, and I usually try to avoid taking up a seat at a restaurant if I'm not a paying customer. Before you go through security, which you can't do until a couple of hours before your flight, there is one five seat bench not at a restaurant. The other problem for me is there are almost no electrical outlets. I asked if there was one and was told by the customer service people that there was nowhere to charge a phone. I found a plug against a wall finally and spent some time just sitting on the floor charging my phone. My luggage had arrived safely but again, until two hours before my flight to Roatan I could not check my bag in so had to lug it with me around the airport as I looked for somewhere relatively quiet and comfortable to wait it out.

Many hours sleeping sitting up -- or at least sleeping while trying not to fall over.

I had attempted to make arrangements for a boat ride from Roatan to Utila, on a ferry called the Lady Julia. Unfortunately, the day I wanted to travel they didn't have enough customers so the ferry was not running. No one had a flight going to Utila so I took the only other option. I caught a ferry going from Roatan to La Ceiba (back on the mainland), then a second ferry from La Ceiba to Utila. The ferry rides are reasonably cheap but it added more hours to my long travel days.

Once again it had taken me two days to get back to Utila.

I left Nashville at 6:00 a.m. on the 26th of August and stepped off the ferry in Utila at about 5:00 p.m. on the 27th. But I immediately knew I was "home". David from Pirates Bay Inn was at the Ferry Dock to meet potential new guests. He helped me with my bags and offered me a ride in a truck they had at the dock.

The first whaleshark in four weeks or so had been seen couple days before so I was anxious to try and get in the water. I scheduled a dive for the 28th.

We completed the fist dive of the day, it was really beautiful and I was so glad to be back in the water. Then during our surface interval Captain Louis started driving out towards the open water. He was watching for the tell tale signs that start with  a lot of birds at the surface. As we got closer he looked for the "Tuna Boil", large schools of tuna near the surface jumping out of the water and feeding. It really does look like a big pot of water at a rolling boil.

All of us on the boat got our fins, mask and snorkels on and waited on the back of the boat. Louis watched the water, slowly moving around the three separate boils we had come to. Suddenly Louis yelled, "there it is, right next to the boat, get in, get in!!" We all slid into the water and there it was.

Most people are lucky at times like this to spend a couple minutes close to a whaleshark. This whaleshark was probably around our boat for 15-20 minutes. The experience was absolutely incredible and the whaleshark was magnificent.

Hard to tell but all that mess at the top of the water? That is birds diving in and fish jumping out.

Tuna, lots of them, these ones just looks so calm, but imagine this multiplied by hundreds all racing around and jumping out of the water.

They estimated this whaleshark to be about 7 meters long (about 21 feet). Most graceful huge animal ever.

I felt so fortunate to have the opportunity to be in the water with this amazing animal.

After about 20 minutes the tuna boil had dissipated and the whaleshark had returned to the depths. We then left to get to another dive site for our second dive.

The second dive was gorgeous but hard to compare with what we had just experienced.

My friend and dive buddy Laurent.

Butterflyfish

Gray Angelfish peeking out from behind a sea fan

Since then I have been on the boat a couple more days. The visibility has gotten a bit worse and last week the seas were a little rough but still gorgeous dives. Up until now I've always just worn my 2.5mm Spring shorty wetsuit but I think I'm about  ready to start wearing my full 3mm suit during the rainy season.

Diving with killing machines .... oh and sharks too!

When you enter the ocean, you enter the food chain and not necessarily at the top.

                                                      ~ Jacques Yves Cousteau

I have been fortunate enough to twice, over the last two years, take a trip with Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures to Tiger Beach in the Bahamas to dive with sharks. Big sharks.

Most people I know who don't scuba dive and many who do would consider this a crazy thing to do. They wonder if I will be in a cage, if I'm not afraid of being attacked, and will often remind me of the video they saw on Facebook or YouTube of the latest "unprovoked attack of an innocent victim".

