Shark in the water
Trip Start
Jun 14, 2010
1
13
20
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Monserrat (First class yacht)
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
I hear some commotion on the beach and look up. One of the German fellas in the group seems to be miming the YMCA. Oh wait, no, he's making a sort of shark symbol with two hands. I spot Elizabeth who's pointing to the water right on the shore line and screaming 'SHARK!'. It's probable, that in any other part of the world your first instinct would be to bolt from the water. However, as Loli our apparently qualified tour guide, has informed us that Galapagos sharks only eat fish (on day 3 when we first spotted sharks she announced that they were vegetarians), I swim like the clappers to the area that the guys on the beach are pointing at. But, there's no visibility whatsoever. It's like a sandstorm under the water and there's no sign of the shark.
The fin is spotted again on the other side of the beach. Again, I zoom over and there he is, a good 8 or 9 feet of him. And in only 3 feet deep water, he's pretty scary looking. Thank God they only eat fish.
So on day 7, when Loli starts telling us about how a high proportion of baby sea lions are orphaned as their mothers get eaten by sharks...........('Whoa Loli, what the f*ck? I thought they didn't eat mammals?').......you realise the value of a trustworthy tour guide.
Note: The shark mentioned above unfortunately does not feature in the pictures included below.
