Shark Encounters
Species: Blacktip Reef
Location: Ko Tao, Thailand
My first wild shark encounter was memorable, but certainly not glamorous! Ko Tao is a small island in the Gulf of Thailand. Imagine a beautiful idyllic island bathed in sunshine and you’d be right for every other day except the day I went shark freediving. A low pressure system had hit the island overnight, the sea was grey and rough. When we reached the coastal reef area where the sharks could usually be found it was about 6:30 am and I realised I was in serious danger of losing my stomach! Excitement took over however and I was straight in the water.
My first glimpse of a 5ft Blacktip Reef shark was accompanied by heavy water chop, a wave flooded my snorkel. I swallowed what felt like a gallon of seawater, which pushed my sea sickness to the limit. I kept one eye on the shark, indicated to someone else I’d seen a shark and prevented myself from drowning as I was regurgitating my stomach contents (talk about multi-tasking!), as the retching subsided I was delighted by the benefits my stomach evacuation had bought – swarms of reef fish and with them roaming sharks! Perfect!
Species: Lemon, tiger, Bull, Nurse, Blacktip, Blacknose and Sharpnose
Location: South Bimini, Bahamas
As part of my field research for my PhD, I was fortunate enough to head out to the Bimini Islands in the Bahamas. Stationed at the shark lab on the South Island I was conducting tagging studies on juvenile Lemon sharks to determine their depths and temperatures of water they occupied.
Many volunteers and students have passed through the doors of the shark lab and I am sure all would agree with me when I say it is a truly incredible experience. To get the opportunity to work with sharks everyday was a dream realised. Handling, observing and freediving with all of these shark species, whilst being surrounded by the abundance of underwater fauna the Bimini Islands have to offer such as: Conch, Lobster, Rays, and entire Reef ecosystems teeming with life, was in short an unparalleled experience in paradise.
Species: Lesser Spotted Dogfish
Location: Aberdeen, UK
A short note on the lesser spotted dogfish (also known as the small spotted catshark). I remember being slightly unimpressed the first time I worked with this species. I’d seen them in various aquariums:, they had been the ones sat on the bottom not doing an awful lot. However after working with them in the aquarium environment for over 2 years, handling them, constructing suitable tanks, and feeding them squid, my appreciation has increased greatly.
They are individuals no doubt.Males are generally feistier than females, but then I have 1 female who is definitely the star of the show nicknamed (unimaginatively!) “Spot” for the large spot on the lower body region. She always comes to see what is going on and is invariably the chosen subject whose image is used for news reports and press releases.
Surprisingly the lesser spotted dogfish has also made it onto the shark attack file; recently an unfortunate fisherman had a dogfish clamp onto his nose whilst trying to de-hook the animal! So there we have it, inquisitive individuals with a danger factor also! In my opinion an impressive yet underrated and overlooked shark.