So many ask why I want to go on this trip. For two reasons mainly. One, I find sharks fascinating. They are beautiful, sleek, efficient and misunderstood, and I think one of the best ways to learn to understand them is to see them in their natural environment. And two, I am working on becoming a better underwater photographer and this trip is an amazing opportunity to photograph a lot of sharks in their natural environment, and to receive guidance and support from some of the best underwater photographers and shark conservationists on the planet.

First, let's get a few things straight. Sharks are an integral part of healthy oceans. Their job, as the top predator, is to regulate the abundance of other marine animals. They remove the sick and weak from fish populations, making the gene pools stronger. They do not "attack" humans

There is controversy about how large numbers of sharks are attracted to a specific area, giving us the opportunity to see them.  Many of the dive trips I have been on all over the world have some type of organized "shark dive". Almost all of them use some type of bait ball or other baiting technique to attract the sharks in. In some instances a block of frozen bait (dead fish) is hung in the water column and the sharks come and attack it breaking off bits of frozen fish. My experience, although limited, is that often you see more of other species of fish waiting for a shark to hit the bait ball causing small bits of dead fish to float out providing a free meal. It ends up being a pretty good opportunity to look in the sand where under where the bait had been hung for shark teeth when the feed is over.

The other method that you will often see is a shark "handler" wearing suit or at least a sleeve and glove made of chain mail and hand feeding the sharks pieces of fish.

On the trip that I was on, neither of these is done. We do put "bait" in the water. Dead fish in plastic crates which are for the most part closed up. these are then suspended in the water column about 5+ feet above the sand so that the scent of dead fish is put into the current attracting sharks and other fish in. One of the staff of the boat, then acts like a traffic control cop, putting himself in front of the bait crates, keeping an eye on the divers in the water and making sure we're paying attention and acting as a barrier between the sharks and the bait. Again, they are not the man-killers some think. When there is a human standing between them and the bait crate they veer off and usually swim away, but in no way do they act aggressively towards the human.

So we understand, sharks like dead and dying fish so as long as I don't make myself appear to be either one of those, either by my own actions or having dead or dying fish on or very near me,  sharks have no interest in me as a food source.

We started our trip in West Palm Beach Florida. We meet at the JASA store and gallery. Here they are like many other dive shops, although you'll notice a bit more information about sharks and turtles than in others. They offer all PADI courses, regular day trip dives to Blue Heron Bridge and other great dive sites around West Palm. There is also a gallery where you can see large prints of Jim Abernethy's beautiful photography and some artwork by other ocean artists. It is worth the visit if you're in the area just to see some of the artwork.

We boarded the MV Shear Water at about 4 p.m. There is room for 10-12 divers  and a crew of 4 ... four rooms with two bunks each and one v-berth with room for 4-6. (I could have these numbers wrong but it is close). We unpack our bags and large bags and suitcases are then taken back to the shop where they are stored for us for the week. We can set up our dive gear, hang our neoprene and start setting up and organizing our photo gear for the week in the main salon.

The MV Shear Water. Photo courtesy of Steven Creech Anderson

We then are given a briefings. First, a boat briefing about how things work on the boat, when and how you get fed, use of water and facilities (if you've never been on a live-aboard, other than the ultra high-end live-aboards, there are very specific rules about how to use the marine head and showering with fresh water). Then there is the more serious and specific dive briefing.

On this boat the dive briefing can last up to an hour or more. Very clear and specific rules about diving and behavior in the water are discussed. How the crew will be attracting sharks to us and what to do if a shark comes near you or seems to want to investigate you or your camera. And very specific rules about getting on and off the boat, safety stops, and the up and down line.

Make no mistake, although we are not a normal part of the shark's diet, we are diving with large numbers of apex predators and it is important that we remain alert and observant at all times. A shark is not going to attack me, but a shark can be confused or curious about what I am and come in to investigate. Think about it, sharks don't have hands or opposable thumbs. When a shark is curious about something and wonders if it is a food source, guess how it investigates? Yep, with its mouth. It is not necessarily being aggressive, it just may want to know what is in front of it that looks interesting so it puts it in its mouth. I'd prefer it not investigate any of my appendages thank you, so I stay aware of where all my parts are and where the sharks are -- particularly the business end of the shark.

