#38 - See a Shark in Open Water

I started this story in the previous post about snorkeling.  And before you get your hopes up that I was just out in the open water snorkeling and a big shark swam up coincidentally, well... don't.  I was on a shark tour in La Jolla Cove.

Every August and September leopard sharks swarm La Jolla Cove to, um... breed or something.  I forget.  But it's some combination of the shallow, warm(ish) waters of the cove and the proximity to food sources.  There are leopard sharks in there during other parts of the year too, but August and September, when the water is the warmest, has the most.

I bought a Living Social deal for a shark tour before I moved here, but...  I let it expire and then never looked at it again.


Then, a couple months ago, I found another deal on Groupon.  $40 for a 2-person shark tour with La Jolla Water Sports.  Click.  Mine.

Grace, in her determination to make the top 10 list, called dibs on joining me.

It did take me a very long time to book it.  This summer was much busier than I anticipated.  I wish we could have timed it to go with Tara & Emma but we didn't.

Our guide, Eddie, was chipper and chatty.  I liked that.  He got us suited up, went over safety stuff, and pointed out the animals we might see on our swim.

We walked out to the beach and then backwards into the water doing what they call the "stingray shuffle."  You see, that section of La Jolla Cove is also called "Stingray Alley."  "Why?" you ask.  Well, you shouldn't because it's fairly obvious that it's because there are a ton of stingrays there.  They're not going to seriously injury or kill you, but they will give you a very nasty, very painful sting if you step on them.  So, do you avoid it, you just walk backwards, shuffling your fins along the bottom.  The vibrations in the sand disturb them enough that they swim away before you get too close to where they are.

Around waist-deep water, I started swimming.  Within a minute I saw my first shark.  My heart jumped into my throat.  It was 4 or 5 feet long.  Just swimming.  Like 6 feet from me.  It swam into the murkiness and I jumped up.  "Um...  I just saw one."  Eddie said, "Already?"  And I questioned whether or not my mind was playing tricks on me but then he went down and popped back up and said, "Yep, they're here."

I know a lot about sharks.  And I know that as long as I don't step on a leopard shark, they're not dangerous to me.  I also know that there's no way they'd let me step on them.  They're more much attuned to their underwater surroundings than I am so they'd sense or see me before I'd see them, and they'd swim away.  But still...  That was a big animal.  And it was in waist-deep water.  In an area with people everywhere.  It caught my breath to think about what kinds of animals are all over when I'm out surfing and not looking underneath the water at all.  Then I reminded myself that we were in the cove, where these animals are plentiful, and that's why we were snorkeling there instead of Mission Beach.  And then I reminded myself that I was on a shark tour and I should keep my eyes moving and mind still and enjoy myself.

Soon after we saw a bat ray.  It was just flying along the bottom.  So pretty.

I saw a few other sting rays.  A few other sharks.

I could stay present for the rays but inwardly panicked each time I saw a shark.  I wanted to pop up and tell someone instead of just keep my eyes down and watch it beautifully swim away from me.

I think a few things were throwing me.
1. They're big.  I mean, not big, like I'm big.  But really, most animals you just run into in their own habitats are much smaller than a person.  Back in the Midwest, especially the parts I've lived in, even seeing a deer is a bit jarring, though I suppose not scary.  Everything else is much smaller than a deer though.  A skunk.  A hedgehog.  A squirrel.  A chipmunk.  Once I saw a coyote.  This was an animal only a foot or so shorter than me, and I was in its space.  It reminded me a bit of seeing a loose dog, one that you know is probably docile and friendly, but maybe it's a species that's notorious for being aggressive.
2.  The water was murky.  That alarmed me as soon as my face went in the water.  In all my 20+ years watching Shark Week, I know the situations where you're an idiot and if you get bit, it's your stupid fault.  One is murky water.  And now I was there, in murky water, with sharks.  I could probably only see 6-8 feet in any direction.  It was even tough to tell if sea weed and rocks were animals until I was right over them.


We swam towards an artificial reef.  By the time we got there, I was nauseated.  I had not even considered that I might get motion sick.  And I was.  I was trying to stay calm in the murky water, swimming over rocks that might or might have animals in or around them, and feeling tossed around, seeing these rocks get closer than further.  Plus, I hate breathing through snorkels.

I swam over to tell Eddie I had to head in.  He had a lobster.  I touched it.  Then I swam to the beach, which took awhile and I didn't see anything but fish on my way in.

I was bummed I wasn't out in the water seeing more sharks.  It has been a dream of mine to swim with sharks in open water, even if they were just leopard sharks.  But, I was sick.  And, now that I know where they are, I don't need to go on a tour.  I can just suit up with Tara and we can go again.  Maybe after popping some Dramamine.