Although I have paid money to be on this trip and the crew of the Shear Water does everything they can to make this a fun, exciting and amazing trip for me; if I do not follow the rules or put myself or anyone else in any kind of danger because of my behavior in or out of the water, I have no doubt they won't hesitate a moment to end my dive and if necessary put me off the boat completely.

It is clear from moment one that safety is a number one concern on this boat.

We are cooked a lovely dinner on the boat at about 7 PM, and sometime later that night we leave West Palm Beach and head out to make the crossing of the Gulf Stream during the middle of the night allowing all the guests to sleep through it. When we get up the next morning we are docked in the Bahamas where the boat crew handleless all dealings with Immigration and our passports. We then head out towards Tiger Beach.

Before getting to Tiger Beach we stop and have the honor of releasing two baby Leatherback turtles into the open ocean.

One of the baby leatherbacks swimming for the first time in the open ocean.

At Tiger Beach we anchor in about 42 feet of water. The bait crates for the whole week, already packed full, are now tied up next to the side of the boat and while we complete our final gear preparations and setup and start kitting up, we watch as fish and sharks start to gather. The excitement starts to build as we see several lemon sharks at the surface, checking out all that good smelling dead fish.

This is unlike other diving I normally do. There is not a lot of swimming around. for most of these dives I will be primarily stationary, on the sand bottom within arms reach of the divers on either side of me, strategically placed just outside the "runway" (the current stream where the sharks will come towards the bait crates) and I will let my photographic subjects come towards me.

They have given the tiger sharks a type of classification system. There are the "wild" sharks that you will see their large shadows out in the blue swimming around but they rarely come in close to where the divers are. Then there are "players". These Tigers are getting a bit more brave and want to know where that great dead fish smell is coming from. They will come down the runway and towards the bait crates but will usually quickly veer off and go back to the blue, maybe to return later. Then you have the "supermodels". These are the Tigers that most of the Tiger Shark experts in the Bahamas have named. 

Emma the Shark is the most famous of these. She is a 14 ft long Tiger Shark who seems to love the attention she gets from the crew and likes to pose for pictures as she heads down the runway. I know, I'm giving human traits to an animal but boy does it look like she is thoroughly enjoying being in the spotlight. She comes in, gets a nose rub from the staff swims makes a loop and comes back down the runway, repeatedly, sticking around sometimes for an hour or two. Let me repeat, she is not getting fed here so you decide why she keeps coming back.

Last year when I went on this trip Emma was pregnant and was not around, likely off having her pups. This year I got to meet her, she is gorgeous and to see the relationship she has with Jim Abernethy is incredible.

Tiger Shark comin' in for a little lovin'

Some sharks like to investigate your camera gear and couple have been playful enough to take it from the diver. They don't take it far and it is usually retrieved. Makes  you wonder, are they playing a game? We know once in their mouth they certainly don't want to eat a camera strobe.

This year, unlike last, the first time we dropped down and settled ourselves at about 40 feet on the sand there were quickly at least a dozen lemon sharks, another half dozen reef sharks, and within a few minutes the first Tiger! I may have tried to look calm and controlled but I'll admit my heart raced a bit. Throughout the week we had at least one if not multiple Tigers with us on every dive. At one point there were three adult tigers and one juvenile. Don't be fooled, the juvenile was still at least 6 feet long!

Reef Shark cruising over the coral head

Lemons on the move ....

A Tiger and  Lemon cruising in together

A lemon shark with a smile only a mother could love

Tiger Shark

Tiger with Remora

You can see the size difference between the Tiger and all the Lemons and Reefs

As well as taking photographs our job is to always keep an eye on the tiger sharks. When we see one, we point at it and make sure everyone else in the water points at it to, to know we all are aware where it is. It can get a bit harrying at times to keep track of and point at and watch three or four at once. But as the week progressed I became more relaxed and just enjoyed the beauty of these animals and recognized that they truly are intelligent sentient beings that should be respected and protected.

We spent a little time diving the Sugar Wreck and spent our last day in the Bahamas down at Bimini to spend some time with dolphins.

Photo courtesy of Jim Abermethy

I feel I would be remiss if I didn't address a couple of issues. Approximately a month before I took this trip there was a report of a missing diver from the Shear Water on another Shark Diving Expedition. After several days of unsuccessful searching the search was ended and the diver was presumed dead. People who knew I was going on this trip made comments to me about the organizationI was diving with "losing" a diver and several organizations and written articles described the divers death as a shark attack. I feel that it only fair that I present what I believe to be true.

1. Any diver who is lost or dies or is seriously injured on any type of dive is a tragedy.

2. Diving in an of itself hold inherent risks, shark diving maybe more.

3. ALL safety protocols regarding a missing diver were followed by the crew of the Shear Water.

4.  The Bahamian government investigated the incident and despite some reports to the contrary lists this only as a missing diver, they do not report this as a "shark attack".

5.  The fact remains, that if this diver had a medical emergency which caused him to drown, get caught in a current and be pulled away or some other diving emergency, and in fact then died, he would then likely become part of the food chain, not just for sharks but for every other organism in the ocean. That does not make this a shark attack.

6.  The diver's gear (BCD and Mask) and his camera were found on the ocean floor. 

7.  The buckles on the BCD had been undone. As far as I know, sharks while pretty darn smart do not have hands and cannot unbuckle a BCD without somehow damaging the buckle. This was not the case. It appears the diver may have removed his own BCD.

8.  It is irresponsible for people to report this as either a shark attack or somehow the fault of the crew of the Shear Water. It is a tragic accident and my heart goes out to this diver's family.

9.  Some have complained that by baiting the water, shark behavior is affected thereby encouraging shark attacks. The Shear Water puts bait crates in the water, they do not hand feed any sharks and do not attempt in any way to change normal shark behavior, but it does allow us to witness it.

10. If you don't want bait in the water, don't fish with bait.

11. It is my opinion that in most cases of people being bitten by sharks, sharks are doing only what sharks do. Maybe people need to remember we are in their environment and need to respect what normal shark behavior is. It is our own behavior which may be the  cause of most shark bites.

Many thanks to Jim Abernethy, George Hughes, Sean Gillespie, Jason Harvey and all the staff of Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures, and to my fellow travelers and dive friends, Steven 'Creech' Anderson, Dave Baker, Gary Curtis, Victoria Berger, Amber Sullivan-Pashon, Bess Bright, Joe Holden, Thomas Wolf and Marek Vancek.

A wonderful group of divers and a great crew.

After a wonderful week in the Bahamas I headed back to Nashville for  a few days of visiting then back to Utila, which is easier said than done but thats in the next post.

All opinions expressed are those of the author.

To learn more about shark conservation and see Emma up close visit http://ThisIsYourOcean.com

I'll Make that Trip to Utila-US-Utila Work ... or Die Trying

When last I left you I had checked in to Pirates Bay Inn for a week-long stay, while I worked to find a more permanent residence and settle in to life in Utila. That, and did some diving.

My reasons for wanting so badly to be in Utila the first week in August were two-fold. One, I had been told that the first week in August has historically been one of the best for whaleshark sightings. And two, the baby turtles from the nest I had guarded on the beach in June were due to hatch and if I could swing it I wanted to be a witness.

First things first, I signed up to dive most of the week I was there. See. I already feel better. Then I made arrangements to look at an apartment to rent. The apartment is close to town but not on the main road so it is relatively quiet, in a complex with four apartments and a fenced yard. It is two bedroom (hey a room for a visitor -- hint, hint), included cable and internet. It has air conditioning in one of the bedrooms but I don't need it. There are floor fans in each of the rooms and I'm actually fine just using a fan. The only thing not included int he rent is electricity which can be a bit pricy but it appears I can likely get by on about $100 US per month. It is "pay-as-you-go" electricity which is actually kind of nice, because i left the island for a couple weeks I emptied my already almost empty refrigerator and just shut off the breaker to it. Therefore there was no electricity being use dint he house while I was gone.

I dove every day. It was absolutely beautiful diving, as seems to be the norm, but alas, no whalesharks. But that was okay. As everyone told me, "you're here now all the time, you'll see them". Good point.

I was a little bummed, Chris, a dive master I've come to love diving with, had recently had an emergency appendectomy so he was not able to be in the water at all. Good part was he then worked as our boat captain. I did however get to dive with Imke a lovely German dive master. Unfortunately she was planning on leaving the island to do some traveling alone in Central America. But it was great to dive with her before she left.

So, we may not have seen whalesharks but we did have some amazing dives!

Really the best part being the turtles and spotted eagle rays which I think we saw one or both on every dive that week.

Of course there is all the other marine life as well ...

I did go out to guard the beach one night but the baby turtles from the nest I had guarded had already hatched and made their way to the ocean (we hope). As it turns out, the eggs seem to hatch during the day not at night. But I was lucky enough to witness a huge loggerhead turtle come up on the beach twice during the middle of the night to look for the perfect nesting spot. She did not lay eggs, checked out couple spots, I think likely came back the next night to dig her nest and lay her eggs. I'm still hopeful that maybe I will get to see some eggs hatch this month.

After a perfect week at Pirates Bay Inn/Captain Morgan's Dive Center I finally had to leave and make the move to my apartment. A quick TukTuk (taxi) ride and I was there with all my worldly possessions (3 suitcases). I unpacked my bags, visited the grocery store, the power company and the store to get a Honduran sim card for a phone. Then I began the process of re-packing for my planned trip back to the states to go with Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures from West Palm Beach to Tiger Beach in the Bahamas to dive with the big sharks. That is for the next post.

Before I go though I want to reiterate how great the people are at Pirates Bay Inn and Captain Morgan's Dive Center. I know I raved about them in June when we visited but I don't know that I've ever felt so welcomed anywhere I've visited. When I arrived on August 2nd and showed up at Pirates Bay Inn, almost every instructor and dive master I had met in June and all the office staff immediately came up and welcomed me back, by name, asked how I was, asked if i was there permanently, asked how Greg and the rest of our group from June was. As usual, the room was clean and comfortable, the food was excellent from Christina and Adith, the beers were cold  ... couldn't find a thing to complain about. And for every concern I might have had about what I needed to do to get permanently settled, almost every one of them offered help and support. I truly felt like I had arrived home, where I was meant to be.

So now it was time to get back to the US. As usual I made my reservations later rather than earlier but still tried to go as cheaply as possible. The trip to the US wasn't too bad. I took a flight from Utila to Roatan using World Wide Travel (they don't seem to have a website) here on the island. Then I caught a United flight from Roatan to Houston to Nashville where United promptly lost my luggage. I watched them scan the barcoded luggage tag as I went through customs in Houston but somehow it went to El Paso. Really? El Paso? The worst part was when I checked with the lost luggage office at the airport in Nashville the woman there looked it up on the computer and saw that it went to El Paso. Then throughout the night and the next day I  got text messages from United saying they were still trying to locate my luggage. I called the number given to me, because I could help them locate it, "IT IS IN EL PASO!!!!!", but you only get a computer recorded message, no human to talk to.

I arrived in Nashville the night of the 13th and was leaving on a plane at 6 a.m. on the morning of the 15th to go to West Palm Beach. I was beginning to get a little nervous. I had my regulator and dive computer and camera equipment with me, but I still needed fins, mask, wetsuit, booties, hood and my other clothing etc..

Finally on the afternoon of the 14th, they delivered my bag to my hotel in Nashville.

I took Delta to Florida and back to Nashville without incident. I'll write about the fun of getting back to Utila  -- on United again -- in my next post.

Yes, that was a big sigh you heard.

On the bright side, if you do a fair amount of international travel I can't recommend the Global Entry and trusted traveler program enough. When you have a fairly quick layover in your port of entry (for me Houston) it is wonderful to be able to quickly get through customs and on to your next flight. There is always the possibility that I will still get stopped and have my luggage searched etc., but so far that has not happened. It has also given me TSA pre-check on every domestic flight I've taken since I got it. It truly makes international travel so much easier, and well worth the $100 it cost.